My husband, myself, and our 3 school-aged children had traveled to Panajachel in order to visit a non-profit which supports Mayan girls' schooling. We'd collected a suitcase of needed school supplies to bring this organization based in Panajachel. Our stay at the Rancho Grande Inn came at the end of our Guatemala trip.
Prior to this, we had lived for 3 weeks with a Guatemalan family in Antigua and attended Spanish Language school each day. This was both a wonderful and challenging experience. Our homestay did not have consistent hot water and the food we ate with our host family was the local fare. Basically after 3 weeks of sleeping fairly poorly in one room and having to walk outside for our showers, we were sorely in need of a nice place to wash up and rest for two nights.
Rancho Grande Inn's description and price tag suggested it would fit our needs. We reserved their casita for our family of 5. We arrived after dinner and everyone was dying for a warm shower. Unfortunately the water was only cold. We informed the management about the problem. They worked on it for a while and declared it fixed. We tried again, the shower was still cold. They offered us another empty room to shower in. That water was cold too.
At this point, I went to the office and told the hotel owner that $130 was a lot of money to pay for a room without hot water and I was requesting some sort of discount. The owner, who was bilingual in English and Spanish, told me she never gives discounts and that she found it hard to believe that the water was still cold. Then she said, "I mean, did you really come here for the hot water?" After the experience we'd had at our 3 week homestay, I felt like yelling, Yes!
The next day the owner said to my husband that they realized that I wasn't making the water story up, that something was wrong and they'd work on fixing it. They did have someone come out that day, but after this, we only had hot water for our first child's shower.
Beside the hot water issue, this hotel was comfortable, though fairly dark. The sheets and pillows were nice. The breakfasts (included in the hotel price) were delicious. However, it was hard to be treated so rudely by the owner, still not have hot water, and have to pay an expensive price in the end.

This was the second time I stayed here. My friend goes to Guatemala several times a year and she always stays here. I can see why: the rooms are large and cozy with carved wooden furniture. The bathroom was good-sized too - enough for three women to share without getting on each others' nerves.

The rooms are set back from the street with a pretty lawn and there is even a pool set in a garden/orchard (actual fruit trees). The hotel isn't on the main strips of Pana which keeps it quiet but it's an easy walk (albeit on cobblestone streets) to all the shopping, restaurants, nightlife.

Breakfast included with room is the typical cuisine (eggs, refried black beans, white cheese) with a twist - a giant thick german style pancake.

This time they even had wireless internet.

When we stayed at Rancho Grande, I honestly thought that the owner must have simply used The Golden Rule as her guide for running this finely tuned oasis. From the absolutely spotless room and bath to the split wood for the fireplace, to the manicured gardens, the scrumptious & unique breakfast, the sparkling pool and a layed back owner with personality galore, I have to give it a big TEN.
Six or seven years ago, I had found this spot by chance when travelling through Guatemala. I had driven from the Toronto Canada area all the way through the United States and Mexico at the time and always remembered it as one of the highlights. At the time, my destination was Belize and Merida Mexico and back home. That's a lot of motels and hotels there and back. After all those years, I still remembered approximately where it was located. Need I say more?

After much difficulty finding other accommodation off tripadvisor, we went past Rancho Grande. What a find. Wonderful helpful staff. The owner is a treasure. They put us in the honeymoon suite which was a lovely villa across the road from the Reception. Secure parking for the motorbike. Awesome pancakes for breakfast are a must. Easy walk into the village. The rain here is amazing and it was just great to stay at this place for 3 nights. Highly recommend and it was good value at US$45 per night.