Hotel El Sol

Keep in mind it’s a bit far from the main street, so you may have to pay 10Q to get to the hotel or into town. Still, it’s a very clean, good place. The Japanese owner is excellent!

The owner is such a likable guy. He does laundry and exchanges money at the best rate. He came from Japan as a volunteer and never left. The hostel is super clean and spacious, and the curtains between beds are a welcome improvement. Everything felt perfect except the location, about a kilometer from downtown. It’s near the super cool cemetery and a fabulous restaurant on the lake, and it’s nice to get away from the bustle. You can walk along the lake if you’re willing to make your way back to Santander.

The owners are a discreet, helpful Japanese couple, and you can see the care they’ve put into the place. It’s very clean, with nice furniture and good lighting, and the shower is hot. There’s free parking, a storage room for bikes, and complimentary water, coffee, and tea. We loved staying here, away from noisy downtown.

The owner is friendly and speaks fluent Spanish and Japanese, though only a little English. There’s a seating area where you can get breakfast for a reasonable price, and he also offers laundry service, which meant we could go home with suitcases full of clean clothes. The lobby has free instant coffee and purified hot and cold water, and there’s a refrigerator for guests in the common area. You can watch the sunset over the lake from the rooftop deck, though there’s no lounge furniture up there. The rooms are quaint and very simple, with minimal furniture and decor. The beds are small but comfortable. The bathroom has a tiny sink and toilet, but the shower stall is fairly large and the hot water takes one to two minutes to heat. Amenities are minimal, and the TV is very small with no English-language channels. The tile floor is beautiful, practical, and very clean. It’s in a quieter residential part of Panajachel. A tuk-tuk to the San Pedro boat dock is a short ride and costs Q 10 per person; walking to the busy Calle Santander shopping area is about 1.5 miles. For us, it made a great base for the lake and was probably the best value lodging in Guatemala, particularly around Lake Atitlan. We slept well in a very clean room, but don’t expect luxury. Our rating is based on the low price and overall value.