Palo Santo Galápagos Hotel

I’ll start by putting this review in context. We weren’t expecting to stay at the Palo Santo. It was chosen for us by our erstwhile cruise provider, who cancelled our cruise with no notice and instead put us up in the Palo Santo. That may have coloured my opinion of the hotel, but I’ll try to stick to the facts. The Palo Santo is accessible only by water taxi and a half-mile walk from the jetty. The water taxis are available on demand, so that’s not too much of a burden. We later stayed in Puerto Ayora proper and preferred the location for its convenience and ease of access to the town’s facilities. Our room was large and clean but the bathroom was blighted by a strong smell of sewerage. This was occasionally masked by the copious amounts of cleaning product poured down the offending plugholes by the surprisingly cheery cleaners. Our room was free of invasive bugs but, unfortunately, the same could not be said of the neighbouring room occupied by our friends. Breakfast was served in a pleasant, open area by the pool. The food was very poor, consisting primarily of (I suspect) the cheapest ham and processed cheese available from the local supermarket. A special mention goes to the staff member at the front desk, who appeared quite irritated by our arrival at the hotel (there were no other guests). I can only hope that the Tripadvisor community respects the peaceful tempo of her working life and look elsewhere for accommodation in Puerto Ayora.