Pacaya Lodge and Spa

On the Lip of the Apoyo Crater

Laguna de Apoyo is a volcanic crater filled with warm, clear water, and the rim above it is where the view lives. Pacaya Lodge is built on that rim, in the village of Catarina, with the jungle dropping away from its terraces towards the lake. Twenty-six rooms are arranged between a main building and eight casitas set in a horseshoe, and every single one looks at the crater. The design is deliberately local: Nicaraguan furniture, pottery and artwork, muted earth tones with the colour kept for the art, floating bedside tables, walk-in showers, and a hammock on each balcony. It is an upscale lodge that has not imported its taste.

Why It Works

Three reasons. The position is the first and it is not replicable: an infinity pool hung over a crater lake, with every room oriented to the same view. The second is that the lodge keeps you connected to the water rather than merely looking at it, running a complimentary shuttle down to the lagoon shore for swimming and paddling, which solves the one problem of staying on the rim. The third is the sourcing. Furniture, pottery, art and the spa's botanicals come from close by, and the kitchen cooks Nicaraguan food rather than international hotel food.

Why This Location

Catarina sits on the Pueblos Blancos ridge, which puts the lodge twenty minutes from Granada and about forty-five from Masaya Volcano National Park, with the airport roughly an hour away. That is an unusual amount of Nicaragua inside a short drive: colonial Granada for the day, the Masaya crater which is visited after dark, the craft villages of San Juan de Oriente and Catarina itself on the doorstep, and the lagoon below for the afternoons. The rim is also cooler than the lowlands, which matters more than the map suggests.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Crater rim, local craft, restful, unplugged

• Rooms: Twenty-six across a main building and eight casitas in a horseshoe: six Lodge Rooms, sixteen King Rooms, two Junior Suites, one King Deluxe with the best vantage point, and the Pacaya Suite, all with crater lake views, balconies and hammocks

• Best For: Couples, honeymooners, travellers wanting a quiet base between Granada and Masaya

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The infinity pool set at the edge of the crater, with the lagoon directly below

• Dining: Restaurante Guardabarranco, open-air and traditional Nicaraguan, from plantain empanadas and ceviche to beef filet with chimichurri, plus continental breakfast delivered to the room

• Amenities: Infinity pool, spa using botanicals from the garden, complimentary shuttle to the lagoon shore for swimming and paddling, hot tub, hammocks, private parking

• Attractions: Laguna de Apoyo, the Catarina mirador, the potters of San Juan de Oriente, Masaya Volcano National Park, and colonial Granada twenty minutes away

The Infinity Pool and the Shuttle Down

The pool is the photograph everyone takes, and it earns it: the water stops at the crater edge and the lagoon takes over below. The better detail, though, is the shuttle. Staying on the rim usually means admiring the lake from a distance; here a complimentary transfer drops you at the waterfront, where the swimming is warm and clear and the paddling is flat, then brings you back up for the pool at the end of the afternoon. The two together make the crater usable rather than only photogenic.

Guardabarranco, and Breakfast at the Door

The restaurant is named after the country's national bird and cooks accordingly: plantain empanadas, ceviche, beef filet with chimichurri, served open-air and without ceremony. It is the kind of menu that tells you where you are, which is rarer in upscale lodges than it should be. Continental breakfast is included and brought to the room, so the first hour of the day belongs to the balcony and the hammock rather than to a dining room. The spa works with botanicals grown in the lodge's own garden.

Rooms Without Televisions

Only the suites have a television, and that is a decision rather than an omission. The rooms are built for the balcony: the hammock, the view down into the crater, the earth tones and the local pottery, the walk-in shower. Categories run from Lodge Rooms to King Rooms and up to the Pacaya Suite, and the King Deluxe holds the best angle on the lake if the view is the reason you are coming. Ask for it by name.