Hostal Sir Francis Drake

Ecuador , Santa Cruz Island
PUERTO AYORA, Av Baltra Y Charles Binford
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50 reviews shown

6/10

Pleasant

10 May 2026

Dr Farkas

its only 150 m. from the harbor,at the best place, for a few days stay it is the best option, but for a longer stay i wont recommend

Self

10/10

Exceptional

25 May 2025

John

Everything was perfect.

Great location!

Self

4/10

Poor

01 Jan 2025

Simone

Leisure

8/10

Excellent

17 Apr 2024

Mike

This hotel is located right next to “restaurant row” which is a street with many dining options and geared mostly toward the tourists. The hotel A/C and Wi-Fi worked well, and I had a comfortable night here. There is a motion sensor hall light that shines into the room through the top windows and some noise as they walk by. It gets quiet after 10:00 so not too much of an inconvenience. Staff helped me with bus arrangements. There is an upstairs lounge area that overlooks the street and would be a nice spot to visit with friends.

Leisure Self

4/10

Poor

16 Dec 2023

Danny

I booked the place online with the option to pay at the check-in, but they did not have the option for credit or debit card, so I had to pay by cash which was not in my budget

4/10

Poor

12 Aug 2022

Ruth

This hotel is old, mouldy and run down. I’m sure it was lovely in its prime but now things are broken, mildewy and shabby. Mould on the bathroom ceiling, broken soap dispensers, broken mosquito blinds, windows that don’t close properly and lack of information in the room. (i.e. you have to go back to reception to ask for a hairdryer and the wifi code). The table in the room was rusty and no spare pillows available. We wouldn’t recommend staying here.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

05 Feb 2022

Bruce6

Great place. Third floor has sea breeze and nice little balcony/patio.
It is about a block from ocean and right around the corner from a great little row of restaurants.
Honey, who runs the place seems to know about everything going on and is a great font of information. We enjoyed our stay.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

02 Mar 2020

Olchik

Check in went smooth, however the receptionist didn't provide me with the wifi upon check in. she told me to come see her after. but after she was nowhere to be found. One of the other guests shared the wifi password with me. The wifi was very poor in the room, lobby was great. The lighting in the hallway is was at was very poorly lit. also going down the staircase, sometimes the automated lights wouldn't go on and i would have to walk semi-dark downstairs.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

19 Feb 2020

Verified traveler

Ok for the price. Only room in Galapagos that had a tv (not that we used it). Good working a/c, comfy beds, quiet, filtered water available. Bathroom was pretty smelly, not really well cleaned. Very close to pier, right in downtown.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

21 Jan 2020

Sue

Staff very, very friendly . Excellent location....

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

30 Nov 2019

Short walk to the port and close to many restaurants and cafes! The owner is most helpful. It was a good base from which to explore the neighbouring islands!!

Leisure Friends

8/10

Excellent

04 Apr 2019

Rhonda

Staff is very friendly. Room was clean. AC was good. WIFI non existent in rooms- should be working for the price.

Leisure Partner

4/10

Poor

20 Mar 2019

MargaritSanchez

My room had a lot of ants all around the room everywhere it was bad and the front desk said that they will send the fumigador and i said no that i want another room.

Friends_and_family Family

4/10

Poor

20 Mar 2019

Selina

Rude and unhelpful place. Really noisy. But, it was a place to get my head down

8/10

Excellent

08 Jan 2019

David

Very good location and friendly staff. Melanie (young woman at reception) went out of her way to help and make sure everything was good. Rooms are quite different so check around. It seems a bit cheaper if you just book when you get there. WiFi is ok but not great, hot water is available but often takes a while to get hot. I didn't have breakfast included in my rate ($42 a night, more or less in early Dec 2018), so the value was not the best. With breakfast included and hot water for coffee and tea, it would be better value. But a very good value location and very good location.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

08 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

Good location with average room quality

The location is very convenient. But the room is just in average quality.

Friends

8/10

Excellent

05 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

When I go to Galapagos I look for a clean, safe place, close to everything, at a good price. This is what I found in Sir Francis Drake Hostal. It is an unpretentious place offering all that I need, so that I can have a good night of sleep with air conditioner, a good shower with hot water, closeness to all the action of the island and access to all the other islands.

8/10

Excellent

04 Jan 2019

Michael B

Great simple hostel. Perfect location and nice and clean.

Family

4/10

Poor

07 Dec 2018

Verified traveler

The wifi and air conditioner didnt work. Breakfast is not included.

4/10

Poor

04 Dec 2018

Traveler

Very disappointing !!!

We have group of 12 travelers. We had booked this hotel for 3 nights on Nov, 26 - 29, 2018.

#1: The price we booked is included breakfast. But when we arrive there we were told the breakfast must pay $5.50 USD before 7:30 am. They are local business and know all type of day-tours start around 7:30 am. So we can not get our breakfast even though breakfast box. This is trick and they try to charge twice for breakfast from travelers.

#2: This hotel do not have enough hot water to support all rooms.

6/10

Pleasant

31 Oct 2018

Joseph G Ward

The staff is blaise, the breakfast is quite lame (with poor service), the room had 2 small windows located 2 meters up and the wifi is very slooow.
The room was very clean and a comfortable bed.
I am certain there are better options.

6/10

Pleasant

18 Aug 2018

Verified traveler

good location but a bit noisy. not a real "sea view". no closets in the bedroom. cheap but there are probably better options. narrow steep stairs.

8/10

Excellent

02 Aug 2018

Verified traveler

PEOPLE AND HOTEL WERE GREAT. Don't forget to ask them to turn on the hot water about 10-30 minutes before taking a shower!

8/10

Excellent

04 Jul 2018

eliza

Nice hotel close to everything

I think location was key to a super vacation in the Galápagos and we had it with Sir Francis Drake. Will definitely stay there again.

6/10

Pleasant

05 May 2018

Eleanor

Hotel very close to ferry dock to catch early ferries to other islands. On main road so a little noisy, and has stairs to negotiate with luggage. Water pressure in shower on the weak side. Room had AC.

10/10

Exceptional

16 Mar 2018

Verified traveler

Middle of everything

The rooms were cleaned daily, staff was very friendly, great meals in their kitchen, can walk everywhere from the hostel.

6/10

Pleasant

17 Feb 2018

TED

Location and price vs. amenities

Location is perfect. Hotel staff was inconsistent. Restaurant attached to the hotel is dreadful, though that is not a problem because there are multiple restaurants and markets nearby.

Bottom line: the price is right if that is your primary criteria.

6/10

Pleasant

05 Jan 2018

Jenny

Convenient location, clean but nothing special

This hotel is satisfactory. It's close to the road to walk out to Tortuga Bay. It's not the type of place you'd stay if your visit was a special event but it's adequate. It's clean, quiet and centrally located.

8/10

Excellent

04 Jan 2018

Mike and Mary

Good location

My wife and I visited the Galápagos Islands the last week of December. We stayed at this hotel and found it to be a very nice hotel especially for the price. The room was clean and comfortable, and the hotel is only a few blocks away from the port and all the restaurants and shops. It is about a 20 minute walk to the Darwin research center. The check in process was very simple and fast and we had a pleasant stay here.

This is a very basic hotel, there are no pools, spas ect, but it’s functional. This is the Galápagos, if that is what your looking for go somewhere else. We took the money we saved by staying at this hotel and booked day tours out to different islands everyday for snorkeling, diving ect because that’s what we were in the Galápagos to do, and used the hotel as a place to sleep.

I would stay here again, good location, clean, and comfortable.

8/10

Excellent

30 Dec 2017

Sheela

Great stay at Puerta Ayora

Great location close to Charles Darwin center, local food, supermarket, tour agencies and ferry station, staff got us hot water for black tea

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

11 Aug 2017

Verified traveler

Nice room

Pleasant reasonably priced hotel near the dock. The room was nice with a good view.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

29 Jul 2017

Douglas

It is a good location and the hotel has satisfactory, if basic, facilities. The one person staff was quite friendly.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

01 May 2017

Verified traveler

Good place for price

Family

8/10

Excellent

03 Feb 2017

Craig

Great location, clean and decent price.

Stayed here for 3 nights. Location was great, only about 100m from the main strip.

Easy enough to converse with staff with my limited Spanish. Free filter water! Rooms were very clean and cleaned every day.

Only downside I could find was there was no social atmosphere and depending what you want it may not be a bad thing, after all you aren't in Galapagos to party.

8/10

Excellent

18 Jan 2017

Verified traveler

Convenient and clean hotel

Everything was good, really helpful staff

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

12 Jan 2017

Verified traveler

Convenient and clean hotel

It was a good experience overall. The hotel is only a couple of blocks from the central square and harbour in Puerto Ayora. It was hot and humid on the island, so we appreciated the air conditioning. There was lots of hot water for showers. Our only problem was drying out swimming clothes, because we were in the water almost every day. We wrung them out and hung them up, but they made the whole room damp.

Family

6/10

Pleasant

27 Apr 2026

Tommy

Inget speciellt men funkade bra för en övernattning, lite billigare än många andra och läget är väldigt centralt

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

16 Jan 2026

Paulo

A localização é excepcional, pois fica no melhor lugar que poderia estar, perto de restaurantes, lojas e do Pier Central.
O banheiro não era bom, apesar de espaçoso.
A descarga da privada travava e o chuveiro era fraco, ficava indo constantemente do frio para o quente.
O atendimento é ótimo!

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

18 Nov 2025

Simonin

PAs de télévision et wifi quasi mort chambre correcte

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

26 Jun 2025

Tore

Central and cheap

Location was great, reception only manned daytime. Room with shower ok, had to change room due to very small ants. Air Condition worked well, price VERY low.

Self

6/10

Pleasant

22 Apr 2024

Natascha

Zwischenstop

Empfang war sehr unfreundlich. Hatte keine Ahnung von einer Reservation. Erhielt dann aber ein Zimmer. War nur für 1 Nacht dort aufgrund von Zwischenstop zwischen den Inseln. Macht einen heruntergekommenen Eindruck. Lage ist gut, zu Fuss nur ca. 3 Minuten vom Hafen und viele Restaurants und Geschäfte in der Umgebung.

10/10

Exceptional

23 Jan 2023

Verified traveler

Todo estuvo muy bien.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

22 Jan 2023

Elfie

Ubicación conveniente

Estuvo todo bien. La ubicación es excelente. Cerca del muelle y la calle de comidas.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

28 Aug 2022

Luis

Muy lindo hotel la señora de recepción un amor con nosotros muy amble

Leisure Family

2/10

Poor

15 Jun 2022

Simona

Grauenhaft & unhygienisch!

Einfach nur grauenhaft & unfreundlich!

⛔️ Beim Check-In wollte mir die Dame nicht das von mir im Voraus vollständig bezahlte Zimmer geben. Stattdessen wurde mir erst Mal das kleinste Zimmer gegeben, weil ich ja ohnehin alleine sei. Allerdings hatte ich für ein viel grösseres Zimmer bezahlt. Nach langem Hin- und Her, bekam ich dann zwar immer noch nicht das gebuchte/bezahlte Zimmer, dennoch passte es für mich von der Grösse her. Ich akzeptierte.

⛔️ Um 6 Uhr morgens fingen versch. Leute im selben Haus/Komplex mit der sehr lauten Handwerksarbeit an! Schlafen konnte man nicht!

⛔️ Jeden Tag musste ich nach erfolgter Zimmerreinigung nach Toilettenpapier & einem Handtuch bitten.

⛔️ Alles sehr alt, schmutzig, unhygienisch, völlig verstaubt, verdreckt & einfach nur schmuddelig.

⛔️ Laut Beschreibung sollte das Hostal ein Restaurant haben & Frühstück gegen Aufpreis anbieten. Dem war leider nicht so. Die Beschreibung ist völlig veraltet.

👍Das einzig Gute am Sir Francis Drake ist die Lage.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

09 Mar 2020

Klaus

Es war immer sauber, die Rezeption freundlich und eigentlich durchgehend besetzt. Bei Problemen war sofort Hilfe da.

Leisure Friends

8/10

Excellent

21 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

Rezeption wirkt zeitweise ein wenig überfordert,
aber Anfragen werden freundlich und zuvorkommend bearbeitet.
Es ist sauber und man wird in Ruhe gelassen, falls man das will.

4/10

Poor

15 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

Service verbesserungswürdig

Wir hatten 2 Aufenthalte im Hotel.Beim 1. Aufenthalt war das Zimmer gut, beim 2.Aufenthalt nicht befriedigend.Die Klimaanlage war alt, laut und nicht regulierbar.Nachts haben wir darauf verzichtet,um nicht zu erfrieren und wegen der Geräusche.Entgegen der Buchung gab es keinen Balkon und der Fernseher hatte nicht 38 Zoll sondern eher 38 cm Bilddiagonale.
Obwohl wir eine Buchung inklusive Frühstück gebucht hatten, wollte man uns zunächst das Frühstück verweigern und erst nach unserem Insistieren konnten wir gratis frühstücken, allerdings nur um 7.30h.Deswegen wurden wir auch um 7.15h gweckt,um an diese Frühstückszeit zu erinnern.Selbst die "offizielle" Frühstückszeit von 7.30 -8.30h fanden wir sehr früh,schliesslich sind wir im Urlaub und nicht auf Montage.
Im Übrigen mussten wir immer versuchen,uns auf Spanisch verständlich zu machen, niemand im Hotel hat auch nur ansatzweise Englisch verstanden.

Partner

4/10

Poor

18 Jan 2019

Verified traveler

Can't recommend this place

1. Wifi didn't worked
2. Service was bad and none of the staff could speak english
3. No breakfast (even though we've booked it)
4. Our room was dirty
5. The rooms are not like the pictures you see

Partner

4/10

Poor

07 Jan 2019

Liliana

Hotel engañoso

La foto de la habitación que muestra en la página de Hoteles.com, no fue, era sin ventanas y las que me mostraron para cambiar eran parecidas, una con ventana a un balcón, era muy bullicioso y no estaba disponible hasta el día siguiente. No habia personal en la noche en la recepción y en el día aveces tampoco. El precio que pague fue una usura, porque alla era a la mitad. La boleta que me dieron es por un monto mucho menor. Dijeron que Hoteles.com debia entregar la boleta por el monto real que pague. No nos despertaron en la mañana. No tenían secador de pelo, lo pedí y me pasaron uno como una excepción. Mala señal de la TV, mala señal del wifi, normalmente no había acceso. El restaurante que es de la misma dueña, funciona a medias, no llegan temprano a las 7 am, para tomar los tours que parten a las 7:30 am. Un día encontramos una lagartija (salamanque) y no la pudieron sacar. Buena ubicación, en la calle principal. No se como cumple lo de las 3 estrellas.

Family