HOTEL ZELEN — Hotel in Departamento de La Libertad

Truly an awful experience from start to finish. We arrived at 8AM hoping to leave our bags, park, and possibly check in early. We understand early check in isn't always possible, but we were hoping to ask and pay an extra fee. Unfortunately, there was no reception available until after 11AM.

While waiting, we had to move our car several times since every space blocked in other cars. When we finally check in, the receptionist gave no information about the property, wifi, etc. We then learned we'd be sharing an outdoor bathroom which would have been fine if we expected this, but we didn't. The room itself had no hooks to hang anything and had stains on the sheets. There was only one electrical outlet and it was behind furniture.

The final straw was when we needed to leave to visit a relative and our car was trapped in. It took over 2 hours for the staff to find the owner of the car and let us out. We were late and it was a huge disruption. Why do they offer parking if you can't use your car?? After this we decided to skip the rest of our stay here and head elsewhere.

I would NOT recommend staying here if you want privacy, service, or to use your car at all! There are many other options nearby that are a better value with excellent service. In fact, we did not finish our stay and instead went elsewhere to...

Truly an awful experience from start to finish. We arrived at 8AM hoping to leave our bags, park, and possibly check in early. We understand early check in isn't always possible, but we were hoping to ask and pay an extra fee. Unfortunately, there was no reception available until after 11AM.||While waiting, we had to move our car several times since every space blocked in other cars. When we finally check in, the receptionist gave no information about the property, wifi, etc. The room itself was fine, though was not as pictured on Expedia. It had a shared outdoor bathroom which would have been fine if we expected this, but we didn't. The room itself had no hooks to hang anything and had stains on the sheets. ||The final straw was when we needed to leave to visit a relative and our car was trapped in. It took 2 hours for the staff to find the owner of the car and let us out. Why they offer parking if you can't use your car, we don't know! ||I would NOT recommend staying here if you want privacy, service, or to use your car at all! There are many other options nearby that are a better value. In fact, we did not finish our stay and instead went elsewhere to...

We really enjoyed Hotel Zelen! The room was clean, well decorated, and well air conditioned! The bathroom had a nice-sized shower with shampoo and body wash provided, but no hot water (a trend with most of the places in El Salvador, I've noticed). There's a small pool that's not heated (except by the sun during the day), and the reception has a few bottled soft drinks available but no food. Most importantly, the hotel is mere steps to the main beach area (I counted 35 from the room to the boardwalk).||The other reviews are accurate that some rooms have no private bathroom. We were lucky enough that we could upgrade for 10 USD per night to have our own (bit of a no brainer once it was offered!) Keep in mind that this and many hotels in the area are geared toward surfers who don't care as much what they get as long as there's a bed.||I can see how the parking situation could end up being tricky. We never had an issue over the 4 days we were there, but I'd recommend parking strategically if you're concerned about getting out.||Overall we had a great stay and will likely choose the same hotel if we ever come back...