Eco Del Mar - Pedernales

Awesome location, as good as bahia de las aguilas itself, a wonderful spot, the tropical paradise of your dreams. Hammocks, sun loungers, lovely waiting staff, very good food. Tent quality however was poor and after 5 nights, holes were starting to appear, needs repair. Electricity didn't work, manager said it was shown on my reservation, which it wasn't. Response could have been better. No room service of the tents makes it feels poor value if you stay for a little while. Lovely shower at the back, privately fenced with palms. Sunset over the sea each night can't be beaten. Also had the pleasure of meeting the italian owner who had a party for his wife's birthday there, joined in, had drinks on the house and an unexpected experience. Drove to Hoyo de Pelempito in the mountains as day trip, highly recommended and took boat tour to Isla Beata in choppy seas but for an unforgettable memory.

The location is beautiful. And the concept is great. But that’s where it ends. Unfortunately, the service was absolutely horrendous. The front desk manager, a grumpy old Italian man, put a dark cloud over our entire experience. He should not be allowed to work in the hospitality industry. We had pre-paid for a “VIP excursion” to Bahia de las Aguilas. At check-in, we asked what we needed to do to reserve our boat time. He told us we could not do it that evening, we had to come back the next morning. So the next morning, we arrived at the desk when there were no other guests. He told us he was doing paperwork and asked us to sit down and wait for him to finish. In the meantime, three separate guests came up to the desk and he booked their boat times ahead of us. He did not acknowledge us even when we stood up. By the time he attended to us, all of the early times were taken, and we had to wait for an afternoon boat. He was extremely rude during the entire interaction. Because of our late departure time, there were no umbrellas or chairs left for us, a main feature of the VIP excursion. Bahia de las aguilas has no shade, so an hours long visit without an umbrella is not advised. At check out, we asked for a discount because we did not receive the services we paid for. He told us that was not his problem, that umbrellas are first-come, first-serve !! Then don’t sell packages you can’t accommodate!! When I refuted admittedly, I was angry by this point, and my tone was not kind he yelled at me! The main point of a visit to this hotel is to do an excursion to Bahia de las aguilas. Most people make it a day long event. However, the hotel provides no pack-and-go lunch options who wants to eat chicken cordon bleu or fish and rice after it’s been sitting in styrofoam containers in the sun for hours? When I inquired in the restaurant why this was, the restaurant manager replied that “it’s not our problem, we serve what we serve because it’s easy for us”. This hotel is remote with no nearby competition, and guests have no other purchasing options. They take advantage of this. Once they have your money, they don’t care about providing a nice experience. It’s literally the worst customer service I’ve experienced in my life; the above examples are the tip of the iceberg. I, for one, am very sad about all the new development happening and hotels breaking ground in Pedernales. But Eco Del Mar is in for a rude awakening once they have some competition. Side note: Anyone complaining about the accommodations in their reviews doesn’t understand what this place is about. It’s Glamping. The accommodations are rustic, and that’s the point. But rustic doesn’t have to equal bad service.

Our party of six stayed in the Orion suite, which is one of their three biggest suites. Take into account that this is glamping, so don’t expect luxuries. That being said, it was very comfortable. The suite was very spacious for our party of six. We had two queen beds and a sofa that fit two persons. The bathroom was outdoors and it was very pretty and easy to manage. The restaurant was average and it had tourist prices—plates were around $20. However, the beach right in front of the hotel was amazing. It was almost as good as Bahía de las Aguilas. The hotel was well decorated and had many places to lay down and chill with beautiful views. I would highly recommend Eco Del Mar to anyone. It’s a great place to stay if you’re wanting to go to Bahía de las Aguilas and are looking to stay somewhere because it’s only a 10 minute boat ride from it. For an extra fee, the hotel provided the boat ride that picked us up right at the hotel’s beach.

They gave us the wrong tent and the bed was dirty filled with blood. We demanded a refund but they refused to even compensate us. Unacceptable.

Place staff, prices all in good balance of quality and freshness. Got to go back!! My new opinion on food....has to improve flavor, ingredients and presentations. Specially main courses. Entrées were very good all over. Hope this review helps them improve this, because the place and the staff are really Great !!