Hotel Victoriano in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua is a safe and quaint little resort town place, tucked alongside a beach cove in the southwestern corner of this beautiful, yet troubled country. It’s really more like a bed & breakfast than a “hotel” with a small breakfast served…and nothing fancy. The locals all wear flip-flop sandals and shorts; only the older ones wear pants. In years past I have read that this place was a mecca for American surfers, but now it’s largely vacant as the result of last year’s troubles between the student protesters—mostly at the large universities—and their socialist government. While many tourists from the United States appear to be staying away in droves, this place feels safe and secure and there are no signs of the old ’79 revolution nor tee-shirts with Che, Hugo Chavez or Sandino printed on them as in Managua.
My room was very comfortable, reminding me of the old colonial Nyali beach hotel in Mombasa, Kenya where I stayed in my Navy days long time ago. It had ceramic tile floors, a little bit gritty, a king-size bed and little French doors that opened to a small ocean-view balcony. The toilet and sink room was too small to move from one fixture to the other one unless the door is closed and the stand-up shower—no tub—was nice but lacked any kind of fixture for the soap and shampoos. There was a flat screen TV with BBC, but no CNN or Fox and a little room safe, operated with a key given to me after an admonition not to lose it or pay extra! The BEST room feature besides the bed was the new room air conditioning unit; it worked really great!
The little pool is only 20 feet long and maybe 12 feet wide…a dipping pool…but I lost all interest in swimming there after watching two large locals doing something unmentionable against the pool wall—ugh! It was difficult to avoid seeing them in the pool as the restaurant porch looks directly down on the small pool area. Speaking of the restaurant, the food was great, a little bit more expensive for a fish than the other places down the street, but tasty and served well. The breakfast was Spartan by comparison with no buffet and no bread or rolls served…had to request the juice and the bread.
The staff are polite, but not too friendly [perhaps lurking beneath the surface there is some resentment towards gringo guests?] and my room was not ready; they had given me no bottled water and no toilet paper! I also don’t like having to beg for more water from the hotel in a place known for water not considered safe for foreign guests. They told me that their policy is to grant guests two bottles of water [1 liter total] on the first day then no mas.
It’s not easy to read these people in Nicaragua right now as most of them look so unhappy but happier in this surfside community. From my many conversations with locals I suspect that most people are split between blaming their socialist government for their poor, struggling economy and/or blaming the imperialist [their view] colossus to the north. Having visited Nicaragua ten times in the last 12 years I have a basic understanding of their grievances—a Spanish colonial history with a small upper class and a very large under-class in addition to the meddling of the USA going all the way back to 1909 with US Marines on the ground in the 1920s, ostensibly to protect US corporations, especially fruit growers, but nonetheless opposing a very popular revolutionary movement led by Sandino.
Finally, because this little town cove is filled with fishing and tourist-related boats at anchor or tied to mooring buoys, I wouldn’t recommend swimming here; there are better beaches to the north, but the local taxies will charge you $40 cash only to go there! And I was not feeling good about renting a car here! There are four or five new San Juan port buildings, but all of them are closed. Considering all the above factors this small boutique hotel rates a 3+ but does not rise to the level of a four star resort. If you just want to eat, sleep, charter a fishing boat, take your chances swimming or do short walks this charming little place is probably perfect for you, otherwise the good clean waves are someplace else.
