After writing my general Selina review a couple of days ago, it is time for a deep dive into the locations where me and my fiancé stayed at. In this first Selina location Review, we are going to take a closer look at the Selina in Lake Atitlán and what my experience was at this particular Selina location. So go with me as we explore the Selina in Lake Atitlán with this review.
Selina Atitlán Location Review
The Selina in Atitlán lies in the town of Panajachel, the biggest town surrounding Lake Atitlán. The town has a population of about 15000, and most restaurants are within walking distance of the Selina Hostel.
It is important to not be fooled by the Selina Atitlán pictures on booking.com, as it looks like the hostel is positioned directly on the lake. This is not the case, the hostel is about a 5-minute walk from the lake. Although the Selina in Atitlán does have a beach bar that is positioned directly on the lake.
If you want to stay directly on the lake in Atitlán, I recommend booking La Casa Del Mundo, which has waves of the lake splashing against it.
Selina Atitlán Rooms review
The Selina in Lake Atitlán has six different accommodation types. When you are traveling alone and used to hostels, you can pick a bed in a large dorm or a bed in a small dorm. The dorms are nice and big, and you have everything at your disposal. The dorm gets cleaned every day.
When you are used to a bit more luxury, you can choose to stay in one of the cabins, on the camping ground at the Selina in Panajachel. We stayed at one of the cabins, and it was great, although they did get really warm, so we couldn’t stay inside during the day. When you book the cabin, you also need to share the bathrooms. However, they were very clean and the showers, were rain showers with good pressure.
You can also choose to stay in one of the rooms with a shared bathroom. These rooms are quite small and don’t give the same experience as sleeping in a cabin. Furthermore, they are also more expensive than staying in a cabin.
If you are used to expensive and nice hotels, there are also options for a standard room and even a deluxe room. Both these rooms are often booked out, as we tried to book one, but could not. If you are in the mood to stay at a 5-star hostel, then this is the best option for you, just make sure to book in advance.
Check out the availability at Selina and other hostels in Atitlán below:
Selina Atitlán Activities Review
Selina is known for its activities, being a digital nomad-friendly hostel where you can work but maybe more importantly network. There were enough activities that you could do, but trying to sight see Lake Atitlán we were only able to go to two of them in the 4 days that we spent there. Some of the activities that were hosted by Selina were Painting and Wine, a Michelada workshop, Yoga, Salsa Night, Pub Quiz, Bonfire Night, and a Pub Crawl. Unfortunately, they also had to cancel a couple of events, because there was too little interest for them. While staying at Selina, we went on the Pub Crawl and to the Salsa Night. Both seemed fairly well organized, and we had a lot of fun at both of them. If you are staying at the Selina in Atitlán, I recommend you participate in at least one activity.
Selina Atitlán Amenities Review
Like almost every Selina, the Selina in Atitlán also has a variety of amenities. The pool was great, although no one went in it, and it was quite cold. Furthermore, it had a kitchen, with a fully stocked fridge where a lot of people left their food for other people to eat. There was even a residential tattoo artist for the first couple of days we spent there. You could also get quite a couple of things from this shop, although that was very expensive compared to local shops, so I would recommend using the shop only in case of emergency. There was also a foosball table and a ping pong table in case you got bored.
Selina Atitlán Food Review
Like any other Selina, this Selina also comes with a bar and restaurant. Overall the food was quite okay, it was not the best food we had in Guatemala. However, a lot of their dishes were great, and there was also quite a lot of variety in the food you could get at the restaurant. However, if you are staying here, I recommend you to get breakfast included, but for dinners, it is better to go to one of the lovely restaurants in Panajachel.
How Good is the Coworking Space in Selina Atitlán?
Compared to the Selina in Antigua, the coworking space is quite disappointing. Because of the roof it has, it gets quite warm in there, and during the time we stayed there I couldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi for the coworking. A lot of the chairs were broken as well, and the meeting room seemed rather small. If there was one disappointing about our stay in Selina Atitlán, it was the coworking space. However, that was the only thing that was disappointing about our stay here.
Selina Atitlán Beach Bar Review
As far as I am aware this Selina is the only Selina, that has a separate beach bar, it is only right to review the beach bar as well. We went there twice on the trip, one time for the pub crawl and one time for salsa night. The beach bar has some great cocktails and shots. For some reason, the cocktails are only $0.10 more expensive than the beers that they sell, so if you are a bigger fan of cocktails than beers then you should get the cocktails. The cocktails were strong, so you get value for your buck. You should not order food here. The pizza was honestly one of the worst pizzas that I have ever eaten, but it is a bar of course, so I wasn’t expecting too much of it.
How Pet Friendly is the Selina in Atitlán?
Very, very, very pet friendly. The whole hostel is full of stray dogs and dogs of vacationgoers. Which obviously can be great for some, like me, as I adore dogs. While we were there, we even kind of adopted a dog, and named him Mango, he would follow us around throughout Panajachel.
However, if you are not a dog lover like me, then it might be better to stay at another hotel or hostel in Atitlán where they are not that pet friendly. As the strays are constantly on the Selina terrain, they either beg for attention or food.
Would I recommend Selina Atitlán?
Last, but not least, and probably why you are here, is the question: Would I recommend Selina Atitlán? Yes. That’s an easy but clear answer. The Selina in Atitlán is more of a party Selina compared to the one in Antigua, but that doesn’t make it less fun. Next time, when we are going back to Guatemala, I am looking to book at the Selina in Atitlán. I hope you enjoyed this Selina Atitlán review, and stay tuned for the review of the Selina in Antigua!
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