Casa Shangri La

The owner is really friendly and helpful, and the rooms are clean and large, with a nice garden. For a low price, it’s a real gem. You’re about a ten-minute walk from the sea and beach restaurants, far enough from the crowds and loud music to feel relaxed. One of the best places to stay on the coast. We strongly recommend it!

We stayed in two kinds of rooms, a double and later a family dorm. Both were spacious, bright, and clean, especially the dorm, and it was only ten dollars a night. You can borrow surfboards by taking one and writing your name on a paper, and there’s a really relaxing pool. This was the best hostel of our month-long trip through Ecuador, and I’d highly recommend it. We were there in July, after the April earthquake, and at first weren’t sure we could visit Canoa. Jeroen, the owner, told us ahead of time that it was safe and that rebuilding was underway. The debris had been cleared, though many buildings were simply gone. Local people were actually happy to have visitors, since it helped them start building toward the future again. The owners are very friendly and happy to share information or just have a nice chat.

An affordable little beach paradise in Ecuador. Shangri La feels like an oasis, with palms, flowers, and gardens full of birds. It’s also home to seven tortoises and two of the coolest dogs I’ve met. It’s European owned and managed, and the standards are exceptional.

A calm, friendly hotel, and the price is really low for the standard compared with other places around here. It’s about 500 meters from the beach, so expect a bit of a walk. That’s actually nice when the bars by the ocean are blasting reggaeton all day and all night.