Customer Reviews

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  TAMIKO

  · January 19th, 2025
  This tour was amazing! Olivia and Daniel from Marvelous Travel were always available to answer questions. All the private drivers, shared shuttles and private boat captains were on time and courteous. The tour guides for the boat tour and volcano both spoke English which was helpful. The highlight of the trip was the Mayan Family Stay. My daughter and I were fortunate to stay with Daniel's wonderful wife and children. They made us feel so welcomed. We ate authentic Guatemala food which was delicious and his daughter taught us to make fresh tortillas while we were wearing their native dresses.
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  Trip date: January 2025
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  bethany

  · April 8th, 2024
  I was not expecting the rooms to be so hot and noisy; other than that it was good. I did have my own bathroom; it was a hostel still, I’ll use marvelous and Tourradar again It was a great introduction to Guatemala Thank you
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  Trip date: April 2024
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  Rona

  · July 13th, 2023
  Guatemala was wonderful as a country, but the value of the services provided were not worthwhile when looking at how much transportation and lodging actually cost there. What's more, the tour company's itinerary written personally written for me was written ambiguously. It said "transfer to Panajachel", so when the van driver dropped us off in Panajachel, I was berated on the phone by a male voice when I called and asked how to get to the Mayan homestay. He said, "It's not my problem you don't speak good Spanish" when I explained that the van driver did not ask where exactly we were going. He was scolding me on the phone and said that I had to follow the schedule exactly as stated on the itinerary. I just assumed the van driver knew where to drop us off seeing as this is a tour company that arranges transportation for us. What's more, prior to leaving Antigua to go to Panajachel, I gave my phone to the male employee at Marvelus who spoke to the van driver, so I assumed that he told the van driver where we were supposed to be driven. That apparently was not the case. I have never been spoken to by a tour operator in my life with that condescending, scolding, rude tone of voice. When I screen shotted the ambiguity of their schedule, the male voice on the phone acknowledged that it was ambiguous but did not apologize. He then transferred me to a female person Olivia who did apologize for the ambiguity of the schedule and was professional in her messaging for the rest of the trip. I'm mostly offended by the condescending and offensive nature in which I was spoken to by the male staff member at Marvelus. I actually have a decent grasp of Spanish, but I cannot say I am fluent. It is not practical for every tourist to speak the local language of every country they visit on the planet. Also, many points were not planned well. In the stop from Panajachel back to Antigua, we were told to "simply wait outside the Marvelus office" for 1.5 hours. They claimed the office was closed at 10 AM on a weekday, forcing us to sit outside. Thankfully, it wasn't raining. Many of the 14 passenger vans were filled to max capacity, leaving no room for people with luggage beyond a backpack. It was an extremely uncomfortable van ride when the van was filled to max capacity for 2 hours of driving. Thankfully, my family member and I travel light, but I don't see how this would be feasible with people who don't travel lightly. Also, the Mayan homestay can be booked through other 3rd party web sites. They are not the only ones who provide this unique experience. I'm just writing this for future travelers to know. I'm assuming the tour operator takes the biggest cut, and the homestay family makes a pittance comparably, so if you want more money to go to the Mayan homestay, book through a third party web site that provides that and then tip the Mayan family generously for their hospitality. Also, the stated age range for this tour was up to age 71. My family member is in the 70's, and the volcano trek was unbearable for him. There was no warning for how physically taxing the volcano trek would be. I would advise those with older travel group members or those who are not physically fit to reconsider the volcano trek. We met younger travelers who also said the volcano trek was too taxing to be enjoyable, but they felt forced to finish because they had already walked halfway. The volcano trek takes 3-4 hours and is extremely steep in many parts of the trek. Also, the hotel Hotel Posada Los Bucaros in Antigua--the hotel room was the size of a sardine can. There was nowhere to put your luggage. The room was new and spotless though and well maintained. Wifi was good. Hotel Arca de Noe - There is no wifi except in the hotel lobby, and even there, it was unreliable. I can't expect every place on the planet to have amazing Wifi, but the other downside to this hotel was that it was extremely dusty and musty. It was like no one had ever dusted the room ever. And there were a ton of bugs. I saw every bug of every species and size in my hotel room. All in all, I will come back to central America some day, but not with this company.
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  Marvelus Travel commented on this review

  Hello Customers thanks for shared your travel experience with Marvelus Travel, its important to us to hear you as well, we are taking action about what happened with you as travellers, we are sure we make this better for others future customers, we are... Show more
  Trip date: July 2023
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  Laura

  · May 5th, 2022
  Here are a few considerations from my experience on this trip. I hope they're useful to future travelers. -The itinerary that we received was confusing. Make sure that you read the entire document and contact the operator if you have any questions. For instance, our original itinerary did not include the Mayan homestay; they were quick to correct that once we pointed it out -If you arrive in Guatemala City a few days before the tour starts, you can still contact the tour operator to request airport transfers. The transfer is good whatever day you arrive. -Unfortunately, I got heat exhaustion (April is the hottest month!) and not go on the volcano hike. However, my partner went and he told me that it was harder than he expected. -Make sure to bring snacks as sometimes you will not have time for meals, particularly when they pick you up early, before the hotel restaurant is open -The Mayan homestay was wonderful. Make sure that you learn a little Spanish before your visit so that the time that you spend with the family is not awkward. Also, it's nice to bring a gift for the family -When you visit Lago Atitlan, if you're staying in Panajachel, you will have tons of things to do and eat. I highly recommend visiting the reserve and paying extra for ultra zip lining (a 850 m zip line awaits you). If you find yourself somewhere else around the lake, you may not have many activities, but you can always take the public boat to Panajachel. -We were tricked into taking the public boat on the way back to Panajachel, as the captain told me that his boat was part of the tour and when we arrived he charged us Q25 -I appreciated having an updated travel guide to do things on our own because this tour is NOT guided. -All in all I'd recommend the tour if you like doing your own thing and have researched the proposed locations.
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  Trip date: March 2022
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  Maria

  · June 8th, 2021
  I don’t want to do in the future any more tour alone. I would like groups and guide.
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  Trip date: May 2021
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  Dorka

  · February 22nd, 2019
  This trip was a mother & daughter trip for one...
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  Trip date: February 2019
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  MAURO

  · January 4th, 2019
  Good price for a good quality tour. Suggested...
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  Trip date: December 2018
• SL

  Sing-Chi

  · October 20th, 2018
  Great tour for those who don’t want the hassle...
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  Trip date: October 2018
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  Jean

  · January 26th, 2018
  No guide was provided on the tour, only the one payed for on the volcano treck. Transportation was late half of the time; I had to call the agency 3 times to make sure it would come. No information was given on duration of the transportation or what to expect on the tours. The homestay was nice with the mayan family. The combination of the differents tours made the transportation too long. Tip: don't go to the Chichi market, it does no offer more than what you can get everywhere else.
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  Marvelus Travel commented on this review

  Hi Customers, This service you book its clear whats included: Shared van for 15 passengers, all Pick up: its not punctual, its always wait 15 minutes after your time pick up, becuase the shared pick it up more passengers, this tours only include... Show more
  Trip date: January 2018
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  Silvia

  · August 5th, 2017
  We had a great experience with the tour this...
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  Trip date: July 2017