El Balsamo — Hotel in Departamento de La Libertad

My experience of El Salvador was a complete paradox to that previously mentioned and I think it's a shame that one persons experience (when not taking normal precautions that you would when travelling anywhere) would influence others to completely avoid the country. As a solo female traveller I too was going to skip El Salvador on the basis of here-say about how dangerous it is and I'm so glad that I didn't because it was a highlight of Central America for me. I arrived at el balsamo distressed because I couldn't access cash and the lovely owner Veronica packed a change bag for her toddler and hopped on a bus to town with me to help me sort it out. This set the tone for the week I spent in El Salvador where everyone I met was warm and friendly and genuinely interested in tourists unlike many more popular places that are only concerned with the mighty dollar. The beaches are gorgeous and mangoes fall from the trees everywhere- you feel like you could be in paradise.|| Did I walk alone along the beach from el tunco back to the hostel after dark? No. But I wouldn't do that in pretty much any town to be honest, especially in Central America! Instead I either walked with a bunch of people staying at the hostel or we were chaperoned with local surf instructors who were more than happy to walk along the beach with us to make sure we were safe. ||Apart from the great service I found the hostel simple but nice and decent value for money. The showers don't have hot water but generally the temperature is around 35 degrees Celsius so I'm not sure who would be wanting a hot shower! The common areas were cleaned daily and to me were kept super clean. The wifi works very well (measured in terms of being able to make skype video calls) which i think is amazing for el salvador. The location el sunzal is more quiet than el tunco and more laidback for sure and closer to the surf break, which means it attracts more surfers than party goers than el tunco next door. My only gripe would be the noisy trucks that go past at night but the main road is along the beach so this can't really be avoided. ||My advice- take all advice with a grain of salt. When you're travelling in Central America you do have to take precautions, but this doesn't mean you have to live your life in fear you just need to be sensible as you do anywhere in the world. Those who have been and had an amazing time can keep El Salvador central Americas best kept secret which...

Gijs and Veronika are excellent friendly hosts who go out of their way to help you and I had a great stay there. I originally only intended to stay for a couple of nights but felt so at home and welcome that I stayed for three weeks. The accommodation I chose was the budget room which was large and airy and excellent value for money with a large comfy double bed, light, fan, power points and storage and table inside and light, power points and table and chairs on the veranda outside. The toilet and shower room and bar are just 20 feet away across the lawn and I had no problems with the wifi. The premises are safe and secure and resident (friendly) family dog, Kaiser, patrols the perimeter fence all night barking at anything that moves! It is located right by the beach and the main road and buses in a great area. My hosts were very helpful in sorting things out for me and Veronika even accompanied me to the Car Rental showroom in San Salvador when I returned my hire car to ensure that I had no problems with the repayment of my deposit (I do not speak any Spanish). They also kindly invited me to join them on a day out to visit Veronikas parents up in the mountains and I had a lovely day out with them and their children Diego and Steffanie. The rooms and facilities are kept clean and tidy and I would thoroughly recommend El Balsamo to anyone looking for superb budget accommodation. There are more expensive rooms with en-suite bathrooms that looked excellent but as I did not stay in them I...

The owner are nice and kind yes, but it come with safety problem and terrible sleep quality.||Safety: The guesthouse is in a sketchy area, no light, isolated, no life and very poor neighborhood. The main door to reach the lobby of our room and of the dorm room always have the key in the lock "because people in the dorm don't have the key" they says. So anyone can go in the share area at anytime. Even worst, our room door was broken, the wooden part next to the door nut was cutted so you can just pust and flat object between the door and the door nut and open our room without key. |So, no sécurity from the outside door and same for the room door (you can't lock from the inside either)||Sleep quality|The guesthouse is few meter next to the main road where all the big truck pass at night and make a lot of noise.|A dog is staying near the place and it will bark non-stop, many time of the night for long long minutes... And it will start again after a short brake. Add to this sevral rooster that celebrate and sing even if it's not sunny like at 11pm! |Also, one of the window has no curtin.. So be ready to wake up with the sun! |||I will not recommand this place to a friend... I would tell him. Go to the little town El Tunco, you will find accomodation as cheap as el balsamo, without safety matters and you will be near...