7 DAYS / 6 NIGHTS

Perfect! We spent three days on Santa Cruz staying at this hotel and while this was a bit of a splurge, it was well wor... read moreWe spent three days on Santa Cruz staying at this hotel and while this was a bit of a splurge, it was well worth it. This hotel is at the edge of town, but the town is small enough that you can walk from one end to the other in 10 minutes or less.The location is spectacular because of the waterfront location of the restaurant where you can have breakfast if you are staying there or lunch and dinner regardless of whether you’re staying there, and the main attraction is sea lions and marine iguanas visible right there on the deck, lying in deck chairs, etc. Unlike San Cristobal, where sea lions are everywhere, Puerto Ayora does not have that many sea lions in town and this concentration of them along with the iguanas and birds etc makes the hotel special. We were in the Wolf room and I highly recommend it. Great view! This hotel used to be called Res Mangrove by the way. New management is doing a great job! The staff were super helpful. There are free bikes to borrow. What’s not to love?? The restaurant serves great food and the breakfast buffet was very good. More read less

beautiful setting, very helpful staff The hotel is set on the water with great views, including pelicans and frigate birds. The deck that houses th... read moreThe hotel is set on the water with great views, including pelicans and frigate birds. The deck that houses the restaurant and lounge chairs has resident sea lions and marine iguanas. The restaurant was the best we tried in Puerto Ayora. The restaurant and hotel staff was helpful in every way possible, particularly in upgrading our room when there was a problem with our first one. The second room overlooked the sea lions and had a large balcony with wonderful views of the harbor. read less

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

A Waterside Gem! This superbly located, very well managed hotel offers everything anyone visiting the Galapagos might hope for!... read moreThis superbly located, very well managed hotel offers everything anyone visiting the Galapagos might hope for! Perched directly on protected water, it is (literally) home to a number of the creatures one comes to see: sea lions, finches, and iguana, among others! While it's ideally located within easy walking distance of the town, Puerto Ayora, and the nearby Darwin Research Center, it's snuggled among mangroves that lend it surprising privacy. And for essential daily activities at sea, the hotel's handsome, well-fitted powerboat, Windrose, is a perfect waterborne counterpart. This property is the Whole Package! read less

Very special place Wow! Such a lovely place to stay, with the most amazing staff who were helpful and friendly. Great room with w... read moreWow! Such a lovely place to stay, with the most amazing staff who were helpful and friendly. Great room with wonderful views( thank you for the upgrade to the suite). Great food in the restaurant and great service. We enjoyed our evening meal and breakfast. Thanks for the free bike loans. Wonderful comfortable beds. Reception staff were amazing. Thank you for some very special memories and great service. read less

Ecological rustic hotel This is a simple yet comfortable hotel. It is quiet, clean, rustic, and perfect for the atmosphere. The staff... read moreThis is a simple yet comfortable hotel. It is quiet, clean, rustic, and perfect for the atmosphere. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The food is delicious! We ate great lobster at their restaurant. The town is just down the street. The sea lions love to hang out at one end of the hotel. In fact, I could look out my window and they were right there. It was as if I was sleeping with the sea lions. If you do not like sea lions, then request a room away from them. read less

PURE RELAXATION Galapagos Habitat is an amazing hotel. The staff were friendly and very helpful. The food in the restaurant ... read moreGalapagos Habitat is an amazing hotel. The staff were friendly and very helpful. The food in the restaurant was delicious. We loved being right on the water where the sea lions, pelicans, and iguanas hung out. We would highly recommend this hotel and will stay there again. 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

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