Hotel Smiling Crab

We were incredibly lucky to book into this hotel the week before Christmas just before their high-season starts and we had the place to ourselves - the summer season begins the weekend before Christmas and from that point I believe all the hotels get busy but in low-season the area is a wonderful get-away. The hotel is located at the end of a private road within 20 metres of the beach. The beach is in front of the hotel is beautiful golden sand and the water beautifully clear ( I had seen comments that the beach is not sandy but rocky but that's really not true - at either end of the beach there are rocks but not for the most part). The hotel is beautifully built into the rock face of a hill overlooking the ocean with winding stone staircases throughout bringing you to each level - we had a junior suite - all nice cool stone interior - a covered outdoor seating area with TV (directtv) - and an open balcony with loungers looking straight out onto ocean for wonderful sunsets. Sure not the biggest junior suite ever but appropriate to the style and place. Staff were all very friendly and helpful - although being off-season some things didn't seem to be available (such as some food items on menu and activities like horse-riding on beach). Nothing really to do at night around here in the immediate vicinity - it's very much a getaway - an escape for walks on the beach, relaxing on the loungers, cooling off in the swimming pool (again small but sufficient), and has wifi if you need to stay connected. And I nearly forgot the food - the chef was very good - and the food of a relatively high standard.

This is a place what we can recomend.Our children love it,and for my wife and me was a relaxing and quiet holliday.The personal in the hotel are friendly and take god care of you .The seafood was exellent and the beach wonderful .

Please do not stay more than 5 days in Punta Sal, there is no enough entertainment. My wife and I stayed for 14 days. At the beginning I thought since this is an Hotel manage by an European person (the owner is from Austria) everything is going to be organized and the service is going to be like 5 starts hotel but it was not. The hotel accomodations are fine and the rooms are confortable and independant between them but in order to get to your room you have to use a lot of stairs "starways to heaven" (endless). First day no problem but then...you are going crazy. Pros: - Cozy rooms with a balcony (most of them) - Wi-fi connection in all the zones - Direct TV (basic plan) - Swiming Pool - Only 10 rooms, so it is not a crowded place. Cons: - Far away location, at the end of the village. - Rooms do not have extension number, so if you need to make a call you have to go to the hotel reception. - Rooms without air conditioning. - Hotel reception is available from 7 AM to 9 PM. If you need something or if you have any urgency out of that time you have to contact the owner of the hotel at his house which is in front of the hotel crossing the street. - Breakfast is horrible, every single day it was always the same thing, coffee, bread, butter and jam, and a tiny glass of natural juice (if you want something else then is counting as an extra). - Extras are really expensive (i.e. each bottle of beer on a local store is around USD 1.0, in Punta Sal Club Hotel is USD 1.8, but in Smiling Crab is USD 2.5) - Lunch and dinner are quite good but too much garlic, I love garlic but after 14 days is exhausted. - The beach in from of the hotel is the worst place in the whole littoral, sand is full of rocks and stones, in all other places is sand only. In summary, next time I prefer to stay in Punta Sal Club Hotel in which by the way if you are not a passenger you can spend the day over there paying only USD 50 at the entrance and they are going to provide you a voucher that you can use it to have lunch or to buy some drinks if you prefer, and the service is really good. Besides all I have a medical problem (stomach issues) but that is a different history related to the insurance. And at the moment I would say my fully recommended destination is Brazil, so far. Best Regards.

hey, we stayed at this hotel, kind of secluded since is the last hotel from the strip but the location is good since there is not a bunch of people around for your own privacy; food was good at the restaurant with a fair price, but the attention and service was the best, we met the owner who was helpful and concern about our overstay. The walk to the rooms not really friendly for disable people with additional needs however they are willing to accomodate all visitor, but i can tell you the extra effort is totally worth it since is private and with an excellent view. Price is in peruvian currency which is so much better, just make sure you carry some cash. Hope we will be back soon

I stayed in this beautiful charming hotel with a group of friends and spent an amazing time. We stayed in a big room for 5 people, its decoration was very tasteful and rustic. I like the fact that all rooms are very independant from each other. We enjoyed hours in the swimming pool area on the terrace, great seaview and fantastic sunsets. A great place to relax. One highlight of this hotel is that its located on a hill, we had an amazing seaview from our room. From almost every spot of the hotel there is seaview. Te beach in front of it (around 3 minutes walk) is a wide beach and it was not crowded at all! The restaurant of the hotel is charming, amazing peruvian food at excellent prices. It looks simmilar like a cozy greek tavern, very nice. The service was excellent, the owners, a peruvian- austrian couple and their staff, made us feel at home!

We had originally planned to stay here for 4 days, but left after one night. The hotel is the last one on the road after the Punta Sal village and very remote. The hotel is built on the hill across the street from the beach and therefore, is on four different levels. Our room was one the first level and very dark and gloomy and small, no view at all. The pool is very small and is on the third level of the hotel. The owner of the hotel had offered to switch our room to a bigger room on the second level, but after one night, we left for another hotel. We didn't feel like spending any more time there than necessary and certainly didn't want to spend our time climbing up and down twisted stone stairs to get around. The hotel has several tables and chairs set up on the beach, very odd. The tables and chairs are those type for dining or drinking, not lounging on the beach. Didn't understand this at all. We never even ate at the restaurant, had no desire to do so. The waiter and cook seemed very nice and helpful.