Diosa del Agua Bacalar

This family-run hotel is centrally located, across from the nature reserve with long boardwalks you can swim from. Restaurants and convenience stores are within walking distance. The staff were friendly and gave good service, and the front desk dealt with problems right away. We also really enjoyed the fresh, delicious food at the restaurant. I'd recommend this cute hotel, and the three-hour boat tour and Los Rapidos while you're here.

My husband got sick from the food, and we had a very upsetting experience with the cats at the restaurant. While my family and I were eating after checking into our two rooms, two different servers sprayed the cats with undiluted purple cleaner. It drifted into the restaurant, and whenever the cats came back, they sprayed them again. One cat got it in the eye, and the others had it on their fur. When one server was about to spray that cat again, we told the servers, manager, and owner how cruel it was. They claimed it was water, even though it was clearly purple cleaner. We received a full refund. The cats weren't bothering anyone, they were just on the floor. I hope they stop treating animals this way. I also read another review saying they kicked dogs down the stairs. Maybe a gate would keep the cats out. There's another cat on the property with no fur on its back, a large lump, and what looks infected. It may be from the cleaner. This doesn't keep the cats out, and it seems they'll carry on unless someone stops them or shuts the place down.

The location is great, close to the lagoon and an easy walk to restaurants and convenience stores. It's a cute boutique hotel, with friendly staff, and the food was fresh and delicious. It's family run too. Definitely recommend!

We'd stayed here the year before and loved it, so we booked again several weeks ahead. Two days before arrival, they emailed to say construction would run from 8am to 8pm. We had stayed at hotels undergoing renovations before and usually didn't mind some noise, and when I asked, they said everything would be open and the disruption minimal. We didn't want to lose our nonrefundable money, so we came anyway after they assured us the work would be done by late afternoon. Instead, there was a whole new building going up behind the pool, with about 20 men building, welding, and painting. The noise got unbelievably loud, the walls shook, and we couldn't use the pool because debris and bits of metal were falling into it. We left to get some peace, swam in the lake, and had dinner, then came back around 9pm. The construction was still going, and they again said it would end soon. It went on until midnight. Right after it stopped, a loud truck backed up and dropped off about 100 pieces of luggage in the parking lot in the middle of the night. That night, no one in our party slept more than four hours. The next morning we found out a Chinese film production was going to use the hotel that day, and all the work, noise, and luggage drop-off had been preparation for it. Why let other guests stay when they knew it would be so disruptive? They could have cancelled our reservation. I got a 30% refund, but only after complaining very strongly, and I'm still extremely frustrated by how strangely they handled everything. Breakfast was delicious and the location was great, and after I complained I did get a partial refund. I know this long review may make me sound crazy, but it was seriously the weirdest and worst hotel stay we've had in years.