Punta SAL Suites & Bungalows Resort

I booked Punta Sal Suites and Bungalows to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday. We flew from Lima to Tumbes and took a taxi which took 1 hour 40mins to the resort. Please note there were lots of taxis available at arrivals (150 soles one way). Hotel quoted us 150 USD for a shared service. We arrived to hotel at 2.45pm. The check-in was prompt but we were told we were unable to enter the room until 3pm (for no other reason than that’s the check-in time). While we thought it strange, we decided to have late lunch and drinks while we waited for our bungalow to be ready. Lunch and all subsequent meals (we ate each day at the resort) were very good and the main restaurant had a great selection of dishes. The nearest town (Punta Sal) is 15mins by taxi and it was not worth travelling to each day during low season. Once we got to the bungalow, we realised why there are so few photos of them available on the website. The whole hut was outdated, in serious need of an upgrade, ants invaded our rooms every day and second bathroom was actually a sink in a corridor. I was willing to pay for an upgrade but that was the only hut/ room with 3 bedrooms we needed. It’s worth mentioning that the swimming pool and common facilities are lovely. There are a lot of families and noise (unlike couples focused hotels in Mancora) but that’s something that the hotel cannot control. One of our party got sick from seafood dinner one night and the hotel had a nurse available to help him get better. Unfortunately, it took a very direct conversation at check-out to get that one plate removed from the final bill. What was even more disappointing, was that when I was offered a shower room after check-out, no toiletries or towel were offered. I was told no towels are given once one left the room. I needed to argue for our towels to be given (and was grateful for brining my own toiletries on this 4 days trip). In summary, the hotel is pretty (except the bungalows which are awful), food was very good, noise during the day and level of service terrible. We will not be coming back to the hotel as we’ve stayed in much better hotels in the North of Peru.

We loved our stay. The staff were really helpful and friendly, the food was awesome and the resort is perfectly chill. Family and pet friendly and the room was spacious and clean. We’ll definitely come back. We spent our time by the pool and on the beach.

After two years we came back. Everything improved a lot! The food at both restaurants were amazing. The breakfast was outstanding. We stayed four nights and every single day they offered a different breakfast buffet that was delicious. An opportunity for improvement. Please, don't offer rooms close to locations that are in maintenance. A guest is looking for peace and to get a nice view of the beach and the sea. Fortunately the staff changed our room immediately.