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.

Island lost power while we were there so we had no air conditioning and windows didn’t open. Otherwise it was great.

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.

Not a great hotel. We had three nights here. The room was very basic. No hairdryer or fridge. They were supposed to supply water but the water dispenser was mainly empty at most parts of the day - seemed to only have one large container per day and once that ran out they didn’t supply any more for the rest of the day. The breakfast was very small. There was no variety. You were given a small bowl of fruit and some eggs and bread. There was coffee or tea available at breakfast. It was a short walk away from the sea front. You could not choose to eat lunch or dinner in the hotel, which was probably just as well. There was a large array of restaurants and bar’s locally. The swimming pool is TINY. The rooms were clean and fresh towels provided daily. There was air conditioning which was just as well because it was quite hot here. You have to pay $3 a day to rent a towel for the beach. They are very strict on the towels and will charge you if you take bathroom towels out of the hotel. It didn’t affect us as we don’t smoke but the whole of the hotel grounds is non smoking. It was nice for those of us that don’t smoke but probably a pain for those that do. The hotel is very small and generally quiet which was a bonus for us.

We stayed for 2 nights recently - booked by Inspiring Vacations. This is boutique style accommodation and had a casual vibe. It has recently been renovated and the pool area is quite nice - although small. The room was freshly painted and clean, with good quality towels. Location is reasonable and not far to restaurants and shops. The bathrooms are still in original condition but were fine. The beds have not been replaced and were old. There was no safe, no fridge and no hairdryer - so the provision of these basic amenities are obvious areas for improvement (a hairdryer will be provided if you ask, although I didn’t realise there wasn’t one until I was dripping wet after a shower). The breakfast provided was simple, but nice enough. We were happy enough to stay here for 2 nights. The one thing that we were uncomfortable with was the very old glass bridge over the pool to access the 2nd floor. It did not feel structurally sound so I hope they have this inspected by an engineer regularly. Otherwise I’d be asking for a ground floor room!