Galapagos Habitat Hotel

Would definitely go back! The Windrose was an AMAZING experience! After a medical scare and needing to rebook our original trip, Galapagos Habitat was heaven sent. If you’re lo... read moreAfter a medical scare and needing to rebook our original trip, Galapagos Habitat was heaven sent. If you’re looking for all-inclusive (meals), land-based, with high quality service, this is the place for you. Their customer service is top notch, both remotely before getting there, to coordinate everything, and then in person as well. Hotel: location is very convenient, easy 10 min walk to the Darwin station or down into the main town. The restaurant has many options for a hot breakfast buffet and a lot of o for dinner. It almost on the water, and thus there is a daily array of sea iguanas & sea lions resting allowing a lot of photos Windrose yacht: surprised this amazing sunseeker doesn’t have its own page on Trip Advisor. As part of the package, the hotel works with this boat. Not sure if we could have arranged other stuff on our own, but it was hassle free to book all together. The crew is super helpful, can handle all abilities getting in & out of the dingy for wet & dry landings, and the boat is beautiful. The snacks & lunches are made fresh on the boat daily by an amazing chef! The only negatives? Hotel: The signs said, per usual, to hang up towels to re-use...but they kept getting replaced every day!! Didn’t feel very eco =( Boat: some days it felt like the closer port would have made more sense... After a medical scare and needing to rebook our original trip, Galapagos Habitat was heaven sent. If you’re looking for all-inclusive (meals), land-based, with high quality service, this is the place for you. Their customer service is top notch, both remotely before getting there, to coordinate everything, and then in person as well.

Hotel: location is very convenient, easy 10 min walk to the Darwin station or down into the main town. The restaurant has many options for a hot breakfast buffet and a lot of o for dinner. It almost on the water, and thus there is a daily array of sea iguanas & sea lions resting allowing a lot of photos

Windrose yacht: surprised this amazing sunseeker doesn’t have its own page on Trip Advisor. As part of the package, the hotel works with this boat. Not sure if we could have arranged other stuff on our own, but it was hassle free to book all together. The crew is super helpful, can handle all abilities getting in & out of the dingy for wet & dry landings, and the boat is beautiful. The snacks & lunches are made fresh on the boat daily by an amazing chef!

The only negatives?

Hotel: The signs said, per usual, to hang up towels to re-use...but they kept getting replaced every day!! Didn’t feel very eco =(

Boat: some days it felt like the closer port would have made more sense instead of driving across the island, eg for Santa Cruz, but they only use it one day a week. It would have been nice to have one more day to see Pinzon, Rabida, or maybe more of Santiago (assuming permits allowed); if doing all their routes it’s only 4 days that are unique, and would have loved another day or two!

PS they changed their name from Red Mangrove, so Google Maps etc can get a bit confused More read less

Darwin Suite = Impressive Formerly known (?) as Red Mangrove, this wonderful little hotel sits at the end of town over the water in a ma... read moreFormerly known (?) as Red Mangrove, this wonderful little hotel sits at the end of town over the water in a mangrove swamp. The Darwin Suite, was enormous and had really incredible views from two private balconies. Water pressure was good and the bathroom was large and modern. The staff at the hotel was very helpful, and bike rentals were free. The breakfast, also included, was very good.

This hotel is well managed, clean, and everything you would want in a tropical waterfront locale. read less

amazing and special place to stay My family was here for a week and half in mid/late August. Amazing and wonderful place to stay. There are so m... read moreMy family was here for a week and half in mid/late August. Amazing and wonderful place to stay. There are so many great things to point out:

Location: Can't beat the location. 5-10 minutes walk from the main town, shops, and restaurants. Close enough to enjoy Puerto Ayora, far enough to get away from the crowds and noise. The hotel is also ~10 minutes walking to the Charles Darwin Research Center, Galapagos National Park Visitor Center, and two small beaches.

Hotel Grounds: Most unique hotel in Puerto Ayora. It's very tranquil, as it is nestled inside a mangrove forest, and it is right next to the ocean. Sea lions and marine iguanas love to lounge on the deck area of the hotel and you can get a much more up close experience with sea lions here than even on some of the tours. Our family loved saying hi to the pack of sea lions and watch them play every morning as we started our day.

Rooms: Very comfortable and spacious rooms. We had a room with a patio/deck overlooking the ocean and it was delightful to wake up to pelicans flying by the patio and watching sea lions lounge and swim on the decks and below. Beds were comfortable and showers/bathrooms were clean and functional. Only two small critiques of the room 1) floors tend to get dusty (which was expected, as this is the Galapagos) but slippers were provided so not a big deal, 2) wish there was more shelf/dresser space for organizing and storing away clothes so I didn't have to live out of my suitcase as much.

Staff: This is where I felt the hotel really shined. The staff and front desk folks were incredibly helpful and hospitable. House keeping ensured a clean and organized room waited for us after a long day of treks and adventures. I believe they actually come in twice a day to tend to the room. Once during the day time for the main cleaning, and then once in the evening (if you're not in the room) to turn down the bedding and drapes to get the room ready for the night. The Almar/dining staff was very attentive to our dining and breakfast needs. The young man (wish I can recall his name!) in charge of the breakfast wait staff remembered our breakfast preferences (three scrambled eggs, two with veggies, one coffee with sugar and milk, one hot coco, one orange juice, one pineapple tea, and a side of ketchup) by the third day and had everything ready for us to eat within a few minutes of sitting down at the table. And the front desk staff helped with beach towels, calling taxis, and even prepped sandwiches for us to take for lunch on days we decided to go to Garrapatero Beach.

Almar Restaurant: Our package included complimentary dinner for half our stay so we were able to eat at a few other options around town and enjoy the food from the Almar. Almar's food is definitely one of the more delicious and higher-end dining options. Can't go wrong with any of the seafood dishes. The fresh fruit juices and fruit smoothies are absolutely delicious and refreshing.

Tours: We also booked our tour services thru Haguan that owns Red Mangrove and they absolutely delivered a great experience without any issues. Jefferson (our tour host) was incredibly helpful in setting expectations on what we'll encounter, what clothing we should wear on what day, travel logistics, etc... and even offered plenty of suggestion for different activities for days when we were not on organized tours. He would meet us every morning before we set off to ensure everything was in place and ready for the day.

All in all, this was an incredible place to stay as a "home base" during our time on the islands. It is one of the more pricier options in Puerto Ayora, but I would definitely stay here again when it comes time for our next Galapagos adventure. read less

Nice place to spend a night onSanta Cruz Island We stayed at Habitat Hotel for 1 night during or visit of Santa Cruz. Ideally located between the Main Street ... read moreWe stayed at Habitat Hotel for 1 night during or visit of Santa Cruz. Ideally located between the Main Street and the Darwin Research Center and Turtles Reserve, we found Habitat hotel very comfortable with a helpful staff and a beautiful view on the sea.
The hotel has a nice restaurant and outdoor terrace (often occupied by some sealions!) and the rooms are very clean and confortable.
The hotel also has bikes that you can take to ride around Puerto Ayora, and is close to many restaurants and activities.
A good hotel for your stay on the island! read less

Amazing trip Went there with my wife, love it, the location is very good (i mean, you are in the Galapagos, nothing better ... read moreWent there with my wife, love it, the location is very good (i mean, you are in the Galapagos, nothing better than that right) with very warm friendly staff. Loved the situation amongst the mangroves and all the wildlife. The suite was verry good (could be better, but i guess the logistic is very complicated) -amazing views.
Restaurant was very good for all the meals. read less

Ecological luxury hotel in the middle of the beautiful archipelago islands of Galapagos Oceanview, private port, spacious rooms, luxury amenities, great location in front of Charles darwin center an... read moreOceanview, private port, spacious rooms, luxury amenities, great location in front of Charles darwin center and delicious high-quality cousin.
Enjoy the ocean view surrounded by sea lions and iguanas was a lifetime experience.
The hotel was built inside of forest of mangrove with great conservation concept.
To sit in the room and hearing the wild animals a few steps outside of our balcony was outstanding.
Recommended! read less

Beautiful hotel, amazing view, lots of sea lions and marine iguanas We stayed in an ocean view suite, and it was amazing - had the best view of all during our two week trip. This... read moreWe stayed in an ocean view suite, and it was amazing - had the best view of all during our two week trip. This is a beautiful, clean hotel with many sea lions and marine iguanas on site. Food at the restaurant was excellent. We did drink the filtered water provided by the hotel - with the Galapagos-wide goal of decreasing use of plastic bottles. However, our stomachs didn't tolerate that water so we switched to buying 6 liter bottles of water for the rest of our trip. You could also probably use something like a steri-pen and be fine. Highly recommend this hotel. Wonder why they changed the name from Red Mangrove to Galapagos habitat - Red Mangrove is much more fitting and easier to remember...maybe has something to do with how it shows up on a Google search?? read less

Good standard Unfortunately, the booked "superior room with sea view" was very small and in front of our balcony w... read moreUnfortunately, the booked "superior room with sea view" was very small and in front of our balcony was a canopy over which you could only see the sea on the horizon. The cleanliness just in the bathroom can be optimized, the floor was probably swept but not wiped. My wife cleaned the bathroom again with a towel, which was very dirty afterwards. At high tide the way from the street to the reception was full of water and we could only reach our room with difficulty. Nice the directly above the water lying outside lounge and the dinner was very tasty. Also the breakfast had a bit more choice than in other hotels during our trip. Conclusion: a middle class hotel with good kitchen. More read less

Amazing hotel!! My daughter and I stayed 5 nights here and it was not enough!!

Room--Our room overlooked a deck where the... read moreMy daughter and I stayed 5 nights here and it was not enough!!

Room--Our room overlooked a deck where the sea lions love to hang out--we could have sat on our gorgeous patio and watched them all day! The waterfront view of the harbor was beautiful too. When we arrived our mini fridge was stocked with complimentary food and drinks (such a nice surprise).

Location--Easy walk to Charles Darwin center and the main street of restaurants/tour operators/shops/etc.

Tours-We booked two tours through the hotel's yacht (Windrose). The guides were so knowledgeable excited to teach us about the islands. On the Plazas/Santa Fe tour we were lucky enough to snorkel with sea lions and get up close to so many iguanas and birds. On the Bartolome tour we hiked to an amazing view and were able to snorkel with penguins and sharks! The yacht is roomy and comfortable even on a full tour (16 people), the crew on the yacht is wonderful and the food was delicious.

Staff-Andrea and Boris were both so helpful!! Anything we needed they were happy to help! They arranged our amazing tours and gave great suggestions for how to spend our non tour days on Santa Cruz.

Would love to visit here again!! More read less