Hotel Santa Cruz Huatulco

Very family-friendly, and they also have some pet-friendly rooms. The rooms had good AC, comfortable beds and hot-water showers, and the place was incredibly clean with several full-time cleaners. Staff were friendly and helpful. The free cold water dispensers were another nice touch. Fantastic hotel, and maybe one of the best value and most comfortable places in Huatulco.

We live on the coast and spend lots of time in huatulco with family. We booked one night as a Christmas treat for our daughter, and I came away embarrassed that places like this can give visitors a bad impression of the Costa chica, which I love. I’ve lived in oaxaca state for six years and know service can be poor, especially since covid, but there’s better service at a campground. We did nothing wrong, yet ended up avoiding both the hotel and its staff as much as possible. I wouldn’t recommend it, and hope the staff get better training in what service means. We had almost no service despite being constantly reminded of the rules. The parking attendant came to find me over one back tire being partly on the line. Room service didn’t answer the hotel phone, and when I called from my own phone, we were told we couldn’t order quesadillas or really anything. I wrote twice before arriving and got no reply. There was no WiFi in our room, the TV didn’t work, and a neighboring hotel had a loud night show. I told them we’d be 15 minutes late checking out because the restaurant was behind with our bill. They deactivated our key card anyway, so at 12:05 we couldn’t unlock the door. The whole thing was as bad as flying these days. I don’t think there are few enough stars.

The pool was great, but the karaoke next to the rooms every night was very noisy, especially if you have kids or need an early night. This is an older hotel, and the dated rooms need updating and lots of small repairs, though they do have in-room safes. Some rooms in our block of twelve had large mold stains from leaks and weak AC, and two rooms flooded because of the AC units. Getting basic help was difficult. The front desk wouldn’t arrange taxis ahead of time or help with departure, just told us to go outside and wave. The pool bar in Oaxaca had no mezcal at all, in the birthplace of mezcal. You need an extra deposit for a second room key, and if your roommate takes the pool towel card, no card means no towel unless you pay another deposit. The attention to detail and customer service were severely lacking. We won’t return.

I’m giving it four stars because of the people who work here. The rooms are pretty good for a four-star hotel, and the lobby staff and waiters were super nice and always ready to sort out any issue. The food quality at the restaurant could be better, and the gym is pretty basic and needs improvement.