Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
What a hidden gem! My boyfriend and I stayed here for about 5 days over New Years and it was the most incredible place. If you are visiting The Galapagos and staying on land, you know you will be on the coast and in the water 90% of your time there. By staying at this hotel, we were not only able to see the highlands but truly experience it!
The hotel is essentially a plantation. They grow their own pineapples, bananas and cacaos as well as make their own cheese and yogurt! This meant that every morning we had an amazing and delicious breakfast to energize our days (along with eggs, avocado, bread and anything else we wanted!). On days we had a super early start (and/or were running late), Marcia put our breakfast and coffees in to-go containers so we could eat on the way down to Puerto Ayora (Which is only about a 20 minute drive at $10-15 per ride).
The room and property was immaculate - they clean and maintain every day and you'll see landscapers tidying up the trees and landscaping every morning. You will see some little (very slow moving) millipedes and cute little geckos, but for being so embedded in the highlands, we expected MUCH more critters, but that was it! The room was perfect. We woke up to dewy windows as the sun rose and had refreshing warm showers at the end of each highly active day. There is a beautiful pool and trails around the property which unfortunately we weren't able to use due to our busy schedule but could easily have spent an entire day just hanging out up there.
At the end of every day, we would sit in the lodge where there would be music playing drinking wine and ironing out the details of the following day.
Now, I could go on and on about Marcia - the hotel manager (and new friend!). If it weren't for her, our stay not only at the hotel but on the islands every day would have been so much more stressful. Every day, she coordinated a taxi for us (the same driver, Marco - who we loved!) to and from wherever our excursions took off from. She communicated regularly via Whatsapp to make sure we were okay and finding our way around. She coordinated amazing, fine dining dinners with the chef and even got us some Coke Zero from the shop for our stay and made me a delicious sandwich when the chef wasn't on the property.
I can't speak highly enough about this hotel, Marcia, Mario and the entire Enchanted Galapagos Lodge family and I can only hope we visit The Galapagos again and get to stay at this amazing place.
Book it now before word gets out about this...
Read more
We stayed a few nights here and really enjoyed our stay. The hotel was extremely quiet which was a bonus for us as it made it very relaxing for us. We felt we received a five-star and very personalised service from the manager Pier (Pedro) and his team. Whilst this may have been partly due to the lack of other guests to attend to, Pier remained very attentive and clearly wanted to do all that was possible to e sure our stay was enjoyable. We were in room 1, which was large and comfortable, and the wifi just about reached it, but ordinarily it’s only available in the reception/restaurant/pool areas.
To note in particular was getting the jacuzzi ready for us around the time we wanted to use it without necessarily being asked. On discovering that we loved cocktails (which were not available due to an order for ingredients not being delivered as yet) he made a particular effort to source the ingredients for a Margarita which he had bought out to us whilst we were in the jacuzzi as a surprise! The pool area itself has several loungers (about 6) and comfy seating areas with sofas in the shade. Pool towels are provided.
We also really want to recognise the skill and efforts of the hotel chef Guillermo (?). We opted to have the 2 course lunch at $25 and 3 course dinner at $35 and every meal was delicious and beautifully presented. The chef came to speak to us to daily check what we’d like to eat and to make suggestions also, and this made for a very personal experience. There were no issues catering for a GF diet, but we would recommend that yucca bread is sourced for breakfast or made on site if possible for other guests. This is a local bread which we found accidentally in a Bellavista snack-stop. To reach any other restaurant would require a return taxi ride, so we really appreciated the excellent food at a reasonable price which meant that leaving the hotel wasn’t necessary.
There are mountain bikes for hire which are in good condition, and we were provided with a lock and helmets. We cycled from the hotel to the El Chato reserve which was uphill all the way there (quite a slog!), and there were segments of gravel/ sand roads not everyone would feel comfortable cycling on. The bikes were a bonus facility we had not been aware of at the time of booking. Overall we had an extremely enjoyable stay thanks to Pier and his team and we would recommend this...
Read more
Just had 3 nights at enchanted and it was so peaceful. We arrived hot and tired and were greeted with cold towels and a drink. The chef immediately made us a snack once we had settled in. It is wonderfully peaceful, partly because we were the only guests there for the whole 3 days! The rooms are comfortable and clean. Just be aware the millipedes will try and join you but they are harmless. The setting is lovely with wild forest and a 1/2km walking track through it. Birds and geckos everywhere plus bananas, cocoa and other fruits growing all around. The pool and hot tub are clean and calming with lots of seating and hammocks to relax. It really is a great get away but your host will also arrange taxis for trips out for you. Just let them know the day before what you will be doing and then when you are back in the evening the chef will have a lovely dinner...
Read more
