Guayaquil Lodging

Very little negative is to be said regarding our experience with El Manso Boutique in Guayaquil. We are both in agreement that this was the best hostel we stayed at in Ecuador. So let’s just start with the only, minor negative, and get it out of the way. Like most hostels, there just has to be some malfunction with the shower. In this case, the shower curtain was too short, resulting in a wet [and could be] slippery floor -although only minor, much better than most. That’s it.

From the very beginning, this time making a few reservations before embarking on our travels, our experience with El Manso Boutique Hostal was positive. Their website is informative, with pictures and videos, and offers a discount for booking on-line. However the on-line booking could not be completed. For reservations El Manso Boutique’s site includes a few telephone numbers, including a US based number, a Skype number, and local number. Easy to reach. We called, spoke with Emiko, who took the reservation over the phone and immediately followed up with e-mail confirmation, including the dates, breakdown of price, name and description of the room.

Check in was easy, our room was clean, and the cool, fresh pitcher of water was a welcomed touch after a long evening of traveling. The design and decor of our room at El Manso was much more modern with better detail in the construction than most hostels. Our particular room had a large window facing east across Simon Bolivar to the Malecón 2,000 (boardwalk and river). The hallways were clean with comfortable (not worn out) furniture, with plenty of chairs, and hammocks by the hallway balconies. Wifi routers were located on each floor (the wifi was a bit slow in the room, but fine in the hallway).

The hostel location is great, within walking distance to the colonial streets of Las Peñas and the Cerro Santa Ana viewpoint at the north end of Malecón 2,000, and only a few short blocks to historic plazas, churches, and monuments behind it to the west. While awaiting our taxi to the airport on our day of departure, Emiko was working and asked where we were going. I told her to Loja and Vilcabamba, and had casually mentioned it was a bit challenging to find many lodging options in Loja to review on the internet. A few minutes later, on her own accord, she handed us a paper with recommendations in Loja.

Location, price, staff and room were all good – a step above the rest. El Manso Boutique Hostal lands on the recommended list of lodging in Guayaquil. El Manso is located at:

Malecón 1406 y Aguirre, Guayaquil, Ecuador