La Zayapa Hotel

I was concerned booking this with all the bad reviews I read below, but it turned out to be ok. Location is absolutely brilliant, right next to the pier where all the tours depart from. So after a sunny tiring day of snorkelling its only 100m back to the hotel. Only small issue is its right on the main street so can be a bit noisy and there are very bright street lights shining all night which their curtains let in. Its not too bad but if you've travelled far, sometimes you need darkness to sleep well. There was noone around the check me in and someone from the shop next door called a guy over. Pleasant enough check in, but not overly friendly. Was very happy my room was ready early and no extra charge to go in early. This was great. Rooms probably arent as nice as they appear in the management photos but they arent bad. Really spacious and the ocean view rooms really do have a nice view. Its great to arrive and open a window and sea/hear all the seals from your bed! Bathroom was ok, water took along time to heat but you have to remember you're on an island. Nice to see they had a wetsuit hanger in the shower. I had a package breakfast each day as I left early, it was nothing more than a sandwich and a box drink so I would've preferred there to be a cheaper room option without any breakfast included but they dont offer that. Probably a little overpriced for what you get, but it is a tourist island with tourist prices. A bit of work on their service and update a few things and they could be on a real winner.

The hotel is located conveniently in front of the main pear. Rooms facing the sea have a nice view.And this is where positives ends .It was expensive, the towels were dirty (very dirty !!!).Upon arrival a hair on again not so clean pillow, ants in room. Breakfast was not so bad, but service was slow, instead at 7.30, we were finally served at 8.00 ( we had an activity at 8.20!). Writers always hold glasses/cups in the upper part, where you drink(?!). I propose to you either to choose one of the brand hotels nearby ( they will cost a bit more), or some cheap hotel, where you will at least know why you are getting bad service.

We stayed at Hotel Zayapa last April 2023 and were going to stay there again in February 2024. Ecuagringo, which is a outfitter for the Galapagos Islands booked our trip last year and the upcoming trip in 2/24. Then we found out that Braden Escobar that owned and ran Ecuagringo died on 11/19/2023. So jumped into action to confirm our reservations. We were able to confirm 2 other hotel reservations for this trip and those hoteliers worked with us to continue on with our trip. We confirmed with one of the people at the front desk of Hotel Zayapa that there was a reservation for us in February 2024, and it had a $465 balance that need to be paid and we were good to go. Once the owner/manager found out about this conversation we had with there employee, he told us that the reservation was trough Ecuagringo and they would need to contact the hotel to confirm the reservation.......that was fine except the owner of Ecuagringo passsed away. So we provided Hotel Zayapa information on Braden death and our credentials. Unfortunately for us Hotel Zayapa took this opportunity to deny our reservation and steal our money. The hotel is in a great location near the pier, but your taking a real risk with this Hotel, if anything changes in the slightest they will screw you over and take your money and leave you hanging.

This is a nice hotel with a great location near the water. The rooms are not fancy, but they are clean and comfortable and more than met our needs. Our room did not have a coffee maker, but there was one in the lobby, along with fresh water.

Our experience with la Zayapa was the worst. The first day we left our clothes to the hotel’s laundry service. When we got it back three of our shirt were destroyed (big blue spots all over them). When we complained to the manager he first tried to say that the clothes looked like that before we turned them in. We shut down that claim. He then said that they can't take no responsibility because the process with their laundry service is not working right now. Ok, then don’t provide a laundry service to your guests if it’s not working, was our reply. No answer. We said that misstakes happens and that’s fine but we expect that they will find a proper solution for this problem. The solution, according to the manager, was that we did not have to pay for the laundry.... We said that these shirt were brand new and when we get back home we need to buy new ones. Could they at least reimburse us for one night (the price for 1 night was almost the same amount of the destroyed shirts)? No, that was not their problem. We were really disappointed in their unwillingness to resolve a situation they caused. Moreover, we had a really hard time finishing our reservation. They kept sending us a Paypal-link that didn’t work. We told them everytime they sent the link that it was not working and asked if we could pay at the hotel instead. No answer, which led to some stress and worries regarding the status of our booking. Once we got there it worked perfectly fine to pay at the hotel… Save yourself the headache and trouble and go to another hotel.

We arrived in San Cristobal only to find out our reservation had been cancelled and they were full. This was even though our travel agent had a confirmation number and receipt for payment. He wouldn’t give his email to our agent to forward the receipt. The manager was so rude he demanded a written letter in Spanish before even discussing the issue. He would not talk to our travel agent. Fortunately, our agent secured us a very nice room in a hotel next door. The manager caused us to waste our entire afternoon trying to settle everything. I’d stay far away from this place. They are not an honest business.