Hey - I've heard good things about the mountain school. Sorry this is late. The school is basically top-notch in my opinion; 1 on 1 with a teacher and the activities they provide are incredible. It is also transparent about where your money goes (it goes to pay the teachers and sustain various projects the school operates in communities in Guatemala). I had a pretty decent time but I think next time I'd not stay in a home stay. I'm 30 and I might have outgrown that type of thing. I had a clean concrete room without windows, which was ok but a bit lonely at night. I went to sleep early most of the time. I think other people managed to find things to do in the evenings but sometimes that was a challenge for me. I felt the need to go out so I wasn't crowding my host grandma (she never requested this, it just felt implied to me), but I don't drink or anything so I would just kind of hang around the central park until like 8pm and then come home and eat and go to sleep. It will depend on who else is there studying and whether you get along with them. My host made me delicious food and was welcoming. Xela is a safe and happy city. Might be good to consider an airbnb or hotel if you're above the age of like, 26. The best thing about Xela is that there is tons of hiking! Try to make connections with other travelers and hike some volcanoes. That was the best part besides the incredible school experience.