Hotel Silberstein

The room was clean and tidy, with air conditioning. You can carry your own bags up or ask for help, and the staff are glad to assist. Restaurants and the beach are within walking distance. Breakfast includes hot fish soup, but you have to ask for it.

The rooms took some getting used to, especially on rainy days. Some upper-floor rooms had puddles collecting during heavy rain, so don’t leave your things on the floor. Staff were quick to address problems, but depending on the season it can get quite wet and humid. The bathrooms have mesh-screen windows to the outside, so close the washroom door or the AC escapes. A smaller room may feel cooler because the air conditioning is more powerful there. Breakfast was great: fruit, freshly squeezed juice every day, plus bacon, eggs and toast. Some days there were chewy, savory yuca bites or cheese buns, and one morning they even had banana nut bread. The fish soup was amazing, with two different kinds depending on the day. One was tuna broth; the other was tomato-based or acidic, and really bright with a squeeze of lime. We think they used albacore tuna bones and meat, and both soups were hearty, like the kind your mom makes at home. The location is convenient for the Charles Darwin National Park and Reserch Center, the waterfront and all the dive shops, which made booking tours and dives easy.

Our party of 4 came for breakfast and left dissatisfied with both the food and service. The dishes arrived at different times, and the breakfasts didn’t come with coffee or juice, even though the menu said they did. The French toast was basically bread with syrup, the crepe fruit wasn’t fresh, and the ice cream we ordered with it arrived five minutes later. We asked about coffee several times, but the server said it wasn’t included, despite the menu listing it with the specials. The restaurant down the street was much better. We’d had a delicious breakfast there the day before, with waffles, eggs, juice and coffee.

The hotel needs a lot of upgrades and maintenance, but the staff were very friendly and gave amazing service. They arranged an earlier breakfast for us when we had tours to leave for, and made sure the person with celiac disease in our group always had something to eat.