Hotel Albemarle Galapagos Beachfront

Absolutely beautiful hotel right on the beach in the heart of everything. The staff was outstanding, and as non-Spanish speakers we were able to communicate clearly. The woman working reception was beyond wonderful and helpful when we arrived - she walked us through all of the Dos and Don'ts of the area, and provided all necessary information for our stay upfront. (In contrast, we had to really dig deep for information throughout our Galapagos trip) Filtered water and coffee is plentiful in the main areas; pool is clean, perfect temp, and well-maintained with waterfall and greenery; room was spotless and very well lit and cooled with both AC and a large ceiling fan option. The bathroom had all toiletries we could've needed - a hair dryer may have been a nice addition! - with towels and robes. Laundry service was available but we did not need it for just three nights. Breakfast buffet was a great spread - about $13 USD per person - and the location is prime for good eating and local tours and shops. The surrounding beach is a wonderful place to spend the afternoon - Isabela felt small, but there was much to see and do. Don't forget to check the rooftop terrace at sunset, and drop off wet clothes on the drying racks! 10/10 stay - our favorite in Galapagos.

We had a great stay at Albemarle, the staff was fantastic and the views amazing. Stayed there for three nights and four days, and loved the closenes to the ocean and the «city» center. Being able to just run over to the tour operators and book a last minute tour is great.

Drawbacks:
-One of the bathrooms had a distinct sewer smell
-The wifi was slow when in worked, and it mostly didn’t work
-The gluten free options were limited even though we told about this beforehand
-The laundry service was very expensive

The great staff and the amazing view lifts this from a 3 star to a 4 star rating!

I only leave negative feedback when I feel there’s a huge gap between what the hotel claims and delivers. The guidebook recommendation to stay here is outdated and inaccurate. They are charging three star prices for a bad hostel experience

To start on a positive the location is excellent, the beach is right there, and the hotel staff (excluding the manager) were fantastic. The concierges were helpful and super kind.

The negatives, however, vastly outweigh the positive. First, the hotel is infested with bugs. Our bed? Ants. The bedroom floor? Ants. The breakfast buffet…hope you like ants in your bowls and flies and gnats with your toast.
I’m sure the manager will argue that it’s a rural hotel and so bugs are expected. The occasional bug absolutely, but this is an infestation. For example, we left a wet swimsuit for an hour on the bathroom counter and came back to it covered with thousands of ants. We stayed at other beach side hotels ON Galapagos with zero bug issues. The problem is with the hotel.

The hotel lacks basic amenities one would see in a hostel. The ocean side view room doesn’t have any chairs to sit in to enjoy the view. Your options are the bed or floor. Good luck if you want to try to open your doors to admire the view or smell. The balconette doors are so rusty and unsafe to open it required the front desk to close. The hotel doesn’t offer any beach chairs or loungers like the other hotels do down the street. Can you rent a beach umbrella? Of course not. Why would a beach hotel offer basic beach amenities?

Well at least I can get a peaceful night sleep right? Well, if ants in the bed don’t bother you, I hope you don’t need dark to sleep because you won’t have it. The curtains don’t fully cover the window and there are glaring Christmas lights right outside. Not to mention the lack of privacy. And this was one of the rooms we upgraded to. Our first room literally had no windows and looked and smelled like a jail cell.

The WiFi is straight up unusable. Yes, it’s remote but the WiFi was better and fully functional on the shuttle boat in the middle of the ocean. We also had totally fine WiFi elsewhere on the island.

The pool is decorative, unheated, and gross. They don’t lock the hotel and there is no one there overnight to ensure security. I don’t care how safe it is, the hotel should be locked at night. The decor and fixtures are dated to the 1970s. They make it look like there’s a restaurant on site. There isn’t. It’s a sister hotel you have to walk to. I’m pretty sure the breakfast buffer gave my wife food poisoning.

Finally, when we left three days early the manager refused to refund our money as a normal hotel would.

In short, if you plan on spending anytime on Isabella at your hotel relaxing or lounging at the beach stay somewhere else! This hotel gets every little thing horribly wrong.

The hotel was very comfortable and clean. Great ocean view from my room. Would definitely stay here again.

I really like this hotel, excellent location just by the beach, great breakfast and the employees very nice, polite and fantastic customer service also alot of restaurants very close. I will recommend all my family and friends to stay here.

My friend and I stayed here for two nights. The good parts about this hotel included the great location on the beach, and the staff was very helpful in planning tours in advance of our visit. However, the quality of the rooms was far lower than should be for the price we paid. The bathroom in our room was atrocious. There was mold all over the shower walls, rust all over the mirror and sinks, one of the sinks leaked on your feet when you ran it, and overall smelled very bad. We complained about these issues to the staff and got no apologies, a simple “would you like a different room”. We changed rooms and the new room had a broken toilet handle and the bathroom also smelled, though slightly better. Another thing to note is the noise from town carries very well into the hotel, so if you’re a light sleeper I might look somewhere else. This all was very unacceptable for the price we paid for the hotel.

Lovely beachfront hotel. Limited breakfast options. Rooms are very spacious.

Hotel, is probably one of the best around.

Standard of hotels in the island is not great

It was amazing. The hotel was lovely and service was warm, friendly, and accommodating.

The location of the property was ideal - right on the beach and close to the town square with easy access to dining and tours. We stayed in the rooms with balconies overlooking the beach, which were clean and spacious. Staff made check-in easy and we appreciated the snack pack they provided on our departure day (we had to leave at 5am to catch a 6am ferry!). Overall, our stay here was comfortable and we would stay here again.

The Albemarle’s old world charm and beachfront access to La Playa Isabela makes it an ideal location to enjoy the island’s striking beauty and tranquility. The staff is excellent - we particularly appreciated Olivia’s gracious assistance.

The front desk lady is wonderful and helpful. Isabella is a tiny island but the hotel
Is a nice respite from snorkeling. Their sister property is anat is right down the beach and offers lounge chairs under umbrellas with views of the sea. Breakfast is great. Roof terrace could use some lounges and a bit more shade though.

We had a few major issues at Albemarle: 1. the shower went from very hot to very cold instantly and unpredictably, which made for very stressful showers 2. the hotel is right next to a loud bar and a loud soccer pitch. We were tired and wanted to sleep so the central and noisy location was problematic. 3. We couldn't access our balcony so what's the point and we didn't have a place to dry bathing suits. The kids did enjoy the pool. I would recommend a place at either end of the beach (Isamar on one end, Iguana Crossing on the other) and away from the noisy center.

We had a wonderful experience at the Albemarle. The room was beautiful and had a balcony overlooking the beach and ocean. The staff was very friendly and could wasily answer all of our questions. Breakfast every morning was delicious. Highly recommended!

Beautiful place, right on the beach. Great breakfasts, lovely rooms and Ariel at the front desk is super helpful! Thanks so much.

Was a great place to stay on Isabela Island! The room was super spacious, and being right on the beach was such a bonus—we could hear the waves at night, which was amazing. It’s really close to restaurants, and Concha de Perla was just a 15-minute walk away (or a quick taxi ride away). The staff were super helpful, arranging a trip for us and even offered custom breakfast items (the regular breakfast was pretty simple). The bathroom was basic, but it did the job. Overall, it’s a great spot for a beachy, convenient stay!

I have been trying to get a full credit from this Hotel for nearly a month. Although they promised to credit my card, they have not. I would suggest this is reflective of their overall business practices. It has been difficult to communicate with them as well.
Though I haven't stayed at the property which looks lovely online and the initial reservation correspondence was pleasant. If they charge you when you reserve and say its refundable but you cant get the refund, then I suggest this might not be the right hotel (or group of hotels, Darwolf) to stay at.

Nice location. Excellent breakfast. WiFi does not work in the room. Noise level is very high as it is next to park. Helpful staff.

We had a great stay!

The staff here was excellent and the bed was really comfortable.