The True Believers of Guatemala Are Luring International Travelers

“It’s so hard to find a quality shaman. None of the good ones are on Google,” says Claudia Bosch from across the table. We’re at the inaugural dinner celebrating the opening of Villa Bokéh in a mansion just beyond the cobbled streets of colonial Antigua in central Guatemala. It’s the latest project of Bosch’s hospitality company, Grupo Alta, which now operates two Relais & Chateaux hotels plus a handful of other tourism enterprises and restaurants throughout the country.

So far, my experience of the urban resort had been limited to a séance with Tomás Mendoza, her favorite Mayan mystic. Shamanistic readings are among the unique experiences on offer at Antigua’s first true luxurious place to stay, and the second hotel in what Bosch says will eventually be a high-end travel circuit through Guatemala. During our session, using nothing more than the precise time and place of my birth, Don Tomás spouted off a very convincing rendition of my life story as a Peter Pan who adventures to far-flung corners of the world.