Casa Lotería Sayulita - Family Boutique Hotel with Restaurant, Rooftop Yoga, Pool & Free Parking - 3 min to Beach

The location made the stay for us. It’s about a three-minute walk to the beach and only five to seven minutes to get around town. There’s a row of local vendors a short walk away with lots of handmade goods at good prices, plus a cute coffee truck around the corner with live Brazilian music and excellent espresso. The staff were so friendly and ready to help, the hotel was very clean, and we liked cooling off in the clean pool in the evening. There’s also daily yoga on the covered outdoor deck upstairs, with a great view of the hillside communities. The water complaints in other reviews seem misleading. There is hot water, but it’s heated with solar panels, so it’s hottest around midday. After several cloudy days, it may not get hot. With the warm temperatures here, leaving the windows and doors open while showering should be fine. One unusual thing happened on our last day: an iguana living in the trees by the entrance peed on me just after checkout. Apparently that’s good luck, so I’ll take it. We’d definitely stay here again.

The courtyard pool was lovely, with so many plants around it that the space felt exotic. We spent 13 nights here and found our room clean and uncluttered throughout. The staff were consistently friendly and helpful. It’s a wonderful little oasis, and I’d highly recommend it.

The hotel’s location is a real plus, close to town and an easy walk to the beach. The rest of our seven-night stay was disappointing, though. We had no hot water, and after we reported it to several people at reception, it still wasn’t fixed. They showed us an electrical breaker panel and said to switch it on ourselves when we wanted hot water. We saw a small arc flash the first time, so we didn’t feel safe touching it again. The sheets in our room had hair, sand, and stains when we arrived. Staff kindly replaced them, but the new ones still had permanent stains. We also had to wear an uncomfortable hard plastic wristband all week, which felt unnecessary for a seven-night visit. With the ongoing hot-water and cleanliness problems, I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.

The long-time staff seem to be stuck dealing with the way this place has gone downhill since Sergio took over as manager. Monica and Adrian at the front desk tried hard to help, but Sergio dismissed my concerns. I also contacted the hotel on Facebook and by email afterward. He blamed the previous manager, then stopped replying when I told him the problems were happening under his management. We booked a suite for five nights so we could cook instead of eating out every night. On the first night there was no hot water, nothing to wash dishes with, and only an old scratched frying pan and a random spare lid for cooking. There were no towels or dishcloths either. Noise in the hall kept waking us through the night, which I guess comes with this big party town. The next day, with no hot water at all, I asked to cancel the remaining nights and get a refund for two days. I was willing to pay for the three nights we’d used. I had read the written policy saying cancellations needed 48 hours’ notice, but Sergio refused to honor it and said he’d write to the company to have the policy changed. The front desk staff came to the room, confirmed the hot-water problem, and apologized. Other staff also told me it was an ongoing complaint. The suite was bare. We had to carry our bags up two flights of stairs, the bedroom had just a bed and one side table, and there was no TV or decor. The bed had a rough sheet and another sheet for a cover, with no spare blankets or pillows. One air-conditioner remote served both rooms, so one person couldn’t adjust the temperature at night. My bedroom window had come off its hinge. The bathrooms had no ventilation and smelled of sewage, as well as having no hot water, not even warm water. The pool area may once have been lovely, but it needs a lot of maintenance, including resurfacing the pool, and the hot tub was completely broken. The pool was unheated and freezing. The website said breakfast was included, but there was no breakfast. We could also hear the beach parties from the hotel. It’s a shame, since the place clearly used to be a nice little boutique hotel, but unless you get an amazing deal, which we didn’t, I’d skip it.