Mikaso Hotel

Our family of four (2 teens) stayed at Mikaso for 2 nights in the apartment. It was a spacious and quiet room and very clean. We did not use the kitchen at all, but I can see it would have been nice to have for a longer stay. Good location with beautiful views. We didn’t eat in the restaurant but did go up for a drink one afternoon. Would stay again!

The hotel is right by the lake and the view is amazing. Unfortunately swimming is not recommended as the water is very dirty. However the hotel provides kayaks which I recommend instead. There’s a restaurant on the roof of the hotel which I can also recommend! Food was very nice and the view is fantastic. It’s a pitty they don’t advertise the restaurant anywhere. We were the only guests when we visited the restaurant. The hotel is located only a few minutes from the main street. The staff at reception was very nice and helpful. I feel however, that the hotel is running at minimal effort. Our rooms were not cleaned unless we asked for new towels. The rooms themselves feel very humid and damp. It’s also not at all soundproof so it can get loud depending on guests.

Arriving by boat from Panajachel is very comfortable. At the muelle in San Pedro a tuc tuc brought us the hostel. Hidden by a gallery of plants such as passiflora, the hostal is located right at the beach front overlooking the lake and volcanoes. The room we had was located towards the large patio and had a private bathroom. The reception is open most of the day and information on local and regional activities is likely available. The muelle and downtown is a mere 10min walk from the hostel. Plenty of sun deck chairs are available as well as a large shared kitchen. The restaurant is another cool place, although not run by the hostal, the pizza is delicious and even a huge thunderstorm made this place a nice one for our diner.

I stayed 2 nights out of a 21 night stay. Pros: - hotel is nicely located by the lake. Good views. - hotel bed is comfortable and room mostly clean, save for quite a few hairs on the floor Cons: - noise #1. In the morning there's music in reception from 830, and for all the insistence on quietness they have in the evening it's actually quite noisy on the ground floor from much earlier. - noise #2. they play music in the restaurant so loud there isn't really a quiet place in the hotel from the afternoon at which to sit by the sea and read - when they say on signs "please advise if you DO NOT want your room cleaned" they actually mean "please advise if you DO want your room cleaned" as I found out after the first day - the staff. I'll just lay out my story below, but it seems the hotel is managed by someone who has a nasty side to him (middle aged Dutch(?) man) which comes out sometimes. Read some of the negative reviews and the hotel's responses and you'll see this side. I went out on my second night and met some Guatemalans. They insisted on walking me back so I got home safe. One of them needed the toilet when we got there at around 11:15pm, so we walked into reception together, only planning for one of them to go to the toilet. The older man at reception jumps to his feet, yelling in Spanish for them to get out, pointing to the door, squaring up to the girl, not listening to us that one of them wants to use the toilet. Shouted something about it being illegal. This was all quite rude. Next morning I speak to the polite receptionist to tell her of my experience prior night. She apologises. Reiterates the rule that one guest is allowed to stay but not two and that may have caused the confusion. Says it's not an isolated incident with this man. 6pm - I come back to hotel. The old man receptionist is there and calls me over and points to some sign about guests and reiterates something about illegality. I try to clarify the rule I was told earlier was one guest but not two. He doesn't agree it seems. 615pm - the manager of the hotel comes to my room and says things along the following lines: 1) "you were drunk, right?" (Yes we had been drinking, but we were not obscenely drunk) 2) "you had a bottle in hand last night" (false) 3) "you were going to the terrace to carry on the party" (false) 4) "I heard all sides of the story" (false, he never actually asked my side of the story but rather only what his other staff members had told him) 5) I say I'm going to leave the hotel and that I will leave a review to which he says something like "you're threatening me with a negative review but it doesn't matter amongst hundreds of good ones" (I wasn't threatening it, I was just stating it) 6) we agree that I will leave. He says I can stay the night but out of principle I want to leave immediately. He offers to give me back all my money which I refuse. So there you go. Unpleasant, accusatory, moralising, and generally pretty grumpy fellow.

The place is just amazing, the view ( incredible sunrise on the lac), the service, the restaurant and the manager Daniel is an awesome host :) A must for a superb travel experience where all the necessities are near (bars, restos, boats to visit the lac, or a volcano,etc).

Excellent place and awesome service! Spacious and beautiful! Staff went the extra mile to help with everything. You can't beat the view. Thanks, Daniel and team! Anyone who stays here will not regret it

My friend and I stayed at the Mikasa in October 2022. It is very quiet as it’s at the edge of town, but only a 5-10 minute walk to most places in San Pedro. The staff were very welcome and helpful. The beds were comfortable and the rooms were clean. Great lake views too.