Blue Marlin Hotel

The hotel’s location is superb! Just a block away from the marina and a street full of nice restaurants and cafes. I felt totally at ease there walking till late evening. The room, which was booked for me by Exoticca, was spacious with a fridge and a safe. There was also a sitting area with a sofa and a desk. Two bottles of water were provided free of charge daily. The bed was comfortable. There wasn’t a wardrobe in the room but there was a closet with ample space for clothing. Both, the room and the bathroom were always very clean. The only thing is: would be nice to have a face towel and not just a small flannel. Breakfast is cooked individually for guests by a couple of ladies and although they’re trying their best to cook it as quickly as they can, it isn’t quick enough for some guests sometimes. Breakfast isn’t massive but is enough to start the day. No food waste either here, which isn’t a bad thing. All in all, do not compare the standards of this small hotel with hotels like Kempinski or Mandarin Oriental. They are in different leagues entirely and the price per night charged by Blue Marlin reflects that. It is a small family run hotel.

The rooms were okay but without a open window, unfortunately the experience was cheap and disappointing! They filled the filtered water dispenser only twice a day and only one dispenser was available for 25-30 rooms. One room filled up 12 bottles and used all the water, one morning. The staff refused to refill saying they only provided two bottles per day, and we would have to wait until 5pm to get drinkable water. Breakfast was rationed, with about three spoons of fresh fruit and one egg per person. They inspected the rooms on departure looking to charge for any dirty or sandy towels over and above their standard. This particular requirement was not informed in advance. One couple was charged $5 for a face cloth that they deemed too dirty. The hotel took full credit card details up front including security number (CCN). Two rooms of our group of four couples. One was dirty and the other was flooded. Did not allocate another room, but solution was covering the floor with towels to absorb the water. This hotel was cheap and a poor representation of the excellent service we had experienced throughout Peru, Equador and the Galapagos. I would highly recommend that you avoid this hotel. It ruined our stay significantly in The Galapagos where the people were kind helpful and tender. Not so the staff at this hotel. They were inflexible, rude and very cheap and stingy. Do yourself a favour and book another hotel.

Don’t touch this hotel! Unfriendly and unhelpful staff, noisy construction in progress, poor breakfast, no fridge or amenities in rooms although they advertise these and Wi-Fi only near reception. In addition they took $60 from our account, ostensibly for stained towels which were not ours, did not tell us they had done this although it related to our first night - and refused to refund when we realised - which was after we left.