Hotel Perro Surfero Todos Santos — Hotel in Baja California Sur

My partner and I originally planned to stay at Perro Surfero (through Outsite) for 2 months, but barely lasted a week before leaving. Here's why:

Location – You'll absolutely 100% need a car if you stay here. We wish this was advertised. While the map shows town is only about a 20 min walk, walking during the day is scorching hot in the desert sun, and past dusk is extremely dark. It’s a road with mostly nothing else on it and as foreigners, we did not feel safe walking on it after ~7:30pm. We tried using the bikes once, but they're not in good condition (the chain on my partner's bike broke as soon as we got into town). There are 2-3 restaurants within 5 mins walking distance, but their open hours vary greatly. To be noted, there are also no Ubers/Taxis in Todos. We didn't even bother trying to walk to the local beach, for these reasons. The beaches there are also not safe to swim.

Hotel Room – We booked the most expensive, largest king room in the hotel (#9) but upon arrival were switched to king room #8. It had a lack of storage for one person, let alone two, and a doorless bathroom (makes for a great bonding experience with your partner, though...). When we notified the manager about these inconveniences, we were told that we wouldn't be able to move into our originally booked room for another 2 weeks, but could move to a smaller room instead, that did have a bathroom door. The only storage solution they could provide was a handful of extra hangers. For two digital nomads staying long-term, living out of our suitcases is unreasonable.

Hotel Space – We love to cook and were excited to use the kitchen. However, being that it’s an outdoor kitchen, it was impossible to be in there without getting annihilated by mosquitoes. This was also the case throughout the hotel. We learned quickly that mosquitoes are notably present at this time of year, but it was really disappointing to not even be able to cook, without covering ourselves (and food) in toxic bug spray. Same goes for the outdoor gym area – we tried to do yoga, and even set up two big fans in front of us, but were attacked by mosquitoes. In theory, a chill, outdoor open-concept hotel sounds lovely and low-key. But in reality, it wasn’t for us. As a couple working full-time, this was obviously uncomfortable after work hours/weekends. We felt stranded by the location of the hotel, and confined to our room.

Lack of Community – I will preface by saying we were unaware there was an "off-season" in Todos Santos, being that it’s warm year round. And it’s not the hotel's fault that the bookings in the next 2 months were sparse. However, we expected there to be at least a few others to engage with at some point, during our 2-month stay. We were made aware there would only be one other guest, during our time there. The hotel manager even threw a party one of our first days there, but didn't bother to include us (or even let us know), which felt quite unwelcoming.

Positives: The co-work space was indoor and a nice air conditioned "getaway" from the hotel room, the wifi was reliable 6/7 days, and being close to Pacifica Fish Market was the highlight. The hotel manager Jime, was also kind and attentive.

My partner and I are active Outsite members, but unfortunately this location did not merely meet the standards of a company that we've built trust in, to provide us with long-term options in good locations, as remote workers. We've stayed at a handful of other Outsite locations, and for long-term durations too (1-2M). But feel strongly that long-term stays here with or without a partner, are fiercely undoable.

We wished we had done more due diligence to have understood at least some of these pain points (ie., off-season, hotel space, location logistics), but really trusted the solid reviews.

While we do not wish harm on Perro Surfero's business with this review, we hope our detailed experience can help you decide whether this accommodation is right or...

Buyers beware. Bad vibes here. It turns out I’m a trailblazer.

This is my first bad review!

I booked this lodging on their website. I included below the email I was sent with the price 831,6$. Since the email was in Spanish, it was my understanding that the price was in pesos which would’ve made the accommodation for 7 nights and a solo traveler more in line with other hotels and with what I received. I stayed in unit number four, which was clean, gray concrete everywhere. The walls, the ceiling, the sink, the shower everything was gray concrete. I felt like I was in a jail cell. There was a painting on the wall. The windows did not close all the way and because this was a hostel like atmosphere (shared kitchen) I could hear everyone outside my windows. There was a fire pit but no firewood. There were bikes but I was sure they wouldn’t make it to town.

The day after I booked when I realized on my bank statement I had been charged $831.60 US dollars I brought this to the attention of the owner. He said he didn’t have time to talk to me about it that day, but that he would have time to talk in the morning. In the morning over our talks I was repeatedly told that this was completely my mistake, that this was the way his system generated the numbers and that he had no control over it and I was the first person to make this mistake. When I told him that that’s not how US dollars are written and that the period, the comma and where the $ sign is all matter when you’re writing a dollar amount. I was told these minor issues were insignificant. He did offer me a small reduction in price, but it didn’t even meet me halfway.

I told him how the day before at 3:30 in the afternoon on a hot sunny day that his dog would not let me enter the premises. He laid in the doorway and when I tried to enter, he stood up and barked and growled at me for 15 minutes. I called out repeatedly, but no one came. I’m good with dogs. I raised Rottweilers and I knew I’d be staying with them. He gave me the look and expression that I was lying about his dog and said this had never happened before. I went to my room to think it over.

Note the pool here is not a swimming pool it is an ice cold dipping pool.

I booked in December but only encountered one other guest. I wonder why.

I text him I could stay four nights at that price, but I couldn’t stay all seven nights. He told me I had to stay all seven nights.

I checked out by Text and in his reply to my text, he again told me how these were all my mistakes.

Watch out for this guy!

As you can see on his reply to this review today, he is so unscupulous that he is pretending to not remember my stay or our quite detailed interaction. Even though I attached the reservation email below with the reservation number on it. ...

Let me preface this by saying that I know the owner will respond and/or delete because it’s a bad review but hopefully at least one person can see this and see through it. They told me their marketing strategy so that’s how I know how they work and that right now they admitted they are desperate for visitors.

First off, overall the place seemed so great at first. I stumbled upon it and stayed a few days and it was quiet and clean and friendly.

But then it was as if the longer I stayed the more went wrong. They say there’s hot water but it was always broken. There is AC but it’s always broken. They have bikes but none of the dozen or so work and all have flat tires. They charge you for everything - workout classes, coworking space, setting up tours.

Sara at the front desk is very kind, but Mau the owner is known around town apparently as a narcissistic gas lighter who locals don’t like to do business with. He changed his rates multiple times (160 for coworking, but she said 150, and online it says 100 for example but worse examples with the rooms) and begs travelers for free consulting advice. I agreed to do some marketing and it turned into hours of asking me questions and then not agreeing to any discount on my room or even a simple thank you in exchange. Then, my room was booked so they moved me to a new room which turned out to be the owners house even though I was traveling alone, and still wanted to charge me $75+ (also when the other guests there were paying $50-$75 for a normal private room).

I have to admit my first day or so was lovely, and the last couple days were awful. Poor Mao is so desperate for people to like him that he acts very strange and is not a welcoming, honest, or fair host.

Also, I wish I was making this up, his dog attacked mine as we were leaving (and we had to leave early because he made me so uncomfortable with...