Hostal Darwin — Hotel in Parroquia Bella Vista

When we walked in, they noted they had wifi, AC, and hot water.||||When we checked in a couple days later, their wifi was broken and AC did not work. Not a huge issue since we were there for only one night and it was not super hot. ||||We had a drunk guy break into our room around 11:30 PM on New Years Eve. We screamed and then guy left. We went out and the owner said they did not know that our room was occupied and gave the guy the wrong key. They were not apologetic and we demanded that the police came. The police came and spoke with the owners and we ended up staying the night and the owners promised to give us our money back. We woke up the next morning to get our refund and there was no one at the front desk. We came back a couple days later and they refused to give it back. There are two owners and the receptionist and 2nd owner did not speak english and refused to say that the breakin was unacceptable even after we found our own translator. ||||DO NOT STAY. To be honest, I have stayed in countless hostels over the past 4 years and this was the worst ever. Their checkin system is on a notebook so no wonder they did not know which...

Family run. Well spoken english from the daughter but not the parents so much. Friendly and helpful staff. Excellent location - Cheap $5USD restaurants, supermarket (also where ATMS are), waterfront, tour agencies all within 5mins walk. Catch the shuttle to the Airport (canal) at the waterfront every 30mins before 9pm. Basic but fully functional room but looks a little rough. Comfortable bed and pillows. Towel included. Warm shower (tempremental, so not often hot). A/C. Keys for room and front gate given. Ask for a receipt when paying. Free coffee, tea sugar (no milk or creamer). Kitchen closed (private family use only). Fridge available for small items. Dining seating available, and outdoor seating when dry. Can be noisy from the street noise and there are only shade curtains but not actual curtains. Take a walk at night to the pier light up and you'll see reef sharks, stingrays, seals, puffer fish and maybe a nurse shark or a turtle. Very safe town to...

+Great location, not far from the pier.|+The owners are very welcoming, friendly, helpful and trustworthy! They also have a travel agency where you can book everything. |+Some rooms are very simple and a bit old but very clean and spacious. Showers worked very well. They have a few new rooms (most with air con) which looked nice. We didn't have any bugs in our room :) Rooms cleaned daily.|+Street full of restaurants just 1-2 blocks away (meals for 4$).||We paid 30$/night for a double room with fan (the one with air con would hVe been 35-40$). Do not book in advance with Booking.com; you will end up paying more.||I would stay here again. Accomodation in Santa Cruz tends to be expensive or if you find something cheap it is quite far from the center. Hostel Darwin, being conveniently located, offers also...