Too much partying in Playa del Carmen? The air in CDMX is too stuffy? Then the Nomads-Space in Catemaco is the right spot to be. Fast fibre internet, like-minded digital nomads and lots of leisure activities await you here in an authentic Méxican community.
Catemaco is the region of water and stones. There are the mountains of the volcanoes of “Los Tuxtlas” with their magical places, a perfect place to relax. The green of nature is pure medicine for the soul.
Reviews please interpret per your own needs
Dear travelers, I hope this review helps you before booking this accommodation in Catemaco, Veracruz.
My personal recommendation is: if you have another option, choose it.
The problems started as soon as we arrived. Minutes before check-in, they sent us a video with instructions on how to access the property and retrieve the keys, but the video was blurry, inaudible, and practically impossible to understand. The hostess could barely explain herself in Spanish, and her husband, who was also present, offered no assistance.
We had to ask the cleaning staff for help, who finally explained where the keys to each room were. Honestly, she seemed uncomfortable working there and gave the impression of being dissatisfied with the treatment we received.
Regarding the rooms, the accommodation does not have air conditioning, only fans. The fan in the master bedroom was practically broken: when we turned it on, it didn't react, and we had to wait several minutes or even tap the motor lightly for it to start spinning. Furthermore, it wasn't powerful enough, so the heat inside the room was unbearable.
In the second room, there was a ceiling fan that also failed to cool the space. Although the room has large windows facing the street, the air doesn't circulate properly.
The fan problem was reported immediately. I tried contacting the host via WhatsApp, but the messages didn't go through. I also tried calling her, and apparently my number was blocked. I then contacted Airbnb support, and they did respond the next day.
I even sent messages through the Airbnb app explaining that the fan wasn't working. The cleaning person said that the host "had already left," although she was clearly still there because I could hear her talking. I tried to speak to her directly when she looked out of a window, but she simply ignored the situation.
Finally, the fan started working after several attempts. The following morning, the host responded, saying she would look into the problem, but since one of my companions had moved the fan to another room to cool down, she simply dismissed the matter without offering a real solution.
The service and attention left much to be desired.
The bathrooms were also an unpleasant experience. The toilet smelled terrible, and the shower area felt dirty. There were no proper curtains, and privacy was lacking. There were no functional trash cans either; only wooden crates that didn't inspire confidence in disposing of waste.
As for the host, she appeared friendly, but in our experience, her behavior was unsympathetic and somewhat manipulative. Even some local people—including vendors and restaurant staff we spoke with—commented that they were already familiar with the owners' difficult personalities.
The place also has a coffee shop, but frankly, it didn't convey cleanliness or a positive image either.
Before booking, I had read some negative reviews on Google Maps and decided to disregard them. After experiencing this firsthand, I feel it's important to confirm that several of those observations are indeed true.
Airbnb should better monitor these types of accommodations, because experiences like this leave a very bad taste in your mouth.
I reiterate my recommendation: if you have the option to stay elsewhere in Catemaco, do so. There are much better options.
BE CAREFUL with reserving this place! Unfortunately can’t give ZERO STARS! Got kicked out by the owner before arriving and had to find a new place to stay, three days before arriving, on the most busy weekend of the year! Me and a friend had reserved and paid for the 3 nights in January for a stay in March. The owner, that seemed very friendly in the beginning got upset, rude and unfriendly when we missed a payment of a tour we wanted to book through her (it was Monday, tour would have been on Friday). Also explaining to her that having a food poisoning kept me from replying to any message for 15 hours and making the payment still on Monday didn’t change her mind. She not only cancelled the tour we wanted to do with her, but also cancelled the room the we already had paid for in January. And we got NO REFUND for the 3 nights! She kept the money!!!! Several what’s app messages, but we haven’t got our money back!
DON’T BOOK THIS PLACE!!!
We had a really nice stay here. The house is beautiful and full of character, with a lovely patio/courtyard that makes it a great place to relax or spend some time working. The location is very central in Catemaco, which makes it a perfect base for exploring the town and Las Tuxtlas region. The internet worked very well and there are several comfortable spots with enough power outlets, so it’s also a great place if you’re a digital nomad and need to work remotely.
I also feel that some of the reviews about the host, Katharina, are a bit unfair. She definitely has her own personality, but in my experience she was a great host: communication was easy, she was always reachable, proactive, and very nice and helpful. I also enjoyed our conversations — she’s a very creative person with many interesting projects going on. Even after the stay we’re still in touch, which says a lot about how genuinely supportive and engaged she is.
It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t a star-rated hotel, and it’s not advertised as one. There’s no air conditioning, daily room cleaning, or hotel-style amenities like soap — but considering the very fair price, the value for money is excellent.
The mattress was a bit firm for my personal taste, but that’s obviously subjective. You can hear some sounds from the street, but Catemaco is a small town and the road is far from busy — in my opinion some comments about the noise are a bit exaggerated.
Overall, we had a very positive experience and would definitely recommend staying here, especially if you’re a digital nomad looking for a comfortable and fairly priced place while exploring Catemaco and the beautiful nature around Las Tuxtlas.
What initially seems like hospitality and a welcome quickly turns into demands and indifference.
While the place isn't particularly dirty, its cleanliness isn't exactly reliable.
The place is incredibly noisy; the owners start their day at three or four in the morning, with absolutely no regard for the guests. When this was mentioned, they just shrugged.
We stayed four nights and were always woken up at those hours. We booked five, but staying another night was unthinkable. Due to the owner's demands, the atmosphere became very tense.
They couldn't accept our payment for the food because they didn't have change. We told them we would pay the next day (it was already late), and this woman still contacted us via WhatsApp to remind us of the outstanding payment, even though we were supposedly staying three more nights.
She was incredibly pushy.
Both the bedroom and closet doors were broken. The bedding was ancient. The mattresses were just as old. All of this is bad in itself, but what makes it even worse is the attitude of the owner, who simply doesn't seem friendly.
I booked through Airbnb. As other reviews mention, the host was extremely strange and overbearing. There was no hot water in the second-floor shower, so I asked them to fix it, but they refused for three days and never explained how to do it. She smiled and chatted with the other guests, but was cold and distant with me. I had no choice but to use the first-floor shower, where another Mexican family was staying. Now I suspect it was discrimination against Asians. I've been using Airbnb for many years, and this is the worst host I've ever had. I would never recommend this place.
I don't recommend it. I rented it for two nights through Airbnb, and it doesn't live up to expectations: they only provide towels, no shampoo or hand soap (there wasn't one in the bathroom, which, by the way, is shared). There's no TV, no trash cans, and only a weak fan that barely stirs the hot air, along with another ceiling fan, also with little power. The worst part: I left a sweater in the closet (which had a broken door) during my stay. When I left, I put it directly in my suitcase, and when I opened it, a cockroach came out wrapped in my sweater. It's not a particularly dirty place, but it's not clean either. The worst part: on the day of checkout, there was no hot water. We notified the owner at 10:30 AM, and she said they were replacing the gas tank, so we went to lunch while they fixed it. We were running late, and when we arrived, we wanted to shower before leaving, but the cleaning lady, instead of listening and resolving the issue, simply told us that checkout time had already passed. We contacted the owner, as it's unfair to demand that we comply with an agreement they first broke by not guaranteeing the services they offer and for which they were paid in advance. She simply said, "Well, it's raining... But there's cold water."
There are better hotels and places to stay.
I repeat here, for us it was too comfortable and a good price with the conditions of a coliving, fortunately nothing happened to us like some other visitors. The place was very comfortable and very central and close to the beauty of the beautiful Catemaco.
They stole my computer and my kindle. It's sad. We left the room unlocked for 30 minutes and at that time they came in and took them out of my backpack. The owner, Katharina, tried to be empathetic, but her difficult nature and average command of Spanish made things worse. Their coffee is of good quality and the space is not bad although it does not have air conditioning and the mattresses are hard.
