Los Balcones Over The Sea Hotel

Friendly and helpful staff. Room clean an spacious with a pleasant balcony. Nice little breakfast included. The back exit towards the village is a slum with open sewage flowing straight into the sea. After rain it was impossible to get to nearby restaurants or even to the supermarket 1 minute away, as the concrete paths were partly flooded with sewage.

There is no Staff from 10 pm forward, I came back from Isla colon in a taxi boat, and wanted to have a walk around Carenero Island where the Hotel is located, the main door was locked and no staff to be found around, a neighbor after seeing my distress helped me find an exit which involved crawling below the Hotel. When I came back I had to do the same and finally a Staff approached me and didn't even asked my name ( if he would have asked he would have known I was staying at the hotel with 3 other people for 3 nights ) . He asked if I was staying in the Hotel and asked me to show him my room keys. He said the owner of the Hotel was recording me walking around the hotel ( looking for an exit ) and thought I was a burglar. The morning staff is fine, rooms are fine with air con and TV, think the price is to high for what they offer, as the hotel seems to be under construction and there is no staff at night I mean the should hand out keys for the front door if there is not going to be anyone at night.

We spent 14 nights here recently and unfortunately I wouldn't recommend it. It's conviently located to the main island by one minute water taxi ride. The husband (Jerry) is very nice, friendly and very helpful but the wife is a bit moody and is known to give "attitude" The room was nicely decorated but it only had a bed, no dresser, no coffee maker or chairs. The bathroom has a small pedestal sink but no vanity so you're forced to store your toiletries on the floor. Outside the back door you're immediately in the local slums. The people you encounter while walking through this area (you are forced to if you want to get anywhere on the island) are nice but because they don't have a central sewer system the household "gray and brown water" drain under the shacks, it can get very smelly. There are a couple of good restaurants within a 15 minute walk (The Leaf Eater and Bibi's on the Beach), The local Hostel has good food for a reasonable price and the Cosmic Crab is also good but very over priced. There is a small grocery store 5 minutes away and is reasonably priced. I can't recommend this place unless you're younger, into partying and only need to stay for a couple of days. The constant blaring music (noise) from the bars on the main island goes until very late in the night (hint, they hotel supplies ear plugs in your room). This island (Isle Carenero) has a crazy amount of sand fleas and no seeums. This made it very uncomfortable for laying on the beach. Avoind this place if you're older, if you're younger and just want to party for a few days then it should be OK.