Hosteria Totoral — Hotel in Ibarra

This is the first review that I have ever left for a hotel, but I felt it incredibly important for safety reasons. First and foremost, DO NOT USE THE KAYAKS!!! All three of the kayaks are severely damaged and pose a significant safety hazard, but the hotel continues to offer them to their guests anyway. We had a very serious incident in the middle of the lake (explained below), and not two hours after our incident, the hotel offered the same kayaks to newly arrived guests. I briefly address other aspects of the hotel as well, but the kayak incident really needs to be shared. Had it not been for the kayak incident, I would have left a much more favorable review.||||KAYAKS: The hotel has 3 sea kayaks that appear to have mud caked on the bottom. We later learned this material is putty used to plug multiple holes. The hotel will allow up to 3 people in each kayak, but only has five worn out life jackets. We were 2 adults and 5 children (ages 9-14) so the adults forwent life jackets to ensure the children had them - bad call on our part. Patrons are limited to 30 minutes on the kayaks and no warnings were given about the very real lake hazards. After leaving the calm lagoon and paddling to the middle of the lake, the kids tipped their kayaks, revealing the life jackets to be fairly useless. The wind and waves picked up dramatically, and there was NO ONE on the water but us, I suspect because some sort of wind warning was issued. We later learned strong winds, waves and currents are common in that lake, especially during the afternoon. One of the kayaks' internal compartments took on so much water that it capsized and became impossible to balance/use, leaving 7 of us in these conditions with 2 functional kayaks. We put 3 people in each kayak and had them start paddling back to the hotel; I swam towing the 3rd kayak. The 1st boat (with two 14-year-olds & a 9-year-old) made it back to the hotel grounds, but the 2nd boat (with an adult & two 11-year-olds) was unable to fight the wind. After 20 minutes of swimming, I reached the 2nd boat next to a dangerous floating reed system, which we also weren't warned about (basically, the reeds look like they grow on land, but the roots actually float on top of the water like a thick sheet of ice - very easy to get swept under). Due to the hazards and passengers' inability to fight the wind, I swam and pulled on the root system to pull both boats and three passengers back to the hotel against the wind; it took me over an hour to do so. No one came looking for us, and no staff was by the water when we returned. When they finally showed, we asked why no one had come to look for us as we had been gone for 2.5 hours and only 1 boat with 3 children had returned. They had no explanation. We also learned they had no resources to help (no extra boat, etc.). When we described the sinking boat, they claimed this never happened before, at which point I pointed to the poor patch job on the bottom of ALL three boats. After the water drained from a small hole for about 15 minutes, two grown men were still unable to remove the boat from the water because the "waterproof" section was half full of water. After additional draining, they were able to pull it out and use a larger drain valve at the front (for which they had no plug). We emphasized the importance of not using these kayaks as someone could be killed. Had I not been an exceptional swimmer (former competitor, lifeguard and Coast Guard), I honestly think we would have lost someone during our outing. The employees said they would relay this to the management; however, we later learned that just 2 hours after our incident, they offered the same kayaks to other guests. At checkout, the hotel tried to charge us for using the kayaks! After we protested, they offered us credit for use of the kayaks during a future visit. Seriously??? Eventually, they removed the charge. ||||OTHER: The grounds were beautiful. The horses were in great shape, but they could only offer two at a time. The rooms were nice, although ours was not serviced during our stay. Restaurant service was painfully slow, taking about 1.5 hours to receive dinner, possibly due to COVID; my daughter ordered a pizza, and ONE HOUR later, the waitress told us they didn't have pizza, so would she like chicken nuggets instead. The jacuzzi was lukewarm, which was fine during the day but...

I had stayed here before, so I decided to return. Big mistake. This location is absolutely gorgeous, and that is all. The issues:||||Check-in ||- Long and bureaucratic. A single person at the front desk. We had to ask several times to get help with our luggage.||||Several health and safety issues||- They offer horseback riding with and without supervision (so basically, if you lose control of the horse, you’re on your own?). We also did the kayaking activity and there was nobody on hand to supervise the activity and I didn’t see a motorboat. Again, if someone were to fall into the water, there would be no one to assist, as there is absolutely no safety protocol in place. This is no laughing matter as it puts people’s lives at risk.||- The first step going down from the restaurant is tiny and hard to see. My mother almost tripped, and I would not be surprised if someone else does so at some point.||- The pool area is another hazard. There are no safety signs, no lifeguard, no member of the staff supervising. There were children being thrown into the pool by the adults, children yelling and screaming while running around the pool, young children going into de jacuzzi, people wearing t-shirts inside the pool, etc. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.||- When sitting at the bar I could see into the kitchen, which was very dirty.||||Lack of infrastructure and amenities||- The rooms are nice but lack a number of basics. My room had a large showerhead that was broken, so the water spouted out the top and sides. There is no handheld showerhead. There is no Guest Directory or Room Service. No fridge. No minibar. No safe.||- Pool: Apart from the safety issues, the pool area does not have any loungers (just some uncomfortable patio furniture) and there is only one small corner that is shaded, everyone else is forced to sit or stand under the glaring sun.||||Restaurant (other than the dirty kitchen)||- On our first day we were told that the beef loin was 250 gr (8.8 ounces) so we decided to share. When we got the plates, it wasn’t even 100 grams.||- We ordered some of the same dishes from one day to the next and were a little surprised to see that portions and even the vegetables served as a side were different from one day to the next.||- Very few menu items (this was forgivable because the taste was ok).||- Asked for a glass of wine, was told there is no wine (really?!)||- Asked for a snack, was told there are no snacks. Was served a portion of “tostado” that was so salty it was inedible. When I asked them if they could bring me a fresh batch they said no.||- They ran out of food at breakfast time on a long holiday weekend (when they knew they’d be busy). ||||Service||- My room was cleaned at 3pm. ||- There doesn’t seem to be enough staff. They try their best with little support from management and no training.||- When I asked to book the horseback riding activity, the first words out of the Receptionist’s mouth were “Just know that once you book you cannot cancel for any reason.” Zero customer service.||- It seems that everything is just left up to chance. There is no noise policy, so you are woken at 7 am by children screaming. We were told to wear insect repellent when kayaking, but they had none to sell because they had run out. There’s no one to tell you where to park. The Front Desk is often left empty. Etc.||||Complete disaster. I will not be returning...

Sadly I made a reservation on Hostería Totoral. I paid in advanced because I was sure I was going to be there on the dates I reserved the room. One day before I was sick and I tried to contact them to see if I could change the dates of my reservation because I was not going to be able to travel. I tried to call various times and they never answered. My room had a no cancellation penalty that’s why I tried to call in advanced to see if they can help me out to change the date so that they can use my room for other reservation. I have called around 25 times and only three times I received an answer. In which they told me that they were going to check and see if they can help me out and that they were going to call me back. On the three occasions they never called back and I kept calling and insisting even though I knew the most probable thing was that I was not going to get an answer. It’s been a month and I’m giving up on this because they have not given me any kind of response nor tried to contact me back. I would never recommend going to this place because if you need any kind of information the most probable thing is that if you call you will not get someone on the other side...