Hotel & Restaurante Arca de Noé

We stayed at the Casita Sunrise, the one at the highest point in the property. The room is small and you have to walk through steep stairs to get to it. The view from the room was great, however, there is little privacy as some windows have no curtains, we had to hang some scarves we had for privacy. The bed was comfortable and they clean the room every day. There is a dirt path going uphill that takes you to the back of the property and closer to downtown. The place itself is calm, however, there are several street dogs in town and once one barks the rest follows. There is a spanish school in the property however we never saw it open and the place itself looked dead. They have a restaurant service but you have to reserve by 5 for dinner. The boat service from other towns going to this one finishes at 5:30 pm. The service at the reception when their receptionist Stephanie is there is terrible, she is very condescending and lacks touch for customer care, thank god there is the Iguana Perdida right next door which is where we got most of our answers when we had questions about the town, how to get around etc. Also be aware there is a community tour agency Santa Cruz Jo who offers tours for good prices, we got a weaving class of about 3 hrs with Tomasa a local indigenous woman for 100Q pp and a traditional temazcal bath for 200 Q pp compared to what one of Stephanie’s relative tried to charged us ($35 USD pp) for one activity. There is a book with the number and activities available at the Iguana’s reception. Also, we were never able to take a proper bath, the temperature does not regulate, is either too cold or too hot, there is like 3 seconds of ok temperature then it is either too cold or steaming hot. Also, there are few restaurant options in town, like 2 or 3. If you stay here or at the Iguana Perdida please feed the dogs who sleep outside, they are adorable and their only decent source of food comes from the tourist.

We loved our short stay at casita 1. The casita was very cozy. We loved spending New Year’s Eve and waiting for the New Year’s by the little fire pit. We had a great view of the fireworks in town and across lake Atitlan. The food in the restaurant was also great with an amazing view of the lake and volcanoes. We highly recommend making dinner reservations at the restaurant. The food was excellent and has a romantic atmosphere at candlelight. Chef Domingo and the restaurant staff were great. Highly recommended.

The bed was like sleeping on cardboard the bathroom did not look clean at all. There is no WiFi and the staff was unfriendly. Beware to take quetzales with you for they do not accept dollars unless they are un-wrinkled and flawless. Take into account that if you are looking to go eat out at night you just have two options around and both of them are not open menu you have to sign a list so you can dine in both places. The kitchen of the hotel itself was full of flies. However if you want to disconnect and starve this is great place !

There are bugs everywhere in the room, especially the bathroom. The room is extremely extremely dusty. You do not feel like you can walk barefoot around your room because your feet will get dirty. Worst of all, there was no Internet access except in the lobby/restaurant of the hotel. And the internet access in the lobby/restaurant was spotty at best. The staff is friendly though and helpful. The rooms are a decent size. There is hot water in the showers.

Hotel Arca de Noe is a gem. The rooms are lovely, the beds are comfortable and most important of all, Juan Carlos is an excellent manager who helps make your stay very pleasant. In addition, Hotel Arca collaborates with Tours Atitlan which offers the best tours. Lastly, the food is excellent. I did enjoy the meat and the fish dishes very much. I highly recommend this hotel.