Arriving in Flores by plane
Make absolutely sure you get an entrance stamp when coming from Mexico or Belize, otherwise you might get ripped off when trying to leave the country !
There's a lot of public transport which will take you to Flores,
If you want to go to Tikal right away, there are shuttles waiting for you, unless you take the 9.55 am flight from Aviateca, in that case you'll need to get a taxi. A taxi to Tikal costs 150 Q, DON'T BELIEVE THE MAN AT THE INGUAT TOURIST OFFICE DESK TELLING YOU IT'S 300 Q, he probably tries to stay friends with the taxi drivers instead of doing his job wich is giving reliable info (12/99).
Getting out to Belize/Mexico
Have a look at the "General info on El Peten" for details.
Flores - Santa Elena
Restaurant
I can recommend the Restaurant La Union, a small place on Flores island (opposite side of causeway), not very crowded, but with one of the best terraces to watch sunset, and cheap beer and food.
Hotel
Flores
We stayed at the Tucan hotel which is very basic, but nice. They had good food (they have a restaurant there), excellent location at the border of the lake, you can even swim there. However, they have only 5 rooms, so you need to go there very early to get a room. Recent reports said it was noisy because of the restaurant, when we were there the restaurant closed at 9 pm. Price is now 42 Q. A bit further is El Tucan II at 40Q a qouble without bathroom, but it's less cosy, no terrace on the water. (12/99).
Nextdoor is the Hotel Villa de Lago. They charge 50 Q for a double without bathroom (bathrooms are clean). Good value for money on the island. they have other facilities like breakfast for 15 Q pp, they do laundry, they have a small shop for drinks, and they even accept TC's (8/98).
Hotel Santana: more expensive (125 Q '96), at the border of the lake, all rooms have lake view, good breakfast, clean, AC. Good price/quality.
Hotel El Canoa: pretty new hotel, very clean, staff is friendly, double was 50 Q in 1996 for a room with bathroom, toilet.
Hotel Casa Blanca is to be avoided.
La Casona de la Isla is a very good hotel, but price is also higher. Normal price is 240 Q, but 180 Q i
s possible. They have spacious rooms with AC, bathroom, TV and a swimming pool. The food is very good and they have a safe at the reception. you can reach them at
lacasona@gua.net, tel 926-0523 or fax 926-0593 (11/98).
The Hotel Sabana is a good middle budget option at 27 US$ a double with bathroom and swimming pool and AC.
Santa Elena
Hotel Alonzo: this is the place were the bus from Guate stops. However, it got bad reports from several travellers, to be avoided, 40 Q for a room on the first floor (8/97).
Hotel Jade is cheap, but also dirty, very basic and unfriendly staff. You get what you pay for I guess.
Hotel Leo Tu Lu is basic, but a bit better and also cheap.
The Hotel Costa del Sol is recommended in the Footprint, but it's now completely rund down (12/99), so avoid it. The location is also not too good (far from busstation and Flores island).
We stayed at the Hotel Colonial, but I can't recommend it either. It's cheap at 60 Q a double with bathroom, but no hot water, and the place becomes very noisy at 4 am when a busload of Guatemalans gets dropped off here and most of them check in. In the room next to us, there was a group of men playing cards (12/99).
El Remate
Something special is the Casa de Don David in El Remate. This is a new hotel at the border of the lake outside Flores. It's run by an American and his Guatemaltese wife. They charge 60 to 90 Q for very clean rooms (8/98). They have a shuttle leaving for Tikal leaving at 4.30 am and coming back at 2 pm (30 Q). You can eat à la carte at noon, in the evening there's a fixed menu.
What to do ?
Flores is a small island on the lake.
A boattrip on the lake to the Mirador on the other side is worth a trip, but don't go to the zoo, it's awful.
Poptun
About a 4 to 6 hours busride from Flores is Poptun, in the middle of the jungle. It has been popular for backpackers to stay at the Finca Ixobel. A double room is 60 Q, dinner taken together with the other guests is 32 Q (8/98). From there you can make trips into the jungle, explore caves and do some inner tubing on a river nearby.
Go to Tikal
