El Güis hostel

A very cute family hotel where you feel at home. You can use the kitchen, watch your clothes and the family is extremely nice. They help me for everything: bus, boat schedule, scooter rent …facilities are simple but all you need and the location is great to move through the islands (but you need a scooter :) ) . You have a nice coffee 5min walk (cafe campestre). I really recommend it!

Extremely kind and helpful hosts. Excellent community space with hammocks and tables to chill. Access to the kitchen.

Our room was spotless, the WiFi is excellent, and the communal kitchen is a huge bonus. The hostess is really friendly and will help with anything you need, from logistics to rentals or tours. The breakfast she makes each day is excellent and rotates between four main meals. You even get a welcome drink on arrival! The location is great, surrounded by greenery but still close to restaurants, markets, and the Finca Magdalena approach to Maderas volcano. We stayed five nights and we’d happily stay again!

Not a negative but more of an idea; we would have loved to have a list of some of the things that could be arranged so we know what’s possible in the area.

Great place to stay in Balgue! Very welcoming and friendly host, clean rooms, good quality mosquito nets around the comfy beds (needed as the room isn’t completely enclosed), nice area to hang out with hammocks, the wifi works well, good location, and you have access to the kitchen. Breakfast is also available for a small extra cost (120 cordobas per person).

The owners are great. So friendly and held up with everything. Welcome drink when you arrive and always keen to have a chat with guests. Bed linen/ towels changed after two nights too which was nice

Was pretty hot in rooms but think that is all of Ometepe!

We loved our host, the food, her generosity, and our room was lovely!

Odelba was such a sweet and helpful host. She and her family run this hostel with so much care. They are available for any questions. Also, if you’re a Spanish learner, this is a great place to stay and practice.

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We really enjoyed our 5 nights at El Güis, we had originally only booked 4 but decided to stay an extra night as we weren’t ready to leave! The room we got was incredibly spacious, we had the outhouse at the front of the property which meant we had our own well-stocked kitchen area and a seating area out the front with a hammock. The island is prone to power cuts but the room has a fan that can run without mains electricity and the lights still work, which we thought was a really great touch that other hostels might not have. The owner was incredibly welcoming, she even greeted us with a fresh juice on arrival which was a lovely touch, she also helped us find a guide for the Maderas volcano hike at a reasonable price. The location is great, it is just a couple of minutes walk from the main road in Balgüe where you can find plenty of restaurants, and also it is on the path leading up to the start of the Maderas hike.

Be prepared for quite a lot of bugs and lizards as it is not an entirely enclosed space and there is a whole open window covered just by a curtain at night (which on a particularly windy night did keep us up as it was flapping in the wind). There is a mosquito net which helped keep the bugs out of the bed thankfully. We also found that the cost of hiring bicycles (not sure about motorbikes) was more expensive here than we found elsewhere.

If you are missing home or you just one the best homely place ever… come here. Odesa and her family will make you feel the best. They are so attentive, careening and just amazing. They will help you with everything (find a taxi, shuttle, rent a bike, quads, book a hike). Literally anything you need they will help you with! If you are trying to find the best breakfast, they have it! All home cooked. If you are trying to do your laundry, they will do it and bring it back to you smelling like home. We have spent a week there and it was our best week in Nica!

It’s all great but, if you are a hot bunny, you will for sure acclimatised!