El Pedron — Hotel in Baños de Agua Santa

I went to this place because it got highly recommended by a friend of mine. He stayed at this place but that was a couple of years ago (to his excuse).||||On first sight this looked like a nice place to stay: big garden area, main lodge with a couple smaller buildings with guest rooms added. But the garden area wasn't that nice; it was full of dog poop, and I mean FULL; it was everywhere!!! (they own four dogs at that hotel). Two of our travel party stepped in dog poop right away. Another thing about the dogs was, that two of them were nice but the other two were real bad ones, one of them a fully grown pit bull. When the two ladies of our party came back at 7:30 PM the dogs "awaited" them at the front door to the premises, growling, barking and jumping up and down the fence. The ladies were too scared to enter the premises, and waited until the dogs were finally gone (or locked away). Honestly, I'm not sure if I would have entered thinking of the pit bull. We didn't have any kids with us but I think these two above mentioned facts alone disqualify this place as kid friendly.||On our arrival the reception wasn't staffed so we used the call bell; we, actually, used it for 17 minutes until we finally found someone who was willing to check us in. At this time I should have stumpled upon the fact that there were no other guests in that hotel; that the hotel has stood completely empty for the last five days (according to the log book). ||The rooms were clean, and so were the showers, but the "hot" water wasn't just cold ... it was ICE COLD, as if taken right out of a glacier lake. Checking with the rest of the group: there was no warm water at all.||When trying to tell that at the reception we come to the next point: service. There was no problem with the service because there simply was none. We tried the call bell for 25 minutes but nobody answered the call and nobody was to find at all.||So we stayed until the next day and left as early as possible. The breakfast was good though (coffee, buns, butter, scrambled eggs, juice and jam).||The price: USD 16.00 per night, and we found a way better accommodation for half the money just right around the corner.||||Pros:||+ clean rooms and bathrooms||+ breakfast||||Cons:||- no service at all||- no warm water at all||- premises full of dog droppings; partly aggressive dogs||- expensive compared to other...

First of all, I want to thank Donna Marcella and the staff at El Pedron. They made our stay so memorable and enjoyable.||||Second, I have been vacationing in Banos off and on for several years and have stayed at 5 other hotels and hostels. By far, El Pedron was THE BEST. It was always clean, quiet, and comfortable. Donna Marcella went out of her way to patiently answer all our questions, serve us coffee, and do all the little things to that differentiate a great experience from a good experience. The staff were very attentive and worked non-stop through the day with a smile.||||An added bonus of El Pedron is that it is situated on a plot filled with trees and gardens. There are many little nooks to read a book or share a bottle of wine. When it gets cold in the evening, Donna Marcella would light the fireplace in the restaurant, creating the perfect setting for my girlfriend and I to drink a glass of wine.||||The hotel is right in the middle of Banos. The supermarket is a block and a half away, the bars, 4 blocks, and some excellent hiking trails 6 blocks away. Outside the El Pedron was a bus that takes you to Rio Verde (a 20 minute ride and worth it to hike into the canyon).||||Overall, I HIGHLY recommend El Pedron, especially if you want peace,...

We stayed at this hotel for 2 nights. The location was good. It was close to many restaurants, bars, stores and the bus station. ||The rooms were clean and the staff was friendly. They only spoke Spanish so knowing some basic Spanish phrases would be handy. ||The breakfast was included: coffee, juice, jam, butter, croissant but no eggs. We bought some fruits and avocado from the local store two blocks away and had that along with our b'fast.||The owner has 6-8 dogs who were very friendly but if you are scared/allergic then this might not be the place for you.||The staff let us keep our bags for couple of hours after checkout which was nice of them.||Overall...