Casa Prana Hotel in Atitlan

The short story: New management cancelled our reservation. They provided a curt and vague explanation on why. They then ignored our many follow up messages seeking clarity on whether we could rebook, during which time the other comparable places all became booked up, really creating a headache for us. Just stay away from them. The full story: We were planning a trip for 11 people to Guatemala with a stay at Casa Prana as a key part of it. After many attempts to reach them, I spoke to someone at the hotel about how to book for a group. We then booked our rooms and received a confirm. After that, we booked other hotels, flights and activities around Guatemala. To repeat, they sent us confirms, one of which I attached. Then we got an email from Casa Prana cancelling all six rooms because I had used my credit card to reserve my adult son’s room, which is against their rules for reasons I don’t understand. I immediately went to rebook. The whole hotel was somehow instantly booked – see pictures of their website attached. Their first email response was vague and the second one rude. Neither explained if we would have a chance to re-book. They ignored our many follow up emails and what’s app messages in English and Spanish looking for more clarity. We were told by others in the Atitlan community that there was a change in ownership around the time we booked. New ownership believed they could get much higher prices and were looking to cancel as many reservations as they could. I’m sure they will have some dishonest response below. Look at all the reviews and posts I have on this site. I travel a lot and very rarely have anything bad to say. I’ve never experienced anything like this. Reserve at your own risk!

Beautiful facility. Really enjoyed the room, the food, the activities, and more. Juan Carlos (property manager) was really wonderful. The sole concern was that they have live tropical birds locked in cramped cages throughout the property as decorations. Other guests raised their concern about this to us, and we agreed: we went there to enjoy nature and wildlife, not to see wildlife locked up looking quite sad and wishing they were free in the forests. It took away from the peaceful feel. Hope they free the birds, and otherwise a great experience. Thanks!

We stayed 3 nights at Casa Prana. The property is incredible with an amazing garden. The rooms are also beautiful. The food was good but there should be more a bit more choice. On the negative side the hotel has rigid policies and the service is a bit disappointing for the high prices. The hotel has also a weird concept where you have to pay for everything including breakfast. The concept needs re-visiting.

I visited Casa Prana for a romantic getaway with my partner, and was absolutely blown away by the serene hillside resort. A sanctuary at Lake Atitlan, Casa Prana will make you feel worlds away from the stressors of every day life. The staff is beyond welcoming and attentive, the culinary program fresh and nourishing, and the grounds and accommodations are spacious yet intimate, and highly luxurious. With only eight total guest rooms, the resort welcomes up to only 16 guests at one time, making the resort feel like your own private oasis. Take a walk through the grounds to see a multitude of colors in the beautifully-manicured gardens, or take a walk up to a sunrise seating area to reflect on life's precious moments. No matter why or when you travel to Casa Prana, you will not want to leave! And when you do leave (albeit reluctantly), you will feel rejuvenated by the haven's healing properties.

It’s an amazing place. Just a few things you should know. It’s not a two and a half hour trip from the airport, it’s three and a half . I don’t know why the website lies about this. We booked a transfer from the airport via the hotel and it was an hour late to collect us. We booked a massage at 2 and the hotel booked it at 4. We were locked out of our room for over an hour the night we arrived. All this is fine as long as we get an apology and some sort of compensatory gesture. This was not the case, the manager is incredibly rude and obnoxious, he even tries to gaslight you into thinking you’re the one who’s made a mistake. For £700 a night you’d expect better service than a rude manager that is openly patronizing and refuses to acknowledge his screw ups.

Great scenic location with excellent service. Couple of things which were disappointing given the most expensive property in lake atitlan is that the heated pool didn't work throughout our 4 day stay (We weren't notified in advance since we planned on staying at the property our entire stay). We were disappointed to find out that there was no a.c. in the room and only a small fan was provided upon request (wish we knew this in advance and didn't expect this from a 5 star property). The nights were a little uncomfortable cause of that fact. Also we did encounter some bugs (big spider) at night crawling on our bed as well. We did email the property with our feedback and never heard back from them.