Chan Chich Lodge

We absolutely loved our time at Chan Chich. A place to truly escape from it all and be immersed in nature, Chan Chich is decidedly remarkable. While there was WiFi if needed, we loved how "off the grid" Chan Chich was...the chance to relax and recharge in a remote, wild place is a rare pleasure. We loved our daily howler monkey wake-up calls, birdwatching from our cabin's front porch, and appreciating the gorgeous, lush flora and diverse, fascinating fauna. Thanks to expert guides Luis and Reuben, we saw incredible wildlife (our first ocelot!) and I added an impressive number of dazzling bird species to my life list. Habitat for an incredible range of species, Chan Chich is a birder's paradise for certain. Special mention to the amazing folks who run Chan Chich's restaurant. The food was always delicious and the staff was warm and welcoming--the very essence of what hospitality should be. (Shout out to Cali, Shawn, and Emil...you guys are the best!) We can't recommend Chan Chich highly enough--wonderful Elijio and his staff have created an incredible ecolodge experience. We will always treasure our time here and definitely hope to return.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at Chan Chich. The protected area on the property is extensive, and we were impressed with the density of the wildlife present there. While we didn’t see a jaguar during our four-day stay, we did see many other animals, including tayras, collared peccaries, foxes, toucans, and even a jaguarundi. We were also impressed with the farm-to-table food, which was incredibly fresh, varied, and delicious. Two staff members, Callie and Emil, went above and beyond to make our stay special. The accommodations, however, were a bit run down, and the amenities are not as described on the website. The pool in the villa is drained and non-functional, and the hot tub in the main pool area has a broken heater. A number of the mosquito screens are torn and need to be replaced. While the website advertises that they have rubber boots available for guests, there are actually only two pairs of boots for the entire lodge. Similarly, they only have four headlamps available for the night walks. So bring your own rubber boots and headlamps! If you book the all-inclusive package that includes activities, you’ll need to be prepared to proactively advocate for all of the activities you’re hoping to participate in, since the manager who was on duty during our stay tended not to offer all of them and tried several times to dissuade us from signing up for various activities. I’m assuming this was because of staffing challenges. Additionally, if you’re interested in visiting Tikal during your stay, I’d highly encourage you to arrange this yourself rather than booking through Chan Chich. The tour operator they used to conduct this tour for us, Mayawalk Tours out of San Ignacio, was fine in terms of logistics and transportation, but the tour guide (while nice) was woefully unknowledgeable about Tikal. If we had it to do over again, we would have stayed just three nights at Chan Chich and then stayed overnight near Tikal.

Chan Chich Lodge is an unique and fantastic destination. The staff is attentive and prepared to be helpful without being intrusive. The guides are incredibly knowledgeable and eager to share their expertise. The individual cabins are clean and comfortable. The food is farm-to-table with diverse options and always fresh. It is a remote location, but we always felt safe and well-informed about our surroundings. At Chan Chich, you can be as chill or as intense as you want. There's a beautiful pool to sit by, miles of trails to hike, horses to ride, and day-long excursions. We feel lucky to have found this special place.

Amazing visit to Chan Chich Lodge. It is a very special place. I felt like I was on safari with all the birds and wild animals. Staff were incredible and very helpful with pick up and drop off. Food was delicious. Would recommend flying in if you don't want a long drive to get there.

My dive-buddy and I stayed for 3 nights in a Garden Cottage. Although we are divers we enjoy experiencing the other highlights and the culture of countries we visit. Unfortunately starting with an initial complaint (because it was the first thing that happened) we were not met at the airport when we arrived as per the arrangements. Our plane was due to land at 10:45 am, in the event we landed about 10 mins early, we were the only plane arriving at the time and we collected our baggage and went through customs quickly. We were actually outside by the 10:45 landing time. For some reason our driver, Elias, had been given an 11:45 pick-up time, he then allowed 15 mins for us to collect baggage and get through customs, so we were waiting at 10:45 am and our driver arrived at 12:00 am. When Elias turned up we saw his paperwork and knew it was not his fault. Elias asked whether we wanted to stop on the way for lunch and we pulled into a local restaurant along our route where we had a good meal. For much of the journey Elias provided us with information and spotted birds for us. We were staying in a Garden Cottage, which was everything the web site portrays. There was wire netting over all the windows as well as mosquito nets over the beds, someone sets these up every afternoon/evening and then moves them to the head of the bed (out of the way) in the morning. There were ample power points in the room for us to charge our devices. There was no air conditioning but we found the ceiling fan adequate and slept quite well. I do not think either of us got a mosquito bite during our stay; insect repellent was used. The food was excellent, there were menus, which changed by the day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The lodge is part of the Gallon Jug Farm and that is where most of the food came from, some fish was also on the menu. One cut of beef that I had was exceptional. There seemed to be a bit of confusion around the trips (the trips themselves were excellent). When we arrived around mid-afternoon we were told that someone would speak to us about possible trips during the evening meal. In the event no one did, we made our own enquiries with the dining staff and discovered there was an evening walk, we got on this but I had to rush my dinner and nip back to our cottage to change into socks and boots (no sensible person would walk in the rain forest in open sandals). We saw Tarantulas and other spiders as well as scorpions, a fawn and a few birds. On our last day we were approached at dinner regarding trips but other than this it seemed safer to check on what might be planned at the reception. The trips seem to be somewhat set each day with little consultation with guests although we did at one point suggest things that we would like to do the following day (all of which were accommodated). The trips that we did included an evening walk, a morning walk, an evening drive, a morning drive, drive to the Upper Escarpment, lake kayaking, a lake cruise and we d

My husband and two children (ages 13 and 11) stayed three nights here and were blown away by our connection to nature and the Mayan culture. Reuben was our guide for multiple excursions and it was incredibly special to learn about the area through his eyes. He is Mayan and encouraged us to ask lots of questions during our archaeological tour as he pointed out ancient Mayan structures covered over by nature and took us into tombs in nearby caves that had been looted for their treasures. Our night walk had us dodging spiders, snakes and leaf-cutter ants as we searched for the "big cats" that roam the rainforest. Reuben's reverence for nature inspired us all. Other highlights included the delicious, freshly prepared meals and the pool, which always felt very refreshing after a hot hike. Chan Chich feels more like a retreat than a resort so if you're traveling with kids don't expect zip lines or other amenities. This place is also not for the faint of heart, since you will be far away from civilization but up close and personal with the howler and spider monkeys who live in the trees just outside of the cabanas, as well as many other creatures. We even accidentally came home with a tarantula that crawled into my son's luggage!