Greengo’s Hotel — Hotel in Lanquín

TLDR: Greengo’s itself is fun, very clean, 5 min walk from Semuc Champey, & staff are amazing! However, owner has bad reputation in the community and appariently does more harm than good. Hence the hard decision to give 3 out of 5 stars.

Just to clear up some questions I had while reading the reviews before coming here: yes, they do have a punch card system where you pre-pay 100Q, 200Q, or 300Q for a punch pass at their bar and restaurant. However, if you don’t finish your card by the end of the stay, they give you back the remaining balance in cash. A couple mistakes were made in punching the right amounts, one time I was charged too little and one time too much so it evened out in the end (I didn’t say anything to the staff). Speaking of the staff- the staff are phenomenal!! So accommodating and so nice to speak with. They work so hard here and it shows! There is cleaning staff that work all night so the grounds are always very clean. The cooks also do a great job - I recommend the wraps! Also, you don’t need to do the 200Q tour booked through the hostel. Pay a local 40Q for the cave tour and river float and do Semuc Champey yourself (small hike + swimming in the limestone pools). We split this up over two days (for our 3-night stay) and it was so relaxing.

The negative:

I never spoke with the owner but he was around during my stay. My friend had racist and sexist comments spoken to her by him during her stay. I spoke with local Guatemalan guides and friends in Semuc Champey and they said that the community does not like the owner. Later on in our trip, at a community centre that helps locals benefit from tourism, the Guatemalan woman who runs the centre spoke negatively about the owner and that he takes advantage of locals. She did not recommend staying at Greengo’s because this topic really matters to her. (She had previously lived in Semuc Champey for 3 years volunteering her time to this exact cause).

It’s hard to give a review for Greengo’s as the place itself was perfect (5 stars) and we had fun. Hearing the back story however, is what compels me to give it just 3 out of 5 stars.

Take what you want from my review. It depends on what you care about in a place (Do you care about the community impact? Or are you able to disregard that and still party and have fun?).

Edit (responding to Owner’s comment below):

Unfortunately Liah’s comment below makes many gross generalizations and is undoubtedly biased (Liah, the manager, is profiting off of Golan’s success, so it’s hard to believe her word over the many locals in the surrounding community).

Contrary to Liah’s shameful dismissal of the community’s voice (she states that the locals are simply “enterprising locals”), I spoke with locals who were not selling anything and who I made friends with and got to know well. It wasn’t for me asking questions where they opened up about their experiences with Golan. They actually spoke highly about Greengo’s itself (one local was a former employee) but all felt that Golan was not a good presence in the community.

Another generalization that Liah makes is that I am simply basing my opinion off of 3 days spent in Semuc solely going to tourist attractions. I spent 3 nights at Greego’s and many more nights in Lanquin. I spent time in the town of Chicanutz. The woman who I met later on in my travels had lived in Chicanutz for 3 years(!) volunteering(!) (aka NOT profiting) for the local community to help them organize themselves for tourism and not let people like Golan take all of the profits. This highly respectable woman warned me of Golan and spoke about the many ways in which he exploits the community for personal gain.

I’m not sure why I would speak to the owners or managers about their negative reputation in the community when I could just speak to community members themselves - which is what I did and I invite everyone who are curious about how Golan and his empire are received there to do so as well.

Thank you Liah for your response, however it’s hard to trust your profiting word over the many words of...

We enjoyed our stay in the private cabin and were happy, that it wasn‘t right next to the pool. We really liked the restaurant, the area to hang out and the pool. Most of the staff were really friendly, helpful and welcoming! However, there are a few things we’d like to note: We absolutely didn‘t understand why we were required to put one of our IDs down as deposit, when none of the others did. We felt mistrusted, when our room was checked after check-out, in case we stole or broke anything, when none of the dorms or other privates were checked. Why would we damage or steal anything, if it‘s us that paid for the most expensive room amongst those checking out?! We thought that the punch cards should be more than 300 Quetzales, since everything is so expensive and the punch card‘s barely enough for dinner and breakfast for two people. That‘s especially strange, because it says on the website that you have to book a minimum of two nights. Clothes generally don‘t dry due to the rainforest humidity. As there were no spots to hang clothes in our room, we tried to do that on the little balcony. Although, whenever it rained all of our things would get wet again. We suggest attaching multiple hangers in the room! Since the walls are made of wood, that should be possible. There should be a ventilator as well, even one to plug in would suffice! We thought it was strange, that the jacuzzi was working on our first night there and suddenly they didn‘t have enough power for the remaining three days. On the website there are a couple of things stated as activities or amenities, that you offer, but didn‘t actually exist, such as volleyball or the pool bar. The guy taking up our breakfast order was very rude and we had the impression, that he sometimes just gave false answers about what the kitchen has in stock or when certain meals could be made. We felt ridiculous paying good money, when we were talked to in such an arrogant way. If smoothies really could only be made starting from 4pm, why isn‘t that written on the menu board? The kitchen staff presumably wasn‘t informed about our breakfast to-go order and was rudely accused by the owner/manager, that they‘d simply forgotten. We had to wait another half an hour, while our shuttle back to Lanquin was waiting for us. The kitchen stuff were in a big hurry and had to rush everyone‘s breakfast. We didn‘t understand why the shuttle back to Lanquin wasn‘t also included in the price, when the pick up was. I think it‘s ridiculous to charge another 35 Quetzales per person, if we‘re staying four nights and obviously have to...

Great location Decent facilities for a 'hostel' with resort vibes close to the Semuc Champey Pools Pool facilities are good a Few social activities However: greedy and sneaky. No Food Policy. They say 'to stop pests and birds' yet the real reason is to force you buy their restaurant priced food and bar drinks (not super expensive, but not cheap either). Ironically, they have dog food everywhere...would this not attract pests too?) I really dislike Hostels that ban food and force you eat there. You should be allowed to bring snacks and fruit at the very least! A free complimentary breakfast would make up for the banishment of food (Pancakes, coffee, fruit. Easy!) But no, you are forced to buy from the restaurant. (There are local cheaper estaurants within walking distance) While the beds are comfortable, they are very open and exposed to the bar music and noise (my wristband had noisey room written on it) so don't expect much sleep. A lot of people mentioned not getting much sleep, especially if having to leave for shuttle transfers at 6am the next morning. the SAME PLAYLIST and songs on again and again and again. Tired of hearing ABBA! Mix it up, ask for requests, chilled music, put on Spanish music. Anything but ABBA! a Card/cashless system to pay for everything, yet to buy the card you need cash (or card with a 6% fee, ans they will not let you withdraw cash). the 'free' shuttle. Greengas is 11kms down a winding road from Lanquin. They woo you with a free shuttle transfer YET, charge you $35Q to return to Lanquin (which is ridiculous as everyone must return to Lanquin with no other choice or a long 11km Hike out). So the Shuttle is not actually free. A trap payment. And expensive! When I questioned this all I got was a smile that told me they knew they had everyone trapped. Showers and bathrooms are far away from the noisey room down stairs. So no quick night toilet breaks without a light to see where you are going. Staff look tired and burned out after each night. more social activities and maybe win a bar voucher as a prize! Overall, it is OK. I suggest staying 3 nights to have one day to actually relax, but the cost of bar and drinks do add up over 3 meals a day... if you could bring you own snacks, this would be better. I felt like Greengas was chasing greedy $$$ even though they had volunteers working for them... Once is enough for the easy access to the pools and cave but there are probably better options that allow you bring food and...