Zephyr River Lodge

Nice for 2/3 nights max

✓ The Views

✗ Barely had hot water in dorms. I had to keep calling them to fix it.

Exceptional

✓ The staff and the views!! Janeth and Alejo were the best! Janeth always helping me even before I got to the hostel, the arranged the shuttles I needed and more! The tours they offer were very nice as well!

Fabulous

✓ Such a beautiful location. Worth the trip in it self. A really nice atmosphere and super nice commun areas including the pool. A great trip to see Semuc Champey.

✗ The rooms without air conditioning are steaming hot. I would have been good to have curtains and night lamps by each dorm beds.

Pleasant

✓ The view from the pool

✗ Didn't rake American Express as advertised. Lodging was not comfortable.

Overall, lovely stay, best nights sleep I’ve had in a while and good value for money. Shame you can’t bring outside food

✓ Stunning views, lovely pool, clean & comfortable beds. Staff are so friendly & welcoming some even remember your name which is a lovely touch. Hostel has everything in terms of an ATM run, shuttles available that are good prices and a great semuc tour. Great place to stay and relax, ended up extending by 1 night more :)

✗ WiFi. The WiFi didn’t work in the rooms or outside of the main reception/lobby area.

Passable

✓ The view here is killer! Hearing the birds chirp in the early morning was amazing. I did the tubing tour with the hostel (the guide was awesome) and it wasn’t too long, I still had time to do the bat caves at sunset. They have lockers by the reception so if you have food you can lock it in there.

✗ My breakfast wasn’t fresh and there was mold on my fruit bowl that I sent back. If you don’t book a shuttle through the hostel you have to pay to get a ride with the truck down the hill- if it’s muddy it’s not worth the hike down. Be forewarned there are a ton of ants as well. Ants were crawling inside my bag and all over the floor of our room.

Designed for tourists (however, inauthentic)

✓ Beautiful hostel with beautiful views. Loved the outdoor bathrooms. Nice room options. Pretty social crowd.

✗ Not like a typical hostel, everything has to be bought on site and you are expected to use and pay for their services. We wanted to visit Semuc Champney without their tour (take a public collectivo) and take public transport to and from the hostel and they were actively unhelpful with helping us do that. Don't know if this is a business profit thing or because they genuinely don't expect guests to organise things on their own and so don't have any information to help us. Also only served western food. This will suit some guests fine, just something to bare in mind.

Overall I enjoyed my time just would have liked to have been more accommodating with getting to Semuc Champey.

✓ The location was beautiful. The A frame cabin (Rm 7) has an amazing view.

✗ You are far away from anything. Meaning you must eat all meals At Zephyr which prices are expensive. Also, I wanted to go to Semuc Champey for a second day but there was no way to book something from the hostel without doing the tour twice. I wish there was more activities available or options.