Swissotel Santa Cruz de la Sierra — Hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra

We stayed at the Swissotel Santa Cruz for a short 1 day 2 night stay. The rooms were great and breakfast was pretty good. The views from the room were awesome.

What was exceptional was service. Firstly we arrived at 4:30 in the morning and the person at the front desk helped us get a 4x4 rental at a much better rate than online airport rates. It was ready by 8:30 AM.

The service went over and beyond, and special thanks to Maria at the front desk. While returning the car, the car rental person tried to fleece us by demanding 20% more as a cleaning fee. He mentioned this was in the contract, but actually no one had told us earlier. Maria came to our rescue. She went through the entire contract (which was in Spanish) and helped speak to the car rental agent. She had all the necessary conversations and showed that he was actually fleecing us. We then returned to the room while she managed this end-to-end. She was nice to us and the car rental agent throughout too.

I would highly recommend the hotel to anyone looking for a stay in Santa Cruz...

About as high-end a hotel as you'll find in Bolivia, though it's beginning to show its age (for instance there are a lot of cracked windows, and the rooftop pool/bar would provide an even more wonderful view if the perspex screen around it wasn't in so much need of a good cleaning). Most clients appear to be in tour groups or on business trips. I showed up after 3 days in the jungle covered in sweat and mud, and they seemed keen to get me out of the lobby as quickly as possible. It's at the end of a cul de sac and a bit of a slog from the nearest shops, restaurants, etc, but as a place to unwind after some hard trekking it fit the bill. I suspected (later confirmed) I had broken two ribs while trekking, and want to give particular props to the masseur who did absolutely the right thing by declining my appointment request and advising me to just take it easy - his professionalism probably saved my back further damage and I don't know too many in his position who would have made that...

Our experience at Swissotel Santa Cruz de la Sierra was disappointing. Despite having received information from the reservations department that check-in could be done at 12 PM, the receptionist informed us that it wasn't possible until 3 PM, causing unnecessary frustration. My wife ended up waiting in the restaurant for 50 minutes, which was inconvenient.

We did receive a fruit platter as an apology for the wait, but it did little to make up for the inconvenience. Additionally, we were charged for water during breakfast, which should be included in a standard hotel breakfast.

On top of this, the rooms lacked maintenance, which further impacted our stay. The poor service and lack of coordination between the hotel staff were notable issues...