Phenomenal experience: nature, beautiful views, comfortable, clean, great internet! We stayed 2 months at Richard's place. It's a big property on a hill next to Lake Atitlan across from Santiago. You can only reach it by boat, so Richard brings you across the lake. The house is clean and well maintained, hot water works perfectly, kitchen has everything for cooking (we cooked a lot!). Mattresses are comfy, the main bed is huge! Lots of closet and storage space. Surrounded by huge trees, tropical plants and flowers, it's like living in a botanical garden. There are no streets or cars, so it's totally quiet, you only hear wind in the trees, squirrels running, and birds singing. Through the trees you see Lake Atitlan and two huge volcanoes. We had breakfast every morning on the sunny terrace. The house is up the hill on a beautiful winding stone path. You have great views, but also privacy because the trees block boats on the lake from seeing you. The wifi is great, which is incredible in a jungle with no roads! Reliable 10Mbps down/3 up, which was fine for our Teams video meetings. Better than most Atitlan hotels where we stayed, actually. Richard is a truly kind gentleman, attentive to every detail to make our stay comfortable. He does wood working, so the house has lots of handmade furniture, and he gardens, so we got lots of fresh food. A local man, Salvador, and his two sons maintain the property beautifully. They taught us about the nature, showed us centuries-old Mayan carvings hidden in the surrounding jungle, and even taught us some Tsutujil language to use in the market. We went to stores in Santiago for shopping, and for fresh food went to the city's central market (amazing cultural experience, few foreigners, almost everyone wears traditional clothes). Overall, an incredible experience!

It's a joy to stay there! These aren't negative points, but it's a really unique experience, so it's important to understand what it's like before you arrive: - It's only accessible by boat, so you can't just leave your house and walk to the store or market. There are no streets, no cars, no restaurants or cafes. Richard and his workers take you by boat whenever you want, but it's still a boat ride to get anywhere. - The house is very, very clean inside. But you're in the middle of the jungle, so there are ants and insects around. All windows and the door have good screens which stop most bugs, but if you forget to close the screen door, they will enter. (Surprisingly, there were no mosquitos during our stay, even outside. But Richard told us that there are some during the rainy season.) - The house is located up the hill on a stone path. It's a long and winding gradual climb - it's not straight up, fortunately - so most people can walk up the path with no problem, but it's definitely not wheelchair-accessible.