Viru Viru — Hotel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra

We stayed one night in this hotel between our flights expecting that we could sleep fine. We came late at night and were lead to a room that had a broken mirror and old style and much used furnitures. The bed was tough and when I looked under it I saw that it was also broken in the middle. ||||The shower installing was far from safe and the also the dirtines of the tub made us to decide to pass the shower taking. Next thing we found out was that the toilet seat didn´t work and we had to go to ask the man in the reception to check it. He came and flush it and saying that we have to use more power... ||||Of course there was not towels nor toilet paper and we had to go down another time. You can just imaging that there is nothing extra in the room. No soap or shampoo.||||We asked if it would be anyhow possible to get the breakfast earlier than it was scheduled and the man answered laughing "No one eats at that time!". So, not us neither. ||||I was quite scared about getting some animals to the room under the door (that led stright to the inner yard) or hiding in the bed or on the carpeted floor and didn´t sleep really well. Anyway, we didn´t find any animals. That is almost the only good thing in that hotel. ||||This hotel would be ok if it was named as hostel and priced according them, but I don´t recommend anyone going there and paying that price if the central location is not...

I'm amazed the Hotel Viru Viru got such a high rating on Trip Advisor. I stayed there last May with my father and we were far from impressed. First of all the rooms are very small, somewhat dirty, and we had to fight for things like towels and for a room with air conditioning. Also, the breakfast buffet in the morning was small and extremely picked over, even by 8 AM. But that wasn't even the worst part. The shower they have in the closet sized bathroom (with no shower curtain) was so poorly designed with the electrical wiring of the place that you get electric shocks if you touch the shower knobs in the shower. So as much as we enjoyed running the risk of getting electricuted in the shower, we decided to go a couple blocks over the next day to the Hotel Canciller. Don't waste your money by staying at the Viru Viru. For a couple dollars more a night you can stay in a great place and truly appreciate what a great city...

Given the limited accommodation options in Santa Cruz, this is OK. It isn't anything like the standard it thinks it is or tries to be, but it's a fine base, the best thing being its location - conveniently close to the main plaza. It is the standard of a hostal really, but without any of the charm and individuality of hostals, having instead the impersonality of a poor hotel. However, the staff are friendly enough. The rooms are pretty grotty, although not much more so than many Bolivian hotels, but it seems overpriced. We stayed there a couple of times for ease - the price had risen by US$4 between visits one week apart to US$ 36 for a double room. So, overpriced, lacking any charm, photos look nicer than it actually is, but two great benefits: convenient location and reliably hot water (worth the price just for...