Casa Travesia — Hotel in Parroquia Santa Marianita

I'm usually a very forgiving and understanding individual, but the treatment my family received here was horrid. I would also like to note that we were the ONLY guests at the hotel (should have been a sign).||Most of the staff was pleasant, minus the bartender who was too busy flirting with young girls to help us check in. Then, when the owner finally arrived he was very rude and short with us. Prior to arriving we called ahead to ensure that we were booking the correct room, once we arrived we found that our room was poorly described, which was fine if we weren't paying the extra costs for a larger one. The owner was not budging on what was negotiated so we decided to try it out for a night. ||The smell was unbearable, all of the floors and wood were recently polished with a strong varnish that smelled like urine... When asked if there was another room, there was none available (we were the ONLY guests there I remind you). So after all of this we wanted to have breakfast and carry on with our day, we waited for poor food and terrible service with the owner glaring at us. At the very end when we tried to cancel our stay (something that was agreed upon the previous day if we wished), the owner - Bruno, did not want to refund us for the nights we would't stay there. ||All in all a huge disappointment and damper to our trip. ||Our advice, head over to Casa Blanca for amazing service at a lower...

First, the only reason this place even gets 2 stars is Mario and staff. the young man went out of his way to make sure we got checked in ok. the rest of the staff was courteous and VERY friendly. the breakfast included was ok, not great and plentiful. we had a small bowl of fruit, croissants, a pancake, fresh juice, scrambled eggs and cheese. all prepared plainly. ||||The rooms are very small and offer little privacy as there is a single front wndow on each room that lets everyone see in unless you have the curtains completely closed. In other words, if you're like me and lounge in your morning wear you can't enjoy the view the place offers. The room description on one site says each has a hot plate, a wardrobe and a "private" balcony. it has none of these. there's no place to put your luggage so it has to stay on the floor while you're there, the fridge was left opened and caused water to have leaked over floor, there are no washcloths, no cups, the charges for drinks from the fridge is waaaay too high, there is no proper secure parking. the WORST part of our stay was the dogs that barked incessantly directy behind our room for HOURS after the sun went down and finally stopped around 11PM. Needless to say we got out of there without staying additional days we had hoped to. For over $100 a night the place should have delivered much more. At least put shampoo out that isn't in a tear...

Love this little hotel. It only has 8 rooms - or rather cabanas, each with its own semi private deck to sit on and watch the kids play in the pool or look just beyond the pool and watch the waves crash on the shore. This hotel has outstanding customer service with a staff to guest ratio of about 1-2!! It is always clean (I've stayed several times along with my family), the breakfast with fresh blended juice is always yummy (made fresh when you arrive at the restaurant). The bar is perfect and the drinks (while priced similar to USA prices) are excellent. They have a hammock area and a BBQ grill common area and private gravel parking lot for guests only. Family owned and operated this is by far the best and favorite hotel I've stayed in on the coast of Ecuador. Don't expect it to be dirt cheap because they cater to American families and wealthy Ecuadorians. Located on the beach in the fishing and tiny resort town of Santa Marianita (best kite-surfing in South America) and this place is about 15 minutes by taxi south of Manta. Oh yea, the A/C units will kee you as cold as you want to be!!! All rooms have brand new flat...