Maximo Nivel Review: Spanish Immersion Program in Antigua

Last September, I spent two weeks on a Spanish Immersion program in Antigua, Guatemala and had an incredible time! Keep reading for my Maximo Nivel review.

I chose to do this through Maximo Nivel after seeing rave reviews about the school online and finding it to be the most affordable. My experience was amazing and i wouldn’t hesitate to go back. Rather I am trying to go back at some point this year.

Guatemala is known as the cheapest place to learn Spanish and in my experience this is not wrong! I paid $490 for a 2 week Spanish Immersion Program. This included housing, breakfast & dinner every day and 2 hours a day Spanish lessons plus all the included free events. Incredible value!

If you’re thinking of going to Guatemala to do a similar thing, keep reading to check out my full Maximo Nivel review…

What is a Spanish Immersion Program?

A Spanish Immersion Program is where you fully immerse yourself into a Spanish-speaking country to learn the language. You typically live with a host family who only speak to you in Spanish and attend Spanish lessons on top of that.

How did you find the program?

I knew I wanted to do a Spanish Immersion program as I’d heard it was the best way to learn a language so I googled “best places to do a Spanish Immersion program” and all the posts suggested that Guatemala was the easiest (and cheapest) place to learn.

Guatemalans typically speak slower than other Spanish speaking nations and with a limited accent making it a great place for beginners to learn. After knowing I wanted to go to Guatemala I started researching options and found Maximo Nivel.

How long did you stay for? How many hours of lessons did you do?

I only did 2 weeks as I didn’t have longer but I wished I’d stayed for at least a month. Although I learned a lot in 2 weeks, I was just getting into my groove and know if I had longer I’d have learned tonnes more. I originally booked 2 hours of group classes per day. However, for my first week I got moved to 1 hour private as no other students booked onto the 2 hours at my level. The second week I had 2 hours per day with one other classmate so it still felt like private lessons.

How much did it cost?

I paid $490/£374.93 for 2 weeks of Spanish Immersion. This included a private double room with a host family, breakfast, dinner and 2 hours of group Spanish classes per day. Plus all the free extras offered by Maximo Nivel (see below for a rundown of the extras!). That works out to $35/£27 per day which is super budget friendly for everything involved.

But the immersion fees weren’t all I had to pay for. Check out this post next for a full breakdown of my spending on this trip.

What extras are you talking about?

Each week my school put on a bunch of free activities for both the English and Spanish students. We did cooking classes, salsa classes, football games, walking tours and a Saturday cultural activity. The one Saturday I was there we did a hike up to Cerra de la Cruz, which is a super popular viewpoint in Antigua. The views were super worth the hundreds of steps! Plus we went with a Maximo teacher so they could share the history about the place making it more worth it.

On top of the weekly activities, there was free tea and coffee available at the campus all day everyday. And they pick you up from the airport but would normally be a $30 taxi ride.

For the crazy low price I paid, I was very pleasantly surprised by all the great extras and made sure to do as many of them as possible.

How much did you learn in only 2 weeks?

Way more than I imagined I would! Neither my host family nor my teacher were fluent in English. My teacher had very limited English and only the host dad spoke a tiny bit so I was forced to speak Spanish most of the time. This was the best thing possible! One of my favourite memories from the two weeks was dinner one night where we sat for two hours afterwards chatting about anything and everything ALL IN SPANISH! And I understood enough to keep the conversation going. I literally went to bed on a high from the progress 😂

I mean I should preface that thanks to a 640 day streak on Duolingo I wasn’t a complete beginner. Maximo Nivel test you on arrival to make sure you are placed in the right class and I tested as an advance beginner. So my lessons were mostly building on the knowledge I already had and locking in the basics. This pre-knowledge 100% helped and made the experience 10x better. I would’ve really struggled and ended up using google translate as a clutch if I’d arrived with zero Spanish.

How is your Spanish now?

Much better! I knew I wasn’t going to become fluent in just two weeks but I do feel much more confident now. I find that my listening has improved so much and I now understand the majority of Spanish I hear. Or at least I know enough words to make an educated guess. I’m still working on having the confidence to speak but getting there.

Wait, you have to take a test?

Yes, all new students get tested during your orientation so they know your level and then the best class to place you in. The test was made up of four parts; reading, writing, listening and then speaking. It only took around 20 minutes and wasn’t as bad as I thought. The staff are super nice and only want to make sure you’re placed in the right class to make the most out of your time there.

What was the food like at the host house?

The food at my host family was really good. I think the only thing I was served that I didn’t like was a bowl of papaya. But that’s more because I had a bite of a mouldy one a few weeks before and still have food PTSD from that. The host family accommodation with Maximo Nivel comes with breakfast and dinner included. I was told these would be served at approximately 7am and then 7pm but this differs from house to house. We (there were other students in my house) communally decided on 8am for breakfast and 7pm for dinner.

Was it enough food?

I was almost always offered seconds at every meal time so if I wanted more I could have it. But 9 times out of 10 the original portion size was more than enough.

Did you have to eat there?

I mean, no you didn’t have to eat with your host family and I met some friends who ate out more than they ate at home. But you did have to warn the family at least a few hours before the meal time so they didn’t prepare anything that went to waste. I did miss a couple meals to go to various things, like on Tuesday nights which were salsa nights. I would always go out for drinks and dinner with friends after the class.

Did they cater for allergens/dietary preferences?

Yes! When you “apply”, they ask you if you have any allergens or dietary preferences and make sure the host family know to cater.

How far was the accommodation from the school?

The host family that I was placed with were actually the furthest away from the school in the next town over from Antigua. It was about 1.5 miles from the school and walkable in around 30-35 minutes. But the walk was along a dirt road so I ended up taking Ubers. An Uber was around Q30-40/£3-4 each way or I did have the option to take a chicken bus for Q4/40p each way. Everybody else I met on the program was living in the same area, a 10-minute walk away from the school.

Do you have to stay with a host family?

No. They recommend staying with a host family if you are apart of the Spanish Immersion program as it’s the best way to learn. But Maximo Nivel did have other accommodation options like an apartment, guest host or hostel. Plus, you could always just do lessons and find your own accommodation but this wouldn’t be a full immersion program.

How expensive is the city itself?

Compared to the UK and the US, Antigua is very affordable. The public transport is very cheap comparatively and if eating at local restaurants the food was a good price too. Like all cities, Antigua does have it’s share of fancy restaurants where the prices are typically higher. For some context I found these were the typical prices…

• Coffee ~ Q20-Q35 (£2-£3.50 for a coffee)
• Lunch ~ Q50-Q100 (£5-£10 depending on where you eat)
• Dinner ~ Q50-Q100 (£5-£10 depending on where you eat)
• Margarita ~ Q50 (around £5)

Any other options?

Yes! Whilst I went to Maximo Nivel for their Spanish Immersion program, the school also offers a range of other programs and in other locations. As previously mentioned I picked Antigua, Guatemala as I’d read that it was the best place for beginners to learn Spanish. However, they also have schools in Costa Rica and Peru.

Further, Spanish Immersion is just one of a range of programs on offer through Maximo Nivel. They also offered education, medical and environmental volunteer programs which came with the same perks and participants could stay with a host family so almost the best of both worlds.

My Verdict

I absolutely loved my two weeks at Maximo Nivel and would go back in a heartbeat. All the extras were a nice perk I wasn’t expecting, especially when paying almost half the price of others immersion programs. The teachers I met were all lovely and very good at their job. Even in two weeks I learned so much!

I would highly recommend this school to anyone interested in doing a Spanish Immersion program.

Have you ever done something like this before? Would you consider an immersion program in the future?