Eco del Mar — Hotel in Pedernales

The location is beautiful. And the concept is great. But that’s where it ends.||Unfortunately, the service was absolutely horrendous. The front desk manager, a grumpy old Italian man, put a dark cloud over our entire experience. He should not be allowed to work in the hospitality industry. ||We had pre-paid for a “VIP excursion” to Bahia de las Aguilas. At check-in, we asked what we needed to do to reserve our boat time. He told us we could not do it that evening, we had to come back the next morning. So the next morning, we arrived at the desk when there were no other guests. He told us he was doing paperwork and asked us to sit down and wait for him to finish. In the meantime, three separate guests came up to the desk and he booked their boat times ahead of us. He did not acknowledge us even when we stood up. By the time he attended to us, all of the early times were taken, and we had to wait for an afternoon boat. He was extremely rude during the entire interaction. ||Because of our late departure time, there were no umbrellas or chairs left for us, a main feature of the VIP excursion. Bahia de las aguilas has no shade, so an hours long visit without an umbrella is not advised. ||At check out, we asked for a discount because we did not receive the services we paid for. He told us that was not his problem, that umbrellas are first-come, first-serve (!! Then don’t sell packages you can’t accommodate!!) When I refuted (admittedly, I was angry by this point, and my tone was not kind) he yelled at me!||The main point of a visit to this hotel is to do an excursion to Bahia de las aguilas. Most people make it a day long event. However, the hotel provides no pack-and-go lunch options (who wants to eat chicken cordon bleu or fish and rice after it’s been sitting in styrofoam containers in the sun for hours?) When I inquired in the restaurant why this was, the restaurant manager replied that “it’s not our problem, we serve what we serve because it’s easy for us”. ||This hotel is remote with no nearby competition, and guests have no other purchasing options. They take advantage of this. Once they have your money, they don’t care about providing a nice experience. It’s literally the worst customer service I’ve experienced in my life; the above examples are the tip of the iceberg. ||I, for one, am very sad about all the new development happening and hotels breaking ground in Pedernales. But Eco Del Mar is in for a rude awakening once they have some competition. ||Side note: Anyone complaining about the accommodations in their reviews doesn’t understand what this place is about. It’s Glamping. The accommodations are rustic, and that’s the point. But rustic doesn’t have to equal...

The location is beautiful. And the concept is great. But that’s where it ends.

Unfortunately, the service was absolutely horrendous. The front desk manager, a grumpy old Italian man, put a dark cloud over our entire experience. He should not be allowed to work in the hospitality industry.

We had pre-paid for a “VIP excursion” to Bahia de las Aguilas. At check-in, we asked what we needed to do to reserve our boat time. He told us we could not do it that evening, we had to come back the next morning. So the next morning, we arrived at the desk when there were no other guests. He told us he was doing paperwork and asked us to sit down and wait for him to finish. In the meantime, three separate guests came up to the desk and he booked their boat times ahead of us. He did not acknowledge us even when we stood up. By the time he attended to us, all of the early times were taken, and we had to wait for an afternoon boat. He was extremely rude during the entire interaction.

Because of our late departure time, there were no umbrellas or chairs left for us, a main feature of the VIP excursion. Bahia de las aguilas has no shade, so an hours long visit without an umbrella is not advised.

At check out, we asked for a discount because we did not receive the services we paid for. He told us that was not his problem, that umbrellas are first-come, first-serve (!! Then don’t sell packages you can’t accommodate!!) When I refuted (admittedly, I was angry by this point, and my tone was not kind) he yelled at me!

The main point of a visit to this hotel is to do an excursion to Bahia de las aguilas. Most people make it a day long event. However, the hotel provides no pack-and-go lunch options (who wants to eat chicken cordon bleu or fish and rice after it’s been sitting in styrofoam containers in the sun for hours?) When I inquired in the restaurant why this was, the restaurant manager replied that “it’s not our problem, we serve what we serve because it’s easy for us”.

This hotel is remote with no nearby competition, and guests have no other purchasing options. They take advantage of this. Once they have your money, they don’t care about providing a nice experience. It’s literally the worst customer service I’ve experienced in my life; the above examples are the tip of the iceberg.

I, for one, am very sad about all the new development happening and hotels breaking ground in Pedernales. But Eco Del Mar is in for a rude awakening once they have some competition.

Side note: Anyone complaining about the accommodations in their reviews doesn’t understand what this place is about. It’s Glamping. The accommodations are rustic, and that’s the point. But rustic doesn’t have to equal...

Expensive for what you get. We stayed at the Cactus suite and other members of our party stayed in the tents in front of the beach. When we arrived our room was not ready and even though we paid for 4 people for the tent, we only had two towels to shower and had to call to get more. Also, nothing is provided so bring your own water and beach towels. Again for the price you paid (almost $300 for one night for cactus suite 4pax) you get nothing! Food at the restaurant is very expensive for what is provided and service is subpar. Beware of the prices of the food! we were charged $50-100 pesos more than what was listed for our food. Good thing I looked! When I asked, I got an attitude from the waitress who told me all prices had gone up the day before? but hadn't been updated on their printed menu outside or their whatsapp reservation system. How convenient! We asked we were never told that and again, receive an attitude. I refused to pay until I spoke with a manager which wasn't available until the next day. Mind you, there were 10 people in our group and everyone's dish got an increase which would have brought up our bill by almost $1000 pesos (18 dollars) not a big deal but it was the dishonesty and lack of information who was very upsetting. We had asked for a printed menu so you'd think they would have informed us then but nope. Luckily it was solved once we spoke to management the following day. Breakfast is subpar and if you want water for breakfast then you have to pay for this too. The concept is nice however, it is more about the hype since it is not just the price it is what you get for the price. They need to train their staff better and at least offer water in the room and beach towels since they do have their own beach. I recommend going for one night and staying on the tents at Playa las Cuevas. There is also a restaurant called "Dona Charo" right by Las cuevas with amazing food, service and prices!! They will even set up the boat for you at a better price than Eco del Mar. Francisco (from Dona Charo) is wonderful and kept checking on us even...