7D/6N Gorgeous Guatemala Tour

Customer Reviews

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  bethany

  · April 8th, 2024
  I was not expecting the rooms to be so hot and noisy; other than that it was good. I did have my own bathroom; it was a hostel still, I’ll use marvelous and Tourradar again It was a great introduction to Guatemala Thank you
  Trip date: April 2024
• R

  Rona

  · July 13th, 2023
  Guatemala was wonderful as a country, but the value of the services provided were not worthwhile when looking at how much transportation and lodging actually cost there. What's more, the tour company's itinerary written personally written for me was written ambiguously. It said "transfer to Panajachel", so when the van driver dropped us off in Panajachel, I was berated on the phone by a male voice when I called and asked how to get to the Mayan homestay. He said, "It's not my problem you don't speak good Spanish" when I explained that the van driver did not ask where exactly we were going. He was scolding me on the phone and said that I had to follow the schedule exactly as stated on the itinerary. I just assumed the van driver knew where to drop us off seeing as this is a tour company that arranges transportation for us. What's more, prior to leaving Antigua to go to Panajachel, I gave my phone to the male employee at Marvelus who spoke to the van driver, so I assumed that he told the van driver where we were supposed to be driven. That apparently was not the case. I have never been spoken to by a tour operator in my life with that condescending, scolding, rude tone of voice. When I screen shotted the ambiguity of their schedule, the male voice on the phone acknowledged that it was ambiguous but did not apologize. He then transferred me to a female person Olivia who did apologize for the ambiguity of the schedule and was professional in her messaging for the rest of the trip. I'm mostly offended by the condescending and offensive nature in which I was spoken to by the male staff member at Marvelus. I actually have a decent grasp of Spanish, but I cannot say I am fluent. It is not practical for every tourist to speak the local language of every country they visit on the planet. Also, many points were not planned well. In the stop from Panajachel back to Antigua, we were told to "simply wait outside the Marvelus office" for 1.5 hours. They claimed the office was closed at 10 AM on a weekday, forcing us to sit outside. Thankfully, it wasn't raining. Many of the 14 passenger vans were filled to max capacity, leaving no room for people with luggage beyond a backpack. It was an extremely uncomfortable van ride when the van was filled to max capacity for 2 hours of driving. Thankfully, my family member and I travel light, but I don't see how this would be feasible with people who don't travel lightly. Also, the Mayan homestay can be booked through other 3rd party web sites. They are not the only ones who provide this unique experience. I'm just writing this for future travelers to know. I'm assuming the tour operator takes the biggest cut, and the homestay family makes a pittance comparably, so if you want more money to go to the Mayan homestay, book through a third party web site that provides that and then tip the Mayan family generously for their hospitality. Also, the stated age range for this tour was up to age 71. My family member is in the 70's, and the volcano trek was unbearable for him. There was no warning for how physically taxing the volcano trek would be. I would advise those with older travel group members or those who are not physically fit to reconsider the volcano trek. We met younger travelers who also said the volcano trek was too taxing to be enjoyable, but they felt forced to finish because they had already walked halfway. The volcano trek takes 3-4 hours and is extremely steep in many parts of the trek. Also, the hotel Hotel Posada Los Bucaros in Antigua--the hotel room was the size of a sardine can. There was nowhere to put your luggage. The room was new and spotless though and well maintained. Wifi was good. Hotel Arca de Noe - There is no wifi except in the hotel lobby, and even there, it was unreliable. I can't expect every place on the planet to have amazing Wifi, but the other downside to this hotel was that it was extremely dusty and musty. It was like no one had ever dusted the room ever. And there were a ton of bugs. I saw every bug of every species and size in my hotel room. All in all, I will come back to central America some day, but not with this company.
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  Marvelus Travel commented on this review

  Hello Customers thanks for shared your travel experience with Marvelus Travel, its important to us to hear you as well, we are taking action about what happened with you as travellers, we are sure we make this better for others future customers, we are... Show more
  Trip date: July 2023
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  Maria

  · June 8th, 2021
  I don’t want to do in the future any more tour alone. I would like groups and guide.
  Trip date: May 2021
• DB

  Dorka

  · February 22nd, 2019
  This trip was a mother & daughter trip for one week. This was our first time in the region (central America) and we had a wonderful time. Itinerary: This itenaray was exactly what I had in mind for a trip to Guatemala. If I designed an itinerary myself, in all honesty, it would have the exact same destinations. Our favorite place was Lake Atitlan but all the rest of the places were are lovely too. The only thing not in the itinerary is Tikal but that is understandable because it is very very far. We did tikal after the ending of this tour and it was nice too. We only had one issue that is worth mentioning about the itinerary. Sadly, neither of us speak Spanish and this meant that the Mayan Homestay was not a good use of our time. The family are kind and welcoming but they speak zero English and so we could not communicate with them at all or even ask questions about them. This made the situation uncomfortable and awkward at times. I think the Mayan Homestay should be recommended only for Spanish speakers because the town they live in is so small that there is nothing to do other than spend the day with the family at the house. If you are not a Spanish speaker, do not do the Mayan Homestay. Transportation: The transportation all week was reliable, safe, clean and mostly punctual. The drivers always knew my name and either had a sign with our names or asked us at pick up so I always felt comfortable getting in the car/bus. The airport transfer is private and so is the transfer from the mayan homestay to panajachel. The rest are little buses that seat 10-14. Those buses offer the opportunity to meet many other lovely tourists doing similar trips to ours. My one complaint is the fact that occasionally we were last on the pickup route which meant we had to sit apart from eachother on several hour bus trips. However, more opportunity to make friends. Accomodation Great choices of accommodation. The hotels were both lovely. The hotel in antigue Is clean, centrally located, and has lovely staff. Both hotels and even the mayan homestay had wifi! Casa del Mundo is one of the most incredible places I've ever seen. I can't say enough positive things about it. Just WOW. I will treasure those photos forever and I hope to bring my husband back on an anniversary trip. The bedroom in the mayan home was clean and welcoming. However, the bathroom is shared with the rather large family and not entirely up to what you're probably used to. We did not feel comfortable showering there so shower in Antigua in the morning before you leave! Overall, excellent hotel choices. Meals There's quite little to say about the meals in general because the only meals included are at the mayan homestay. The hotels offer breakfast but we only ate breakfast at the Antigua hotel. It is a tiny bit more expensive than what you'd pay in town but the hygene and proximity made it worth it. They served eggs, toast, plantains, jam, orange juice and coffee. I recommend! The rest of the mornings were too early departure and we weren't hungry so we just skipped straight to lunch. One thing to note, Casa del Mundo is very remote so you have to eat dinner there. There are positives and negatives to this. First, It's more expensive than what you'd pay anywhere else. Second, the food was probably the worst we ate during our entire stay in Guatemala. They try to make it more 'haute cuisine' but we didn't enjoy the taste at all; maybe you'll get luckier. The positive is that they push all the tables together and all the guests in this rather small hotel get to eat together and meet. We had the best time having conversations with other travelers who were all fascinating and so friendly. it's worth it for that experience alone, but don't expect excellent food. Honestly, I think for the price of the tour, it's ok that there isn't many meals included. In sum, we loved this tour. Guatemala has forever earned a place in our hearts and we are excited to return to central America at the soonest opportunity. One tip: know that this tour is jam-packed. Don't expect much relaxation, understand that if you want to see a country as vibrant and unique as Guatemala in a mere 5 days, you'll be busy and have many early morning pick-ups. This is not a negative, just something to consider. Overall, I'd travel with Marvelus again anytime and for the price, it is undeniably the best way to travel through Guatemala. So easy and SO worth it; everyone on the mini buses was jealous of us that we did it with marvelus and not by organizing everything ourselves. Truly marvelous.
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  Trip date: February 2019
• MC

  MAURO

  · January 4th, 2019
  Good price for a good quality tour. Suggested for people who wish to move in Guatemala without a group and a guide every day. Transportation good ... departures on time! One night with local family ... nice experience !
  Trip date: December 2018
• SL

  Sing-Chi

  · October 20th, 2018
  Great tour for those who don’t want the hassle of arranging accommodations and transportation but wanting a little more independence and time to explore on your own. The night of the Mayan homestay my driver didn’t know where to drop me off and missed the town so I had to take public transport back up the hill to the town (it was an adventure). Otherwise everything was very smooth. Excellent tour!
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  Trip date: October 2018
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  Jean

  · January 26th, 2018
  No guide was provided on the tour, only the one payed for on the volcano treck. Transportation was late half of the time; I had to call the agency 3 times to make sure it would come. No information was given on duration of the transportation or what to expect on the tours. The homestay was nice with the mayan family. The combination of the differents tours made the transportation too long. Tip: don't go to the Chichi market, it does no offer more than what you can get everywhere else.
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  Marvelus Travel commented on this review

  Hi Customers, This service you book its clear whats included: Shared van for 15 passengers, all Pick up: its not punctual, its always wait 15 minutes after your time pick up, becuase the shared pick it up more passengers, this tours only include... Show more
  Trip date: January 2018
• SM

  Silvia

  · August 5th, 2017
  We had a great experience with the tour this company plan for us. They accommodated us pretty quick. The experiences we had in each town and place we visit was amazing.
  Trip date: July 2017