Selvista Guesthouse's claim is "barefoot luxury". It turned out to be all barefoot, no luxury and WAY overpriced for that. Would not stay there again! Stay away!
Our room was definitely not equipped to be a guest room (shower and toilet were broken, only one small lamp not strong enough to light the whole room, let alone reading lights), someone's private stuff was all over (canoe paddle, fishing rods, necklaces, rotting books).
There was an open utility closet attached with stacks of toilet paper etc. And the room had a moldy ceiling.
The attached shower and toilet were not working so we had to use a compost toilet and an a rusty outdoor shower with no curtain and only cold water about 30 meters up a steep rocky unlit path from the room.
Mice and birds were coming into the room and went into our luggage at night because the door had huge open areas and no screen at all.
There were dogs running around all over the property and even entering our room.
And that all for 90$ per night — very overpriced for what you are getting there. We had many rooms in Nicaragua for a fraction of that price with much more comfort — even in equally remote areas.
I just came across another critical review about Selvista being illegally-run by expats, who are not paying taxes and exploiting the Nicaraguan staff.
I am quite inclined to believe that is true since
1. They did not ask us for our passports for registration as was the case at all other places we stayed at
2. They only accept cash to pay for the rooms claiming that credit cards do not work on the island which is a lie since many other hotels on Ometepe DO accept them. They do not usually give receipts, we only got a very improvised one since we insisted on it.
3. The expat manager was indeed very unfriendly and not helpful at all.
Overall, I regret to have spent any money here!
Our room was definitely not equipped to be a guest room (shower and toilet were broken, only one small lamp not strong enough to light the whole room, let alone reading lights), someone's private stuff was all over (canoe paddle, fishing rods, necklaces, rotting books).
There was an open utility closet attached with stacks of toilet paper etc. And the room had a moldy ceiling.
The attached shower and toilet were not working so we had to use a compost toilet and an a rusty outdoor shower with no curtain and only cold water about 30 meters up a steep rocky unlit path from the room.
Mice and birds were coming into the room and went into our luggage at night because the door had huge open areas and no screen at all.
There were dogs running around all over the property and even entering our room.
And that all for 90$ per night — very overpriced for what you are getting there. We had many rooms in Nicaragua for a fraction of that price with much more comfort — even in equally remote areas.
I just came across another critical review about Selvista being illegally-run by expats, who are not paying taxes and exploiting the Nicaraguan staff.
I am quite inclined to believe that is true since
1. They did not ask us for our passports for registration as was the case at all other places we stayed at
2. They only accept cash to pay for the rooms claiming that credit cards do not work on the island which is a lie since many other hotels on Ometepe DO accept them. They do not usually give receipts, we only got a very improvised one since we insisted on it.
3. The expat manager was indeed very unfriendly and not helpful at all.
Overall, I regret to have spent any money here!