Maya Mountain Lodge — Hotel in San Ignacio & Santa Elena

I'm having a hard time with this one, so I'll explain. Wonderful staff. Good food. A friendly owner. And one of the dingiest, bug filled, jail cell - like rooms I've ever seen, even in Central America. It's worth noting what we booked on Expedia looked NOTHING like the room we actually received. We discovered multiple "kissing bugs" in our room, which notoriously seek humans to bite, and carry Chigas, which often cause heart ailments. Look it up if you don't want to sleep tonight. When we asked to be relocated to a not-infested room the next night, we were only given an option of a room that cost nearly double, despite the fact that it was their room filled with bugs that made us move to begin with. Ok, fine. Instead of our planned three nights, we left after two. Now the even better part: from the beginning we were paying with Discover. They accept it, we have it, great. But their cc machine was/is perpetually down. So we asked if we could PayPal them. No good. They took an impression of the Discover card and agreed to run it later. As I type this, they have now repeatedly harrassed my wife about payment, claiming "you have a block on the card" when in reality, we called Discover on our cell phone, from Belize, at great cost, and in front of the office staff to ensure that's not the case. We have used the card before, during, and after our stay at Maya Mountain. In short, their inability to transact cc business is somehow our fault despite them supposedly taking the payments we offered. By the way: THIS WAS OUR TEN YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. Not cool or remotely acceptable in any way, shape, or form. If they do manage to ever figure out their cc machines, I have every intention of refuting the charges, as I am 100% dissatisfied with the room and now their behavior. I would run away from this place at all costs. It's a terrible deal and if you end up in the "parrots perch" you might end up with a bug infestation that could end up killing you later in life. Not an exaggeration whatsoever. It's a shame because the staff themselves were lovely to be around and offered great hospitality individually. The over all experience: EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED ☹️ In response to Bart Nothing like leaving out key info, right? Payment: It's NEVER your business how a traveler pays as long as they use your methods. We tried, YOU FAILED. As pro travelers (we do this for a living, you embarrass yourself) we use rewards cards, and it's a large part of how we travel. We offered you PayPal, which you declined, that would INSTANTLY pay you and still allow us to gather rewards. Again, we tried, YOU FAILED. Errors with Discover seem to have magically only impacted YOU, but curiously ZERO other businesses in Belize. Room vs Price: With the exception of Chaa Creek, which we lucked into photographing in exchange for our stay, (also not your business, but thank God after your bugs!!) we stayed on the mainland in other rooms in the exact same price range. Only YOURS looked NOTHING like the listing; I'll take that up with Expedia now, since you've been belligerent. Shaming guests based upon the room they choose is boorish and unprofessional. We LOVED rooms that cost LESS than yours- the sole outlier in a 16 day trip. We pack mosquito nets because we frequent the tropics; beetles by the handfull is very different and ALWAYS unacceptable. Looking during the day for nocturnal bugs ensures you won't find them; I flushed several of them down the toilet and was up throughout the night doing so. It's sad you find it easier to accuse than to fix the issue. "Vector for disease" doesn't touch the severity of kissing bugs and illness they can cause. I'll take the word of the CDC over the ravings of a hotelier trying to pack rooms. As I stated, your staff was lovely- although I'd like to retract one part of my review: friendly owner. Friendly owners don't lie about and try to shame guests, even when they're unhappy with a review; they address the problems. Adjusted to 1 star. Best wishes towards your success, Bart....

Maya Mountain Lodge was a great base for our 4 days in the San Ignacio area. It’s a beautiful, safe property with little cabins that are not fancy but are clean. The hospitality was better than average, with good communications ahead of our arrival to help arrange tours and easy access to assistance via WhatsApp while we were there. Levi and Cesar were very responsive to questions and requests. ||||We chose the lodge in part because of the kitchen, so we wouldn’t have to eat every meal out. They supply a nice variety of dishes and cookware that were organized and clean (save one frying pan that had dried egg on the outside), as well as a sponge and dish soap. ||||We also ate two dinners and one breakfast at Fiona’s on-site, and it was really delicious! Chicken, lamb chop, pasta, and Belizean breakfast were all excellent and reasonably priced. Fruits and veggies were fresh from the market and although they don’t serve any alcohol, the mocktail I had was very tasty too. Fiona herself was delightful. We didn’t feel the need to visit any other restaurants while in town because Fiona’s was so pleasant and convenient. ||||Our room did have some room for small improvements that could make a big difference. All of the glazed windows were above eye level and not all of the shuttered windows had screens, so you couldn’t enjoy the view of the surrounding garden/forest if you wanted to run the AC or keep mosquitoes out. The two ductless AC units were a godsend after sweaty jungle tours! There was at least one leak in the thatched roof (thankfully in the kitchen rather than over the bed!), though in their defense I think we were there during abnormally heavy rain. The other thing that would be nice is somewhere comfortable to sit other than the bed. The kitchen chairs are hard and very low relative to the table. I found the bed too firm, but it did have a mattress topper and the linens and pillows were nice. They thoughtfully supply you with beach-type towels for your excursions too. I think the final useful addition would be some sort of shoe scraper/brush on the front porch to remove the jungle mud. ||||Overall, Maya Mountain Lodge provides a really nice place to stay at a good value, and Fiona’s is worth a...

We were here for our 10 year anniversary. Long story short, although the staff was quite nice, and the owner was very friendly, the room was nothing like the listing on Expedia. It was tiny, dark, and in a state of disrepair -- including large gaps in the structure which allowed MULTIPLE kissing bugs into the room. We were lucky that we travel with our own mosquito net, because kissing bugs deliberately seek out humans to bite and transmit parasites that can cause heart failure. We told the staff about the bugs and they did move us to a different room, but when we checked out early to find a better place, they still charged us for our full stay. There were also credit card issues (they claim to take Discover but couldn't process my card because of an issue on their end). The whole experience was bad. I don't recommend staying here.

Updated in Response to Bart's (the owner) inaccurate rebuttal below... I regularly stay in far less expensive hotels and airbnbs than your hotel and have had perfectly reasonable experiences. It's not about the cost. The room you gave us didn't match the photos provided on Expedia. End of story. Add to that the fact that my night was filled with capturing bugs instead of sleeping and I think it's fair to say the accommodations we're sub-par. I shouldn't have to capture the bugs for you to believe me. There are holes in the walls and the kissing bugs came in. Transmission of Chagas disease is serious business. It's concerning that you're so cavalier about the bugs. I'll also note that another hotel I stayed in had a scorpion in the bed, but they still got a 5 star review from me. It's all about the seriousness of the critter.

As far as the Discover card, fix the credit card issues on your end and you wouldn't have a problem. I offered you other ways of getting paid -- specifically Paypal -- and you declined. I don't appreciate you trying to make it sound like I'm some kind of scammer.

Best of luck with your infestation. Don't let the...