Manso Boutique Guesthouse

After a trip to Salinas I spent two nights and a day in Guayaquil before leaving for Colombia. I spent a previous night upon arriving from Cuenca in another guesthouse near the bus terminal. It was nice but exploration from that neighborhood would have been a challenge. The Manso Guesthouse, however, is the perfect spot for a short stay as it is across the street from the Malecon which my research indicated was the nicest part of Guayaquil to visit. The Malecon indeed seemed to be the place to be. It's a beautifully landscaped walk along the water with playgrounds and amusement parks for kids, and all types of restaurants ranging from typical Ecuadorian food to fast food to higher end. The Manso Guesthouse is funky, artsy and well-maintained and attended by a friendly staff. It is much like staying at a hostal and you will meet all types of people from all over the world lounging and talking in the lobbies or restaurant. The hotel's location and competent air conditioning in my economy room, La Habitacion Verde, made escaping from the heat and humidity of Guayaquil fast and easy. It appears to be a converted home occupying three floors. Noise insulation is minimal at best, but things quieted down as the night wore on and I slept well in my room away from the street. The WiFi Internet worked well when the ISP was functioning, which was about 80% of the time. That is no doubt an ISP issue the hotel cannot do anything about, and I experienced the same in Quito and Cuenca.

We were in Guayaquil for 2 days before heading to the Galapagos for our "trip of a lifetime". We knew nothing about Guayaquil and didn't want to spend top dollar for a US-type hotel. We found Manso and it was just fantastic. Location was terrific...directly across the street from the Mallacon, a huge park/boardwalk that is very popular and very nice. The area felt safe to us. Our room was huge, airconditioned, and had a balcony overlooking the street. Very high ceilings as from the old building that it was. There was also Wi-Fi and a TV (far more than we would have expected for the price). We had a bathroom in the hall for our first two nights (but it was not shared with the other room on the floor). It was clean and large. The breakfast was very good and very complete--eggs, toast, fruit, coffee, yucca pancakes, etc. Manso also runs a restaurant, which we didn't partake of but from the breakfast, I would assume the food was terrific. We stayed in a different room on our way back from Galapagos that was even bigger and had its own bathroom, but no balcony. We loved both rooms. They even supplied drinkable water in the rooms with a pitcher and glasses. Staff were super helpful and spoke very good English. I would recommend this hostal to anyone who is traveling to Guayaquil except those who like to stay in American-type hotels...if that is what you want there is a Hampton Inn about 6 blocks away. Thanks to the Manso staff for such a fine experience.

This was a layover stay between flights. Only 10min. Taxi ride from the air port with a $5-8 fair. The people are very nice with food service on location. We have stayed here twice and would recommend for anyone needing a place to kill some time. Neighborhood isn't the best, but the water front park makes up for that.

Hotel is very well located and food is good. Only negative point is that we found out once checked in that we had to share bathroom with another guest. This was not mentioned in the Expedia page and the employee at the reception did not told us either at he time of checking in...

Room was clean and neat, facing the Malecon. No towels in room when I arrived, but they were promptly brought up. Taxi was fetched at the desired time. I stayed the night before my flight left from Guayaquil. Very acceptable for this purpose. Never had breakfast there, though!

The staff were very friendly and responded to any request I had. The food there was excellent and they make a fresh fruit drink with mint which is the best I have ever had. I would recommend it to anyone in the area.

Everything was positive. Fabulous staff. Superb location.

Good staff ,friendly, good breakfast , need some repairs within the room bathroom needs lot's of work,overall good for the price

It's a regular guest house. Rooms are modest and clean, but overall, low value for the price. Just a few blocks away, there is nice Park Hotel, slightly more expensive, but incomparably better.

It is very good for the price. Very pleasant service. Nice, funky ambience. Lovely porch in common area overlooking Malecon and a nice menu. Our room did not have a window, but that was well disguised with clever lighting behind a bamboo screen. Shared bathroom worked out fine.