La Casa del Mundo,
Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
La Casa del Mundo in a Nutshell
We have included our hotel handbook with information on almost everything you need to know:
Bienvenidos a "La Casa del Mundo"
La Casa del Mundo is a small hotel, owned and run by our family, the Fogarty Valenzuela Family (Bill, Rosy and our sons Sebastian and Benjamin). La Casa del Mundo was conceived in Alaska, where Rosy (Guatemalan) and I (American) met, married, worked and lived for years.
While living in Alaska in 1980, we bought the land the hotel now stands on. In 1988, still living in Alaska, we started building the hotel. We carried out all the construction, hiring local labor and using mostly local materials.
Due to the extreme commute from Alaska to Lake Atitlan, building proceeded slowly but steadily. In 1996 our family moved to Guatemala and in 1998, La Casa del Mundo opened for business.
We're pleased with the results or our hard work and hope your stay at La Casa del Mundo is a wonderful and memorable experience.
Our Gardens:
Take your time to explore our grounds and enjoy our gardens. The plants are a blend of native wildflowers and trees combined with introduced leafy bushes from around both the highlands and the tropical coasts of Guatemala. To protect the eco-system and the lake, we don't use any sort of pesticides or chemicals .
Hiking:
From our back patio, climb the steps to find the ancient Mayan trail that runs along the cliff side. Turn right to hike to Santa Cruz (30 minutes) or left to head towards El Jaibalito (10 minutes), Tzununa (2 hours) San Marcos (2½ hours) and San Pedro (5 hours). Bring water and sun-block as it can be dry and hot. Please ask the person at the front for trail advisory.
Visit the nature reserve with a well-maintained nature trail, spider monkeys and a butterfly farm in Panajachel. Local day hikes at Finca Santa Victoria are worthwhile.
Swimming and Kayaking:
Yes, the lake is safe and clean for swimming. For safety reasons, we recommend that you swim around the cove away from water traffic. Walk down to the dock and follow the trail to the left. Kayaking in the lake is a very pleasurable activity.
Afternoon winds often make the lake surface quite choppy, thus swimming and kayaking are best in the morning. Kayaks available for rental are:
Sea Tandems (double) Q50 per hour.
Single - Sea Q40 per hour.
Single - River Q25 per hour.
Hot Tub:
Our wood-fired hot tub fits up to 10 people and requires much preparation. Please give us at least a day's advance notice if you are interested. We may offer this service depending on fire-wood availability, weather conditions and time of the year. Minimum charge Q275.00 or Q27.50 per person.
Volcano Climbs:
Volcano climbing is seasonal in Guatemala, best months are November through to February. Local guided tours can be arranged on request with three day's advance notice. Local guides for climbing Volcano San Pedro or Volcano Atitlan, may be found at village public docks or ask our front person for details.
Mountain Bike Rides:
Lakeside rides for all skill levels may be arranged through us with Pueblo Viejo Outfitters. We require two day's advance notice.
See details at: www.bikeguatemala.com.
Telephone: ++502-5399-0440 or 5914-5801
Markets:
Local markets, which are accessible as day-trips include the large Chichicastenango market (Thursdays and Sundays) and the traditional Solola market (Tuesdays and Fridays). Santiago Atitlan and Panajachel markets are on Sundays.
Panajachel is the main town at the lake and a good place to purchase Guatemalan "tipico" textiles and art. La Casa del Mundo is decorated with local and regional textiles and art work.
Food:
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all available in the dining room.
Tea and coffee is served from 7:30 to 8:00am.
Breakfast may be ordered off our menu from 8:00am until 11:00am every day.
Lunch items are available from 12:00am until 2:00pm every day.
From 2:00 to 5:00pm only desserts, snacks and drinks (licuados, fruit juice, lemonade, coffee, tea, soda-pop, beer, wine) are served.
Dinner is served "family style", every evening at 6:30.pm. Enjoy dining with fellow guests from around the world. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WILL BE DINING WITH US by 2:00pm or earlier if you are leaving for the day. Let us know your diet; vegetarian, vegan, food allergies, etc. we will gladly meet your needs.
Full dinner is Q75.00 to Q85.00
Telephone:
We have a cellular phone, it may be used by guests for domestic calls (within Guatemala) for Q4.00 per/min. USA and Central America Q15.00 p/min, Europe Q24.00 p/min. There is also a charge of Q2.00 p/min for incoming national calls. You can use our phone from the main dining room.
Showers & Laundry:
The public hot water shower on the upper patio is available for the rooms with public bathrooms. We know that the preservation of the lake is essential for a healthy ecosystem, therefore we have implemented a high quality sewage treatment system.
Laundry service is available at Q65.00 per machine load (washed, dried, and folded). Please count and bag your items and bring them to the front desk.
Boat Transportation:
Public boats (lanchas) to Panajachel run daily beginning at 6:00am and continuing throughout the day from 6:30am, every hour on the half hour until 5:00pm. Boats run along the lakeshore, heading toward San Marcos and San Pedro every hour from 7:00am until 5:00pm.
To catch a ferry, you must walk to our dock and be there 10 minutes before departure time.
Private express boat trips and tours anywhere around the lake may be arranged at the front desk.
Bus Transportation:
For traveling anywhere when leaving the lake you must go to Panajachel. To Travel from Panajachel to Los Encuentros is an easy hop that puts you on the main road to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala City and connecting towns.
Transportes Rebuli Bus Line departs every hour from Panajachel.
Transportes Morales Bus Line is a direct route to Quetzaltenango (Xela).
Shuttle transportation (private mini-vans) can be arranged with travel agencies at a higher rate. Ask the front person for telephone numbers.
Checkout Time:
Checkout time is 11:00am.
You are welcome to stay and enjoy La Casa del Mundo as long as you wish after checkout. You may store your luggage with us during that time. Do not forget to return the key to the front desk.
Safety Box:
It is safe to keep your belongings in the rooms at La Casa del Mundo. However, for those who prefer, we provide a Safety Box service. Ask for details at the front desk.
Payment:
When paying your bill, we accept US dollar, traveler's checks and Quetzales. US dollars are always charged at a rate slightly lower than the current bank rate.
Tips:
We do not add service charges to our bills, but we ask that you please tip our staff in the tip box located on the front counter. Suggested tip is 10% of account total. All tips are divided amongst our indigenous staff.
Games and Book Exchange:
In the dining room we have a variety of games that can be borrowed. We also have a selection of books to borrow or exchange. Please ask at the front counter.
Prices:
- Suite: $68.00
- Single or double: $61.00
- Economy shared bathroom: $31.00
Sorry, but due to a lack of a land line, we DO NOT accept credit cards: only dollars, quetzales and traveler's checks.
Reservation form:
A deposit is required:
If there is availability for your dates, we will contact you to arrange a credit card/bank account down payment through Paypal.
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La Casa del Mundo
El Jaibalito, Guatemala
Tel: ++502-5218-5332 & ++502-5204-5558
© 2008 Duncan Aitken ~ Atitlan Design
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