La Mansión del Pájaro Serpiente — Hotel in Flores

My wife and I stayed here when we toured the ruins at Tikal with Roxy Ortiz. We flew from the US into Flores, where the hotel had arranged for a taxi to meet us at about 7:30 p.m. By the time we cleared customs and got to El Remate it was around 8:30. Because we did not know how late we might be arriving, we had asked if the hotel could provide dinner for us and they said of course. That began a pattern of the customer service we received. ||||When we arrived with our luggage, we were prepared to check into the hotel, take our bags to the room, and then eat, hopefully before we were too sleepy to eat it. Instead we were immediately seated, and Jorge, the manager, hauled all our luggage up to our cottage while we sat drinking water and Gallo beer. If I hadn't been so tired from the long flight I might have felt guilty. They asked if we wanted chicken or beef, and soon were served a nice Guatemalan dinner that I would call comfort food--a bean soup; beef, rice, and fresh tomatoes; and a chocolate cake that was sinfully rich.||||We slept late the next morning. When I went down to the reception area, I found the woman who had prepared our meal the previous evening and asked her (in Spanish, Jorge and his wife and the hotel owner, Nancy, speak perfect English but the cook and the only waiter/steward we saw spoke only Spanish) when breakfast would be served. She answered, whenever we want. I told her I would check with my wife, and subsequently asked if 9 was OK. She said yes, and then I asked if we could have coffee earlier. I went to the ATM immediately across the street to get local currency, and by the time I was back, the coffee was waiting for me to take back to our room.||||In part because of the hotel's good location and in part because Nancy is her mother, Roxy picked us up at the hotel to take us to Tikal and then returned us there. The next morning we needed to leave for the airport for our flight to Belize at 6:30, and Jorge arose earlier than usual to help take our bags back down to the car (we got up early and insisted on hauling at least some of our own bags that morning. Otherwise I would have felt too pampered and definitely guilty).||||We walked around the surrounding gardens and pool, although we never had time to take a swim. We also spent a good bit of time at the local shops surrounding the ATM across the street, where we watched local artisans doing all sorts of work. We found some very good bargains in their shops. Overall, we could not have asked for a better base from which to tour Tikal. I highly...

All I seem to read us Flores to Tikal, Flores to Tikal. If your young and you want to party the Flores is great If your older like me and still want the experience of staying in smaller towns that truly show the spirit of Guatemala then El Remate is fabulous. I am currently sitting on the immaculately clean, comfortable and lovely terrace that overlooks the lake. The room is also immaculately clean, big, comfortable and hot showers. The morning breakfast goes until 11 am and it is free. There is a beautiful pool on top of the property. The air conditioning in most rooms works very well. This is a family owned hotel and I had rented a room in Flores and another room in El Remate which I cancelled to stay here can It is simply gorgeous. Currently at 8 pm i can hear the waves lapping on to the shore even though we are across the main stream. Dogs, chickens and the occasional pig cross the road with their owners, which is pretty hysterical. . Food is extremely good and most of all a fair price. The horses graze freely near the shore. The helpers in the hotel do not speak English but the main person Jessica does. Dinner can be had for 75 quetzales (10 dollars) includes drinks, chicken or pork chops, pasta, salad, soup and desert...all homemade in the kitchen right there. There is Agua Pura plentiful and Jessica can help negotiate anything. There are other very good Italian and general "all types of food " across the street at El Muella. There is also a really amazing ice cream place across the the street. I will come back here again and again. They are so kind and help carry your luggage, refill your water and really pamper you. Tikal us half the distance from here and you can get private shuttles for a fair price as Jessica and her family live in this area. I would always take El Remate over Flores if you want quiet, peace a beautiful lake view and a charming super laid back local town. Also if note just down the road and walkable is the Biotopia/Terra full of all kinds of animals. I would visit Yaxha for sunset any time over Tikal. I am not a morning person so getting up at 3 am to hit Tikal at 4 am offers minimal appeal to me. La Mansion de Pajaro El Serpiente us just simply...

We stayed in Villa #4 which is the highest on the hill which has a lovely view of Lake Peten Itza. Our wonderful hostess, Jessica, wisely suggested that we should walk down to the dock across the highway to view the last 20 minutes of the sunset. and it was spectacular. The setting of the hotel is truly great. The grounds are immaculate. The flowers and shrubs are so abundant and varied it betters some the named botanical gardens we saw in Belize.||||We are from Colorado, and unused to high humidity, so we found it best to have an A/C equipped room even in the supposed "dry" season. Please check the availability of hot water when you check into your room rather than waiting until your retire as we did. The water heaters are on timers, and due to some power outage problems, our suite and also that of our traveling companions did not have hot water at appropriate times. Also the pools had not been cleaned and as far as we could tell do not recirculate, so we decided not to use them even though they looked so inviting. We got there too late and left too early to get to see the peafowl walking around the grounds, but we saw them in their pen.||||Four of us spent one night there and there was only one other couple there at that time. We all had dinner and breakfast together in the open-air dining room/reception area. The food was delicious. Jessica and her staff were super accommodating and were really sorry for the hot water inconvenience. Overall it was a great experience in a boutique nature hotel. BTW, I was told by our guide that the name of the hotel has to do with the Resplendent Quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala and important in...