Boatique Hotel and Marina, Rio Dulce Guatemala — Hotel in Lívingston

My girlfriend and me spent five nights at Boatique in April 2019. Although they were not officially open yet, I already got the place recommended by some other travelers.

Boatique is only accessible by water what I considered a pro as I was searching for nature and silence. The pickup went smooth and it's less than ten minutes from Rio Dulce.

Upon arrival we found a very beautiful designed place, you see mostly wood, bamboo and other nature materials. The use of plastic was reduced to a minimum what absolutely fits my taste.

Our private room (called Private Cabana Suite) was very spacious for two people, a family with two kids will still fit well I guess. We found everything needed for a a pleasant stay and loved the architecture, the interior and the coziness (nature materials matching my taste perfectly, as said before). The bed was more than comfortable, someone bought proper mattresses here... Bathroom was absolutely clean, warm water was functional, more than enough towels available, everything great.

As I don't like air-condition we never used it. It was obviously warm in there (that's the local climate...) but never too hot to sleep nicely - the windows allow a nice airflow.

Breakfast was fine and changed every day - perfect for people like my girlfriend and me as we don't have special diet requirements and love variety. Portions were more small than big, we got along with it well, the hot weather made us less hungry anyways.

Other food was available for reasonable prices and tasted fine. The choice is small but good (big up for the fries who taste like real potatoes and have nothing to do with McD stuff). Talking about me, I always prefer places with a smaller menu if they avoid convenience stuff in exchange. So Boatique does. (There's also a very delicious restaurant at the neighbor's, we went there twice and had a real gourmet experience.) Beer and wine are available for reasonable prices. Not super cheap for Guatemala but absolutely fair for a resort on Boatique's standards.

The kindness and helpfulness of the hosts Pam, Sheldon, their doughters and employees was outstanding! No matter what time, no matter what request, they were always absolutely available, helpful and very kind. Transportation options, kayak rentals, food and drink requests, laundry, all our questions were taken serious and answered very reliable. According to our experience there's many great hosts in Guatemala, and still, what we experienced here was outstanding!

As said before, we were there before they were officially open, means we had these amazing people more or less "exclusively for us". But my feeling tells me they're amazing hosts even when the place is more busy, there's "hospitality in their blood" I'd say.

A sailing trip with Sheldon was not only beautiful and fairly priced like discussed before, it was in fact a highlight of our stay (I've never sailed before btw, being super thankful for the experience).

As improvement we proposed having a proper rum choice and putting small shelves for soap and stuff in the showers. Sheldon and family told us the shelves are on the way already and they'll work on the rum menu... As you can see, we were complaining on a high standard :)

All in all I can really recommend the place. I'm writing this review with my heart - I believe in this family's project and think they absolutely deserve being successful with it.

Future guests, bring mosquito spray with you and have a great time at this lovely place in this wonderful region of Guatemala!

Pam, Sheldon, family and employees, thank you very much for making our time at your place so special and unforgettable -...

In general, we had a great experience here. The rooms and place are absolutely beautiful, the service is great and the staff is really friendly and helpful. You can hear the howler monkeys in the morning and that gives a nice experience to your stay. The place is set up very smart, professional and efficiently. There are almost no insects, they reduce their climate impact through many initiatives, the kitchen is from great quality, there is a vegan menu, the staff is well trained and the owners try to give as much back to the community as possible. It was our most organized and luxurious stay in Guatemala.

Having said that, if you are a backpacker with a lower budget you should pay attention to the following when considering this spot.

1: location wise, it’s far from all the hotspots of Rio Dulce. The hotel is at the beginning of the river and this means that you can’t take the kayak to go to the springs, or explore nature. Your choice of travel would be a private boat or use the collective boats. Both are expensive. So in essence you are kind of stuck at the hotel.

2: hidden costs: the hotel is an eco first place. Which means that everything extra costs money. Examples; You are not able to take your own food to the hotel and there is no kitchen. It means that you have to get and eat all your food from the hotel restaurant itself. And obviously this costs more than if you would cook your own food. Another example is that you pay for renting Kayaks. Although the deal is not bad (75q for your entire stay). It does add to my first point, that you are kind of stuck to this location if you don’t have a big budget and feel like paying additional money. Another example is the 10% tip that they automatically include in all food you eat in the restaurant. Although you are able to remove the tip when paying the full bill at the end of your stay, logically it is something that you are less likely to do when it’s automatically calculated.

3: expensive food/drinks: obviously this is hard to avoid when you are bringing proper quality food, and the spot has done its best to offer also cheaper options. However, asking 15Q for almond milk instead of regular milk for your coffee is absolutely ridiculous, if you would want a cappuccino with almond milk it would set you back 50Q, which is too much of a stretch. Also a double espresso costs 30Q.

Then one general comment regarding the Queen room: There is a bathtub in the room, and we booked this to also enjoy a nice bath. However, due to the fact that this is in the middle of the jungle, the water flow is so little that you are not able to fill the bath. So that was kind of disappointing, as it is shown as a facility to the room, but you can’t actually fully make use of it.

So overall; 5 stars if you have a bigger budget, 3 stars if you have a lower budget. We are in the middle,...

Pros: Beautiful place, seriously the design so pretty. The most amazing local staff. Nice pool. Plenty of places to chill out (by pool, on hammocks, has yoga mats, lots of seats by the marina). Food was really good, free drinking water. Shower was great, bathrooms always clean and stocked. Rooms clean and well stocked with an open locker (doesn’t lock up but space for stuff) and so many hooks (love that touch). Cutest little hostel cats! Tons of plants and cute decor touches. Some of the local staff speaks English but we all get by. They are all so kind and polite and work really hard. Dorm bed has personal hook, outlet, and fan.

Cons: SO expensive once you arrive (food is tasty but way more expensive than in town, which duh but it adds up as there is no kitchen), the free boat rides into town are not ideal (7am, 11am, 12pm, 3pm, 5pm, 9pm). If you want another time it’s 60q or 100q if before 7am. Laundry is expensive 80q whereas in town is only 45q. The kayaks should be free rentals kinda ridiculous they charge 75-100q, so they just sit unused. BUGS ARE HORRIBLE OBVI, but worse than I expected. I didn’t receive a towel (someone must have taken mine), the curtain is see thru so not much more privacy than without the curtain. The top bunk is so scary to get up and down as there is no good side rail to hang onto. The boardwalk has no rails but lights at night help. Wifi doesn’t really work in the dorm rooms (works great by the kitchen though). No A/C so hot until mid night.

Overall this is was a great stay but it’s bougie for sure. Not super backpacker style more family friendly and there was more older people I would say. I am happy I came but I spent WAY more...