My favorite hotel in the Peten, and especially the best hotel near Tikal, is the Villa Maya, of the Sagastume family.During the several decades that I have done archaeological research in the Peten, and the many years that I led tour groups and Maya study groups to this area, I have stayed in almost all the hotels of Santa Elena, Flores, San Benito, and Tikal. For those tourists who do not stay actually inside the Tikal National Park, the best hotel outside the park is generally considered the Villa Maya.

Take with a grain of salt notices that any particular hotel is "minutes from Tikal." All hotels outside the park are within 60 minutes of the park. The Villa Maya is another 5 minutes closer because it is 5 minutes away from the airport (in the direction of the national park).

The Villa Maya is part of a group of hotels throughout Guatemala also owned by Rafael Sagastume and managed by his sons. STP is the substantial travel agency run by the same family and managed by his daughter. FLAAR reviews the Hotel Villa Colonial in Antigua, the Hotel Maya International in Santa Elena (Flores area, Peten), and the Villa Grande in Chichicastenango, mostly on the web site www.maya-art-books.org. We have not yet had time to visit their hotel on Lake Atitlan, the Villa Santa Catarina.

Reservations are via the main office (Villas de Guatemala) in Guatemala City:
PBX (502) 2334-1818
Fax: (502) 2334-8134
Email: info@villasdeguatemala.comFor brochures from the USA try (305) 854-1544.