El Pital Ometepe, Chocolate Paradise — Restaurant in Altagracia (Municipio)

Complaint I made, situation I've had for transparency further customers:

"I have just spent the 2nd night here and wish that the 3rd night of the booking was already over so that I could finally leave However, the price-performance ratio and the fact that the hotel does not meet European standards do NOT give rise to the following complaints:

Lack of cleanliness / hygiene Day 1: The bed, the mattress, the pillows smelled heavily unwashed and unpleasant, so I treated the bed 3x with disinfectant to get a bester feeling, but the disgusting smell lasted. Animal droppings/excrements on top of the mosquito net above the bed -- Cleaning or a room change the day were not possible according to the reception. (The cleaning staff was already off work that day and a room change was not offered, although an equivalent room was still available online) I needed to wait until tomorrow until there was a cleaning. So I had to sleep like that one night. -- The mosquito net was cleaned at day 2 but there were still rests of animal extrement. I was expecting a whole change of stinky sheets and mosquito net! Dirty bathroomcarpet

Lack of cleanliness on day 2: My bathroom was not cleaned on day 2, the garbage can was not emptied. Animal droppings in the shower Dirty Bathroomcarpet

Air conditioning day 1,2,3: Functionless ceiling fan which could not be repaired on day 1 as the technical staff were already off work on the day of arrival, on day 2 it was repaired and I was asked not to charge my cell phone otherwise the fan would not work! Despite charging my cell phone via my power bank, the ceiling fan failed again. I've been lying awake since 00:30 and can't sleep because the existing standing fan is too loud to have a quiet minute. The staff at the reception try to solve the problems, but are not very successful and strived to find a solution in their actions or speak to the management. Day 2 - locked bathroom / service:

When I came back from my excursion on day 2 in the afternoon I wanted to take a shower and when I entered the room, my bathroom door was locked. Nobody could explain this situation and I was asked to wait until the technical team came to help. I waited for 1 hour until the door could finally be opened. I still dont know what happened with that doof but the service fact that I was not compensated with a customer friendly move like: "Hey, sit down on the Bar and have a drink on us, until the door is open" is worse. The manager should work on its quality management to avoid unamusement.

Because up to this point, I was still relatively relaxed despite all the previous grievances. But that was just too much "I don't give a dump about the customer" for me... Day 1-3 broken interieur:

The sink was broken, so it caused water everywhere The suspension for towels is visibly defective. Why does no one want to repair this???? The door needs special treatment to be closed. The lock is not working well.

Lack of cleanliness on day 3: My bathroom was not cleaned on day 3 also. After questioning this situation the cleaned my room very well. Thank you! But no explainIng.

I feel totally drained and not relaxed as the nights go on due to the stench of the bedding, the loud fan and as mentioned, I am looking forward to leaving the resort soon. No guest should have to feel like this. I hope the management changes something! I do not recommend the accommodation despite the positive points of the beautiful location and incredibly...

I didn’t hate El Pital. The natural beauty in the area was incredible. However, I had a terrible experience at El Pital Hostel. I was recommend to go there by a friend and upon arriving on Ometepe, rented a scooter to travel the island. When I arrived at the hostel I crashed the scooter on the very steep, slick driveway. As I do not have much experience driving a scooter I was hesitant to leave the asphalt of the main road at the entrance of the driveway and looked for information about the road condition but saw nothing. Once I had collected myself and assessed the damage to my bike and the scooter I was told that many people had crash in the same exact spot many times before. This was really frustrating to me but I proceeded on to the hostel where I was met by a staff member named Jeremy. My knee was bleeding, I was carrying my huge pack and on the verge of tears. The staffs response to my crash was really disappointing. Instead of helping me with my things and addressing the medical concerns I was having they proceeded with the check-in routine explaining different activities etc. as a nurse, a firefighter and a traveler I was really concerned by the response to this event. Especially in light of the fact that it is a apparently frequent occurrence. I suggested that they make a sign at the top of the driveway warning people about the steepness and condition of the road, but they were not at all receptive to the suggestion. In fact they seemed offended by it. I was then hurt and felt like I was imposing. When I first arrived and the manager Jeremy asked how I was and I responded on the brink of tears showing my bleeding body and telling him what had happened. his rude response? “would you like a piece of chocolate? Chocolate fixes everything”

They offered to later on provide natural, plant-based pain relief but really what I needed was medical attention, including stitches which I did not get in time unfortunately. While I take responsibility for my lack of experience riding a scooter and know that sometimes bad luck happens, I was especially frustrated with their lack of receptiveness to the suggestion of making a sign. Am I opinion there’s no way a sign can offend anyone, it’s simply offers information. Information which it seems like it’s particularly needed given that happened at that spot often. The experience at El Pital was terrible for me because I didn’t feel that my safety or health were being taken at all seriously. I’ve been traveling for two months in Central America and I did not feel comfortable with their safety preparedness and response. Their response prompted me to write this to warn others about the safety concerns I had. I hope it’s...

We stayed in the Las Olas room at El Pital Chocolate Paradise, and unfortunately, our experience was far from ideal. While the room itself was okay, the structure we stayed in raised significant safety concerns. Traveling with an adventurous structural engineer, he was alarmed when the building started rocking back and forth. Based on his quick assessment, he felt it was highly likely that the building would collapse in an earthquake. It would be in their best interest to add cross beams or reinforce the structure to prevent such dangerous movement.

Additionally, the shower had a persistent issue where the water wouldn’t turn off fully, causing us to waste water, which was frustrating.

On a positive note, the restaurant was excellent, and we ate there most days. The staff were lovely and accommodating, but unfortunately, one of them was involved in a scam related to the scooter we rented. We had been warned about this common scam, where after returning the scooter, we were charged for extra petrol and fake "damaged" documentation required by the police. Instead of calling us to reception, the staff brought the scammer up to our room, which was highly inappropriate and made us feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

Overall, while the restaurant and some of the staff were great, the safety concerns with the building and the unsettling scam incident made our stay disappointing. I would advise caution when considering staying here.

We did the chocolate tour at El Pital Chocolate Paradise, and it was really fascinating. The tour was incredibly informative, and we got to see every stage of the process from bean to bar. We even got to eat a heroic amount of chocolate, which was a fun bonus! The experience was definitely cool, and we learned a lot about chocolate production.

However, it's worth noting that the guide was extremely political. While we understood his point of view and the frustrations he shared, the discussion veered into some very strong opinions about various countries and political leaders. While I don’t necessarily disagree with everything he said, I was on holiday and not expecting such an intense focus on the darker, more controversial aspects of the cacao industry. It would have been great to keep the focus more on the chocolate-making process itself.

Overall, the tour itself was fantastic, but be prepared for a political discussion that might not be what you're expecting while...