Casilla Unica Fronteras On the Banks of the Rio Dulce near 16th Century Castillo San Felipe de Lara, Rio Dulce 00011 Guatemala
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#4 of 17 in Rio Dulce
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Tortugal is an exciting part of any Rio Dulce experience with its spectacular peninsula location halfway between the bridge and 16th century Castillo San Felipe. This incredible location means being close to everything needed for convenience yet far enough away to be surrounded by nature. The best way to begin the day is to go for a swim in the refreshing, healing waters of the Rio Dulce to a floating platform where you can relax and enjoy the day's beginning. If you don't fall back to sleep gently rocking on the platform, swim back after awhile and help yourself to an early morning coffee or tea in the restaurant where you will find other travellers beginning their day. Your breakfast will be prepared as you wish and the best part is: breakfast is included with your stay! An early morning kayak trip to Castillo San Felipe de Lara could follow breakfast or maybe you are in the mood for a walk. Look for the elevated walkway which goes through a magical mangrove forest and small lagoon to a bridge over a freshwater creek. From there it is easy to walk through the spectacular hardwood plantation to the main road which leads (left) to San Felipe and (right) to Fronteras. In Fronteras, you can catch a minibus and spend the afternoon or tomorrow morning at Finca Paraiso's hot waterfalls and pool. Pack a lunch from Tortugal's kitchen to enjoy at Paraiso or at the white rocks in famous Boqueron Canyon. There is so much to do, I almost forgot to mention the most profund of all reasons to come to the river: The Great Canyon of the Rio Dulce. This spectacular canyon was the site chosen for the first Tarzan movie. A community boat leaves just about when you are finishing breakfast every morning and wends its way through the canyon, the waterlilly floating garden and the hot springs; eventually delivering you about an hour later to Livingston. Returning in the early afternoon from this adventure; go for another swim in the river and relax on the floating platform. You will have the best sleep of your life under all cotton fabrics in a room created by artesans. On your way to or from Tikal, Belize, Mexico or Honduras; Tortugal is an out of the ordinary experience, the place to stay.
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Property amenities
Free private parking nearby
Lazy river
Free breakfast
Canoeing
Diving
Free shuttle or taxi services
Solarium
Baggage storage
Secured parking
Bar / lounge
Coffee shop
Restaurant
Outdoor dining area
Special diet menus
Wine / champagne
Hiking
Outdoor furniture
Shared lounge / TV area
Sun loungers / beach chairs
Sun terrace
Laundry service
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HOTEL STYLE
Family
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
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Casilla Unica Fronteras On the Banks of the Rio Dulce near 16th Century Castillo San Felipe de Lara, Rio Dulce 00011 Guatemala
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315Reviews2Q+A45Room tips
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+1
One of the best hotels we have stayed at. The rooms are clean, the bed is comfy, the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. The restaurant is big , airy and looks onto the river. The food is delicious, well presented and the portion size is great. Do leave a little room in your tummy for dessert. If you like adventure, free kayaks available and I lovely walk on the grounds
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Date of stay: November 2021Trip type: Travelled
Room Tip: Marine offers a free shuttle / boat trip to the Municipal Pier. Bring along walking shoes ....
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Helpful
Quite simply one of the coolest places I've ever stayed. Amazing atmosphere and very helpful staff. The Ranchitan rooms are just unique situates in the piers with the open plan and view of the river from all angles.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled
Helpful
A little piece of paradise at Rio Dulce. This place is wonderful. The food is amazing, staff is very friendly and it offers transfer to the nearby harbour. Definitely worth a stay when visiting the area. :-)
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Date of stay: December 2019Trip type: Travelled
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
We have been here three times and have had the best experience every time. Jeff the current manager is a legend and the most attentive barefooted reasturant manager you've ever met. Just go! Great food, great music, great drinks!
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Date of stay: November 2019Trip type: Travelled
Helpful
We stayed at Tortugal for 3 days to visit from our home base in Belize. We were very happy with the accomodations. The resort has activities, but we went to El Castillo and Finca Paraiso. Jeff was Very helpful and knowledgeable. The food was very nice - Try the tapado, the robalo, the shrimp, and the other, snapper-lik fish. Avoid the town. Crowds, traffic, noise, .... But Tortugal provides enough so you do not need to go there.
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Date of stay: October 2019Trip type: Travelled
Helpful
Response from lingua1, Owner at Tortugal Boutique River Lodge
Responded 04 Nov 2019
Such a pleasure you enjoyed your stay, the Castillo, Finca Paraiso and most of all Tortugal! and the food. Just the experience we hoped you would have. A wonderful review. Thank you so much.
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We stayed here as part of a tour group and the setting on the river is lovely with a nice central bar and restaurant area and access to the river for swimming and boating. We were lucky enough to be allocated one of the larger lodges in the woodland setting with a big veranda, hammock loungers and tables and chairs and view of the river and a large super king sized bed which was very comfortable. The shower wasn't always hot and the room is in need of some maintenance and refurbishment but this to some extent added to its charm. A fridge would be a welcome addition to all rooms as some did have them and there was room for one in our lodge. However if you are thinking of booking do confirm which lodge you are being allocated as a couple of the rooms have no outside seating area and are near the main restaurant and bathrooms and really weren't very nice at all, presume these are cheaper. We ate breakfast and dinner here and the food was good with good choice of dishes. The female staff could smile occasionally although the male staff were friendly and attentive. If you want a few days of chill in a beautiful location I can recommend this hotel.…
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Date of stay: August 2019
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip: Make sure you book one of the larger lodges with terrace
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1 Helpful vote
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Tortugal is the opposite of a corporate-style lodging. It absolutely has its own vibe, which combines the natural world, boating folk and a slower-paced way of life. A cluster of comfortable cabins in the woods, with an inviting central area which doubles as a (covered) outdoor dining area and hang-out with books, games, etc. They give excellent directions for how to arrange transport on arrival, and everything worked really easily. The staff was wonderful. Only a few have solid English, but everyone is eager to help, and patient. Be aware that there's not an overabundance of things "to do" at the site. One can go off-site on boat trips -- we took the collectivo to Livingston and enjoyed that day a lot -- and take out kayaks, and jump off the floating platform for a quick swim, but it's more about hanging out at Tortugal, petting the cats, watching the ducks, walking in the mangrove and eating the delicious food (loved the salads, particularly.) You feel yourself slowing down and unwinding. However, we did have one big problem there and it was that throughout our stay there was a large, international, group. They basically took over the swimming platform for the whole time, so that eliminated one of the main on-site activities - and we love to swim. But, far worse, is that they had a drinking binge, for hours on end, on our second night, felt like an out of control frat part party, with an incredible amount of noise, shouting, bellowing, etc., going on for hours, despite the bar closing at 9pm. There was a total disregard by the partying people of the fact that there were other guests at the hotel. It lasted until midnight - and absolutely ruined the quiet atmosphere -- and sleep and left us angry. While this wasn't Tortugal's fault, per se, we did wonder why there was no evident protocol for a Tortugal staff member to get them to stop. The next morrning we heard that at least one guest had complained (we didn't venture anywhere near the group). The atmosphere in general is convivial, but the opposite of this kind of behavior, so hopefully we just ran into some bad luck, as it definitely took away from our Tortugal experience, but I do hope that they come up with a strategy to handle any similar situations, because it's so against the spirit of the place itself. On our last morning, the ever-helpful staff arranged not only for an easy transfer to another hotel on the lake (Tortugal was full so we split our time between it and Banana Palms) and even fulfilled an odd request: we asked if we could purchase a bottle of the hot sauce they served. Done! And with a smile from (didn't get his name), the tall, very friendly and helpful — as everyone was — young man at the reception desk.…
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Date of stay: July 2019Trip type: Travelled
Rooms
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1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from lingua1, Owner at Tortugal Boutique River Lodge
Responded 06 Aug 2019
This fabulous guest manages to paint the picture very clearly yet strike a discerning balance; compassionate, thoughtful...as well as forgiving. Much appreciated is the comment that Tortugal has its own vibe...and about petting cats and ducks...Tortugal is not exactly old macdonalds farm but is home to most of us and we love sharing this space with you, our dear guest.... Tortugal hopes to be the sort of place where you can feel at home and cared for and comfortable. It can be stressful and exciting to travel so providing a restful, caring and loving place is what we hope to be and do. And it sounds that was the experience until that late night party. I don't think our guards or the manager in charge knew how to handle the situation. We have worked out options. Hopefully peace reigns again. My apology.
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We availed of the free kayak and walked to town and the nearby Castillo. We swam out to the diving platform in the river and the staff arranged a blanche to take us to livingston. The room was very comfortable for lodge/cabin style accommodation. The staff had limited English and we have virtually no spanish but they were more than willing to help even if we had to use google translate. The food was pretty good. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the outdoors.
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Date of stay: July 2019Trip type: Travelled
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from lingua1, Owner at Tortugal Boutique River Lodge
Responded 09 Jul 2019
Appreciate the very nice comments especially about the accomodations and that you and the staff were able to communicate together! with a little assistance. Sounds as though you are active and enjoyed the walking trail through the plantation to reach town as well as using one of the free kayaks to reach the fantastic 15th century nearby castle. You sound like our kind of folks! Thank you very much for your visit and comments.
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Tortugal has been an amazing experience. We've spent two nights here and i'm not sure if I can ever remember feeling so relaxed! To wake every morning to the sounds of exotic birds and go asleep every night to the sounds of the forest is absolutely wonderful. As if that weren't enough, dining each morning and evening on the rio, fabulous food albiet a slightly limited menu served by wonderful super friendly and warm staff has made this an incredible stay. We love this place and will leave it today knowing our next accomadation on our journey will struggle to deliver for us as Tortugal has. For would be guests, the bar and restaurant is closed by 9 p.m. This suited us entirely, but may not suit everyone.
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Date of stay: July 2019Trip type: Travelled
Helpful
My family and I arrived at the lodge after a long trip from the cayes in Belize. They offered onsite docking, a delicious menu and were beyond hospitable. Due to some issues with our boat and rainy weather conditions, we had to extend our stay twice and Zonia and Herbert catered to us with ease! Leo and Rudy introduced us to amazing people who assisted us in boat repairs and possible boats available for purchase. The kitchen and crew Isadura, Marta, Blanca, Joel & Lilian providing not only amazing meals and much needed cold beverages, but kept the grounds and the rooms delightful. The ducks and the cats onsite were a natural entertainment for my 2-year old son:-) The owner Ms. Daphney, is an interesting and worldly woman. Her heart is evident in every aspect of the property! I can guarantee that this was the first of many future trips to such a special place (perhaps the next time we will not go in our boat...lol)! Thank you to each of you for making our trip so special!…
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Date of stay: March 2019Trip type: Travelled
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip: They have rooms from budget to mid-range!
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Helpful
Response from lingua1, Owner at Tortugal Boutique River Lodge
Responded 17 Apr 2019
A great energy was brought from Belize when this charming family arrived. And how many folks go out if their way to get to know the staff? We were charmed as well. And your insightful review is treasured.
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PRICE RANGE
US$57 - US$63 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
GuatemalaIzabal DepartmentRio Dulce
NUMBER OF ROOMS
20
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Claim Your Listing Frequently Asked Questions about Tortugal Boutique River Lodge
What are some of the property amenities at Tortugal Boutique River Lodge?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free breakfast, an on-site restaurant, and a lounge.
What food & drink options are available at Tortugal Boutique River Lodge?
Guests can enjoy free breakfast, an on-site restaurant, and a lounge during their stay.
Is parking available at Tortugal Boutique River Lodge?
Yes, free private parking nearby and secured parking are available to guests.
What are some restaurants close to Tortugal Boutique River Lodge?
Conveniently located restaurants include SunDog Cafe, Restaurante Rosita, and Restaurante Ranchon Mary.
Which languages are spoken by the staff at Tortugal Boutique River Lodge?
The staff speaks multiple languages, including English and Spanish.
Does Tortugal Boutique River Lodge have any great views?
Yes, guests often enjoy the river view available here.