Pelicanos Hotel — Hotel in Escuintla

Third world hotel at first world prices. ||The good: the beach is great fun if you like surfing, boogie boarding, and body surfing. No crowds. ||The bad: ||1). The rooms. The floors were dirty and sandy; they weren't mopped or swept prior to our arrival. Cable TV didn't work in any of our 3 rooms. When i asked the staff to fix it, they said they would but never did. I suspect the cable is there only for show, and they don't pay the bill. ||No hot water. Only cold salt water in showers and sinks. Room decor is what you would expect in a mid range hotel in Guatemala (ie, poor) which is fine if they were charging less. There was an animal-- probably a rat-- living in the rafters. ||The AC in one of our rooms didn't work. We asked the staff for another room, they said they were booked. I asked them for a fan, they looked around for a minute and said they didn't have one. The pool waterfall doesn't work, the ice cream freezer has an electrical short that can shock children when they open it, the pool deck is dark at night- I suspect because no one has bothered to change the light bulbs. The volleyball court appears to be an old fishing net draped over two tilted tree branches dug into blazing hot sand. Really. ||The list of non functioning items is long. The whole property is shabby and poorly maintained. And a lot of it doesn't appear to be for lack of resources-- it's more slothfulness and lack of caring. ||2). The food. Below average preparation and taste, small portions, and high prices. You'll pay 15-30 US per adult per meal, w/o alcohol, leave hungry, and eat food that would make Mcdonalds seem like fine dining. On our visit, they were out of about 1/4th of the menu. ||I heard there's another hotel restaurant up the beach with similarly bad food options. Other than that, you're an hour away from anything better. The owner of Pelicanos clearly knows this, and takes full advantage of the captive diners. ||3). The service. Slow, inattentive, and not friendly (though not rude either). I understand that low wage employees, particularly in Guatemala, have little motivation to smile, be friendly, attentive to guests, and basically do their jobs. But i've seen plenty of other places here that do have great, friendly service. I just don't think the ownership at Pelicanos cares about service, or much anything else really. ||If you don't mind shabby motels with bad service, there are plenty of other places in Guatemala where you can suffer for half...

Third world hotel at first world prices.

The good: the beach is great fun if you like surfing, boogie boarding, and body surfing. No crowds.

The bad:

1). The rooms. The floors were dirty and sandy; they weren't mopped or swept prior to our arrival. Cable TV didn't work in any of our 3 rooms. When i asked the staff to fix it, they said they would but never did. I suspect the cable is there only for show, and they don't pay the bill.

No hot water. Only cold salt water in showers and sinks. Room decor is what you would expect in a mid range hotel in Guatemala (ie, poor) which is fine if they were charging less. There was an animal-- probably a rat-- living in the rafters.

The AC in one of our rooms didn't work. We asked the staff for another room, they said they were booked. I asked them for a fan, they looked around for a minute and said they didn't have one. The pool waterfall doesn't work, the ice cream freezer has an electrical short that can shock children when they open it, the pool deck is dark at night- I suspect because no one has bothered to change the light bulbs. The volleyball court appears to be an old fishing net draped over two tilted tree branches dug into blazing hot sand. Really.

The list of non functioning items is long. The whole property is shabby and poorly maintained. And a lot of it doesn't appear to be for lack of resources-- it's more slothfulness and lack of caring.

2). The food. Below average preparation and taste, small portions, and high prices. You'll pay 15-30 US per adult per meal, w/o alcohol, leave hungry, and eat food that would make Mcdonalds seem like fine dining. On our visit, they were out of about 1/4th of the menu.

I heard there's another hotel restaurant up the beach with similarly bad food options. Other than that, you're an hour away from anything better. The owner of Pelicanos clearly knows this, and takes full advantage of the captive diners.

3). The service. Slow, inattentive, and not friendly (though not rude either). I understand that low wage employees, particularly in Guatemala, have little motivation to smile, be friendly, attentive to guests, and basically do their jobs. But i've seen plenty of other places here that do have great, friendly service. I just don't think the ownership at Pelicanos cares about service, or much anything else really.

If you don't mind shabby motels with bad service, there are plenty of other places in Guatemala where you can suffer for...

On our first trip to this hotel, I left my wallet in the dresser when we departed. When I called the next day, I was advised that the wallet was no longer there but my ID, insurance cards, photos, etc. were found in the drawer. Later, they caught the employee who stole my wallet and fired him. On this trip (my second), the chef, who had two black eyes and cuts on his nose and forehead, asked me to give him $50 to get back to the city. The staff are clearly untrained / uninterested and not up to the task of providing even average service. Rather, they appear to do the absolute minimum which is why our trash from lunch sat by the pool each day for 4+ hours. The food was limited and not even average. The beds were lightweight, the pillows small and tired, and the room wasn't cleaned on a daily basis. The beach was quite nice and relatively empty. Sadly, I don't think that we'll be able to return to this hotel again. Wait until the service levels increase before you stay here. Westerners will be sorely...