You’ll know within the first 5 minutes at Casa Paloma, why the NYTimes travel section featured us. In private cove with lake and volcano views from every room , 2 acres of secret gardens and waterfalls, fruit trees. an easy walk to restaurants without sacrificing privacy. Soaking tub, communal yoga platform and sauna. Four additional casitas are available if needed. Local English speaking property manager can arrange airport transport , private chef, massage, hikes, boat rides, more. Too much to name everything here: Totally renovated and upgraded in 2020, Casa Paloma features one -of-a kind art, textiles and ceramics of local craftspeople and artisans from all over Guatemala in every room, and a staff trained to meet all your needs. Our mattresses and linens are top quality as are the appliances in our cook's kitchen. Two fireplaces (in bedroom and private upstairs patio) outdoor shower, wood fired pizza oven and sauna, a gorgeous covered yoga and dance pavillion with night lighting suitable for up to a dozen people, organic vegetable garden, orchid and cactus gardens, waterfalls, and incomparable personal support. For larger groups (a gathering of friends, family reunion, small yoga retreat or even an intimate destination wedding ), there are four additional casitas, each with private baths and lake/ volcano views, on the property, available at an additional cost. With all casitas included, Casa Paloma can house as many as 14 guests. A private chef is available on request for candlelight dinners on the patio or breakfast featuring warm blue corn tortillas and freshly squeezed orange juice. You won't want to leave. Our guests will have access to the entire lakefront villa surrounded by two acres of tropical gardens (orchids, roses, exotic flowers, citrus trees, organic vegetables, swinging fishing boat) and a lakefront dock as well as an outdoor pizza oven. The property also houses four smaller casitas that share lake access from a separate dock. The main dock and hammock/ rose garden are for your use alone. The Yoga platform is for the use of all guests on the property, as is the sauna (temescal). You can reserve use of the sauna and arrange for our gardeners to build you a fire for a small additional fee. For a group of seven or eight, we ask an additional $75 per night. (Or you may simply reserve a casita for others in your party. For larger groups, four additional casitas featuring equally spectacular views, all with private baths and showers (two with kitchenettes), are also available. Upon request, our staff can stock the house with basics for your arrival (locally roasted coffee, wine, fruit, candles, fresh bread, eggs, candles, tortillas) , fire up the pizza oven, or arrange for an in-house massage on our professional massage table . With twenty years' experience hosting guests and a wonderful local staff, we pride ourselves on attention to detail and care for the needs of our guests. Maybe that's why so many come back to visit again.   Our locally-based property manager, Byron (and US-based owner, Joyce) will always be available to assist you with any questions in preparing for your stay. We are happy to help coordinate your travel plans so that your vacation is truly relaxing from arrival to departure. Guests will be greeted and welcomed to the property on arrival and provide you with a local phone to make it easy to contacting him with your questions, recommendations for restaurants, excursions and hikes, or to arrange for boats or massage. In addition, our trusted longtime gardeners, Miguel and Mateo, will be available during the day should you opt for the temazcal (sauna), pizza oven, kayaks, etc. Your privacy is of course always respected. If you would like additional housekeeping we can coordinate as well. A true luxury option is access to your very own private chef. Please let us know If these options interest you and we'll provide rates. Casa Paloma is situated on its very own cove allowing for privacy but within walking distance to the town center of San Marcos La Laguna. San Marcos is known as the spiritual center of Lake Atitlan, an eclectic mix of Mayan culture and wellness/yoga community. Our small village offers many restaurants, cafes, massage/yoga centers , live music and craft vendors for those who choose to venture forth, and of course we're happy to advise you on day trips, interesting markets, hikes. But we have to add: A candle- lit dinner on the patio, overlooking the lake and the stars, is about as good as it gets. With the private driver we'll arrange for you, the trip to Casa Paloma, from the airport or Antigua, should take around three and a half hours. You can choose to travel by land directly to the house or--for the more spectacular scenic experience--our driver will bring you to the dock at Panajachel, where he'll put you on a private boat for the 25 minute ride across the lake, surrounded by volcanos. Twenty minutes later, you'll step out onto our private dock, where our property manager will greet you and show you around. Some guests choose to drive from Guatemala City or Antigua to the lake. If so, we recommend you leave your car at the Parqueo in Panajachel and take the boat from the muelle there to our private dock. We can help coordinate your arrival and arrange the boat for your convenience.   Please note that the path from the road down to the villa is a set of over 100 stairs. Waterfalls and tropical gardens will direct guests to the main villa, with breathtaking views of Lake Atitlan and her many volcanoes. Once you arrive at the lake, you will have little or no use for a car. Public or private lanchas are available throughout the day if guests choose to visit other towns around Lake Atitlan. Colorful tuktuks are also convenient for those not wishing to walk. We are happy to help connect you with private drivers or boat drivers or tour guides during your stay.   We are particularly proud to share our newly constructed yoga and dance platform overlooking the lake, large enough for a group, next to the waterfall. so you'll hear the sounds of water while you go through your yoga practice. Also new to the property: a deep soaking tub off the master bathroom, opening onto a private second patio with outdoor fireplace/ seating area. All our appliances are newly upgraded. We strongly suggest arriving to Panajachel and then taking a boat to our private dock. The road through neighboring towns is not in proper condition. There is also no onsite parking at the property. In addition there are more than 130 stairs from road to house. Arriving by boat, will take you immediately into the property. There are a good number of stairs leading to the property. If you wish to leave the property other than by boat, you must be able to navigate stairs. The good news: Your journey to the top will offer a number of spots to sit and take in the view along the way, and the stairs are lined with flowers. There is an extra firewood charge of 10 USD for times you'd like Miguel to get the pizza oven and grill ready . Or hire our chef, Rosa, to prepare an entire dinner. If you'd like to hire Rosa to cook for you, let us know. She will send you a full menu of options and prices. Once a week during high season --and periodically at other times--our chef, Rosa, will be making pizza in the pizza oven. On pizza nights, a communal table will be set up for all guests who choose to take advantage of this experience. Rosa's pizza is the absolute best. And you are likely to enjoy , too, the company of your fellow travellers. Nat can fill you in on this when you arrive. For larger groups, additional guest houses on the property may be rented on request, for additional fee. With all four guest houses, the property can house as many as sixteen guests. A pack n play crib is available for those traveling with infants. Some guests have noted the presence of spiders on the property, and it's true, you WILL see a particular variety of small, flat spider on the walls sometimes. They do not bite, and they are not interested in crawling on anyone. The only way to ensure that there will NOT be spiders would be to use harsh chemicals in the house. We choose to make this a green environment (and to do all we can to protect the lake.) Similarly, there are certain times of year when scorpions become an issue. They are not a deadly variety but , no question, their bite DOES hurt. During the rainy season,we advise that you take particular care to check your shoes before you put them on. Sometimes a scorpion likes to make his home there. Very few of our guests have had any kind of issue with scorpions, but we'd like to keep it that way. COVID UPDATE: At the moment. San Marcos is the ideal location. We are surrounded by nature. As of this writing, Guatemala has one of the lowest Covid rates on the globe, with no elevation of cases--thanks to the fact that Guatemala was one of the first countries to take measures to protect the country. PLEASE NOTE: The entire property has the best available internet. We often welcome guests who work virtually and depend on great wifi. However, there are times when the power goes out at the lake, and this is out of our control. There is a friendly dog that protects the property. He stays outside and is cared for by our gardeners. Guests traveling with pets may bring a pet subject to discussion with us in advance and payment of a pet deposit.