Hotel Kangaroo Review

Another Guatemala gem, and certainly the most well known of all our favourite hostels, Hotel Kangaroo should most certainly make it to your itinerary. This water access hostel has everything going for it. First, you get at least 2 great boat rides included in your stay through the impressive mangroves of Rio Dulce to a small tributary off the main river. Then there's the dock, which has a beautiful reflect-y view of the river. It's a wonderful place to enjoy your morning coffee, or a cold afternoon beer. The food here, cooked by the charming owner Graciela, is super delicious. The rooms are simple, but clean with effective ceiling fans. You can swim off the dock and there's even a rope swing, if you're looking to add a little adventure to your afternoon. Aside from all these awesome amenities, by far, our favourite thing about Hotel Kangaroo were its proprietors, Gary and Graciela.


As I was lazy and put off finishing this review for far too long, I'm going to finish the rest of my thoughts in point form:

-Free boat rides for check in/check out and 830am each morning

-This is very reasonable considering the boat costs money and they charge Q20 for all other rides

Even if you end up paying for some, you shouldn't need more than a couple rides

-Food/drinks- very reasonable reconsidering you're on an island, esp. the coffee, which is possibly the cheapest coffee we had in Guatemala

-Everything was delicious and the portions were filling

-J really liked the veggie burrito and the veggie curry was chock full of veg

-We also had the enchiladas with both the mole and green sauce, very tasty and the Ozzie burger (make sure you ask for beetroot) was AMAZING and some of the best fries we've ever had

-Lemon pie was refreshing and a nice treat

-We were there at the end of November (2015). We super lucky because it was cool (temperature wise). The days were still swim-able hot, but in the night it was very comfortable. Most people didn't even use the fan, but we did

- With the extra water from the flooding, we were surrounded by picture perfect reflections

-  There is a second, nice relaxing area out back behind the restaurant

-We had the small private room with shared bathroom 150Q* (bathroom shared between 4 rooms)

-The bigger rooms were 180Q and the cabins were Q220
*Prices in November '15