Rav Gem
Overview: comfortable and well located accommodation, but it's pricey and has distasteful, inappropriate and ignorant decorations taken from South and East Asian culture and religion. Pros: - comfortable rooms with a great shower, AC and wifi - fantastic and hard working Ecuadorian staff who also cook up a delicious breakfast - location is on the right side of Montanita (the town itself is a bit gross, dirty and smelly) - good communal spaces to hang out in Cons: - the American staff are not particularity welcoming and are often stood chatting to each other. The locals appeared to work much harder - as an Indian Hindu I found the 'Asian theme' of the hostel distasteful and lazy. There is an animated picture of the sacred Hindu God Lord Ganesha riding a surfboard. This is highly inappropriate. There is a statue of Buddha in the eating area and paintings of Buddha in the bedroom. This is not appropriate at all as your feet should never point towards Buddha, and Buddha should not be present in places of 'passion'. This positioning goes against the spirit of tranquility and meditation that Buddha represents. I consider these acts ignorant and disrespectful from Casa del Sol. Gods are not fashion accessories. - it's costly, there are places to stay that are more economical. The activities are also pricey e.g. $9 for yoga and $35 for a surf lesson - you can find much cheaper providers if you walk down the beach