Antares Hotel — Hotel in Manta

I reserved this place for a one night stay on my way up the coast in early December. I had been traveling for a few weeks, staying at some pretty basic places so I'm used to budget hostels. This was supposed to be a nice break from basic.||Upon arrival the receptionist wanted money up front. I declined as I think this is just bad manners. The first thing I did was get on wifi to take care of some urgent business. Wifi not working. Young lady in charge tried to help but couldn't. She tried to convince me wifi was working until I insisted she show me her pc connecting. Of course it couldn't. No further resolution was attempted until a few hours later I noticed the wireless modem. I rebooted it myself and wa back in business.||To celebrate I went back down to reception and asked to buy a beer. i was handed a warm bottle. i pointed out that it was warm and she agreed. I asked why. She pointed out that the beer cooler was not plugged in! again, why? she went over to the cooler and plugged it in. By late evening I was able to have that cold-ish beer.||I sauntered out to the attractive pool. Stone cold. That's OK in hot weather but travelers to the coast of Ecuador in December will know that it is usually cool and overcast. Well, this is called a spa so I then went over to the jacuzzi. Empty. Not even an attempt.||By now I was tired, thirsty, and looking for any kind of "spa" treatment. Aha! i'll go back to my room and have a hot shower. Ah yes, no hot water. Another interesting feature of this shower is that inside the small stall, the shower head points directly at the door, so if you lean in and turn on the shower, the spray hits you directly. not only that but it drenches the bathroom. OK, I'll shut the door while the water "heats up". But no, foiled again because the door won't stay closed. This explained the lock on the OUTSIDE of the shower stall but didn't explain why the lock was not aligned and thefore non-operational. I went down, slightly moist to reception and pointed out that the water was cold. Again, an attempt to convince me that it indeed was hot! As if repeating a clear fallacy often enough will somehow endow it with the truth. I gave up and retreated to my room.||I'd like to point out that both the young ladies that ran the show while I was there were trying to their best but probably weren't well trained and were out of their comfort zone. I also soon realized that on each shift one person appeared to run everything. The young woman preparing my breakfast had to run through from the kitchen to reception to pick up calls. I didn't see any other staff at any time. For that matter I didn't see any other guests either. This might explain why the place was barely ticking over but it's not like the price goes down to compensate for the features and services that have been withdrawn.||Finally, a word about the claim that the hostel is "100 meters" from the malecon, or ocean. This is just a plain falsehood. If you walk the 150 meters down the street you will come to a dead end which overlooks the ocean from a clifftop. There is no beach access. That requires a 25 minute walk down and across busy streets. Just tell the truth.||When I reserved my room, a balcony was mentioned. You guessed it, no balcony.||The hotel itself looks inviting. teh pool and courtyard are very attractive as is the lobby area. Unfortunately this is only skin deep as the rooms are very hastily modeled. The red paint on one wall had actually been applied over the electrical fittings. Not the outlet cover mind you but the PLUGS. The bathroom fixtures are very low end, thrown together. Either the project ran out of cash, finished in a rush, or the contrator was not supervised. Maybe all three.||A footnote. As I checked out the next morning, I cast a glance at the beer "cooler". Yep, it was...

We reserved through booking.com on a super deal for $75 twin usually at $150!!!! The hotel was dark, no hot water, breakfast was terrible and thrown at us after many requests for spoon, salt and pepper etc. The pool was filthy and there was no signs anywhere that this could be classified as a spa. The bathroom seemed unclean, the TV worked the first night and not in the morning. Bed was ok and linens ok. The manager/owner was ambivalent, at best, and a man who seemed like he might be her father argued fiercely that the TV was working although the remote was flashing as we returned it. Like 'hypothetical' below, a young woman was running from the kitchen to reception to our room and insisting that the shower was aqua caliente although it was not absolutely fria. Kitchen didn't seem too clean with a dog there, and we turned a blind eye to the microwave as we asked for our coffee to be heated up. We left, with them accepting $50, knocked on doors on the same street and found the really great Hostal Maria Jose across the street for $50 all inclusive. And the Mediterraneo restaurant at the top of calle 29 is a pure bonus for great food after scavenging for reasonable meals other than pollo and pappas fritas during our 5 months in Peru...

This was my third or fourth stay at Antares over the past couple years. The staff is always friendly and the rooms are always clean and comfortable. The price has gone up a little over the years, but for $40 a night single occupancy and $65 a night double occupancy, you can't beat it. The location is in a quiet, safe (as safe as Manta can be) area of town, close to several restaurants and bars. It's not too far from SuperMaxi and KFC as well. There are rooms with beach views available for $5 more per night. I was in room 14 on this stay. The TV didn't work for some reason, but it was late when I arrived, so no biggie. It's not the Sheraton or the Hilton, but it's not a Hostal either. Expect a good night's rest, but no chocolate on...