Galapagos Islands Shangri-La with Pool & WiFi

  • Bedrooms
    3
  • Bathrooms
    3
  • Sleeps
    10

Shangri-La is described as an imaginary remote paradise, secluded hideaway, a haven of idyllic beauty, tranquility, or as paradise on earth.

Now you don’t have to imagine that exotic utopia, you can see it for yourself! Our Shangri-La is the ideal atmosphere of peace and the feeling of being in your own private sanctuary, while allowing you to discover the Enchanted Islands of Galapagos at your own pace.

We are located in a secluded area of Santa Cruz Island called Punta Estrada, an "auto-free" zone a short aqua taxi ride across Academy Bay from Puerto Ayora and only footsteps away from Playa de Los Alemanes. Shangri-La has everything you need to feel comfortable. It is like your home away from home.

Relax by the pool and relish the spectacular views from the terrace or the roof top deck.
When you visit Shangri-La, and the Galapagos you will agree the Islands of Galapagos are the world’s best island destinations. On most cruises, Puerto Ayora is only a stop, it should be a destination.
Santa Cruz Island location makes for a perfect vacation. While there you can enjoy a verity of activates, along with day trips to nearby islands. Shangri-La is the perfect place for friends, and family to appreciate all of the beauty The Galapagos Islands has to offer.

Location

Galapagos Islands, Santa Cruz, Puerto Ayora

Address: Shangri-La Punta Estrada
Latitude/Longitude: -0.73931 / -90.3518
Nearest AirportBaltra45 minutes
Nearest BeachPlaya de Los Alemanes2 minutes
Nearest RestaurantAngermeyer Point1 minutes

Neighborhood

Auto Free Zone

Amenities

Property Type:
House
Location Type:
Beach
Ocean
Bedrooms:
3 Bedrooms, Sleeps 10
Bathrooms:
3 Bathrooms
Features:
Air Conditioning
Outdoor Grill
Pool
General:
Beach towels
Outdoor pool
Private location
Private pool
Sun room
Terrace
Views
WiFi
Inside:
Air conditioning
Bathroom tissue
Blender
Cable television
Coffee grinder
Coffee maker
Cooking utensils
DVD player
Freezer
Ice maker
Microwave
Television
Toaster
Water dispenser
Outside:
Balcony
Charcoal grill
Deck furniture
Patio
Patio furniture
Porch
Yard
Suitability:
Pet Friendly: No
Smoking Allowed: No
Child Friendly: Yes
Long Term: No
Elderly Accessible: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: No
Other Services:
Housekeeper inclusive
Laundry extra
Linens provided
Towels provided
Local Activities:
Beachcombing
Bird watching
Hiking
Scuba diving
Sightseeing
Snorkeling
Surfing
Swimming
Windsurfing

Availability

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  • Available
  • Pending
  • Booked
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Rental Terms

 Check-in Time: 4:00 PM
 Check-out Time: 11:00 AM

20 Reviews

on Nov 10, 2013
Once in a lifetime experience!!!!

Once in a lifetime experience

MY family and I stayed at Shangri-La in May 2009.
We had the time of our lives!
My 9-year-old daughter is still talking about snorkeling with the sea lions…
All of our tours of the islands were designed especially for my family.
The photos of the house, and its surroundings did not do it justice, it is so much
better in person.
The kids loved the pool, and my wife, and I enjoyed the roof top deck to read, and
relax after a day of exploring Santa Cruz Island.
It was perfect trip.
The Wright family is defiantly planning a trip back to Shangri-La!

on Nov 10, 2013
Surfing Safari

I went to Galapagos with 3 of my buddies to surf, and explore the Islands.
The first 4 days we stayed in San Cristobal caught some waves.
After that, we went to Santa Cruz Island and stayed at Shangri-La.
Juan Carlos (the owner) took us to the surf spots that the locals surf, on his boat
Silver One was great, much better than the boats we went on in San Cristobal.
We were lucky there was a great swell, and we managed to all catch some
awesome waves.
Besides the great waves, we had a blast hiking around the island, and hanging
out in town.
My buddies, and I want to thank Juan Carlos for showing us Santa Cruz the way the locals see it.
Jim

on Nov 10, 2013
Paradise in the Galapagos

Imagine waking up to the sound of a soft wind rustling the palm branches, and the early morning call of the native Galapaganian finches and mockingbirds outside your bedroom window as the equatorial sun begins to rise. In the distance, the rhythmic sound of the surf is welcoming you to a new day - your own personal alarm clock as the sun rises in this extraordinary get-away called Shangri La. Shangri La and it's owners provide a beautiful and peaceful retreat home next to the ocean in the Galapagos Islands. It is removed from the hustle and bustle of the main part of town, but close enough to only notice the lack of noise. The home provides all the latest amenities including air conditioning and a full, American-style kitchen. The bedrooms are spacious with ultra- comfortable beds. The house also has a choice of different sitting rooms, both inside and out. Outdoors there is a beautiful pool and lounging area, and also a spacious barbeque and pool bar. It is completely set up for a relaxing stay as well as for entertaining. It is immaculate, with every attention to detail taken care of. The owners are a delightful couple, and make your stay in Shangri La an unforgettable experience. I would go back in a heartbeat. I would highly recommend Shangri La as your rental property in the Galapagos.

on Nov 10, 2013
Bliss!

From the first phone call with Janet, I knew we were in good hands. The house is clean, big, has a terrific pool with a little jacuzzi and a great veiw from the roof terrace. There were four of us on a work trip but it would be a terrific place to holiday. The house is a small taxi boat ride from the main island but that just added to the appeal for us. Within walking distance of a terrific restaurant. But my favourite memory is of our poolside BBQ at Shangri-La.

on Nov 10, 2013
Darwins Dream

What can I say.
The Galapagos Islands was a dream trip for me, and my family.
Everyday was full of excitement, and adventure.
At the end of the day coming home to Shangi-La was
a pleasure.
The pool was my kids favorite place to be after a day of touring.
The house had everything we needed, even games for the kids, and tons of dvd's for all ages.
I hope someday to return to Galapagos, and Shangri-La.

on Nov 10, 2013
Privacy, luxury, relaxation and comfort

My husband and I spent 2 weeks at Shangri-La and we didn't want to leave! We made a ritual of relaxing on the top deck to experience the sunset with a glass of wine or cocktail, watching the frigates, finches and pelicans do their evening dance. The place is magical! It's set on "the other side", very close to town (but far enough away), just a boat taxi away - this really adds to the charm. We spent a lot of time reading in the hammock and enjoying the pool. There's a small beach within walking distance as well. The house itself is beautiful - very Galapagos and with all of the comforts of home. I agree with another comment, that the photos really don't do it justice. We have been to Galapagos several times; we've seen the other hotel and vacation home options and Shangri-La is by far, the best.

on Nov 10, 2013
Best on the island

Our first trip to Galapagos was made impeccable by Shangri La. We stayed for ten days. We looked around at other options but this was by far the best, in retrospect. The cook/tour guide was both helpful and friendly. The house is well furnished and equipped and we could live like a local, shopping at the twice daily fish market, that is when the fisherman come to dock. Sushi and Ceviche do not come better..... . While everyone says you have to take a tour boat, we are not the tour boat type so we were able to experience both utilizing Shangri La as a base. You can walk to both Finch Bay and other hotels and downtown(such as it is) is a 50 cent boat ride away. We will be back.....

on Nov 10, 2013
A great place to stay - highly recommended

Shangri-La is a great place to stay. It is located only a short boat taxi journey away from the main port in Santa Cruz. It is quiet and relaxing.

The owners, Janet and Juan-Carlos are both great and offer lots of advice. Juan-Carlos has been a Galapagos guide for 17 years so is a wealth of knowledge.

Lovely, clean accomodation with a great pool! A lovely, quiet beach is only 5 minutes walk away and 'Las Grietas' is a 20min walk from the door.

Highly recommended, we would love to go back!

on Nov 10, 2013
Great!!!

Ideal house to share with friends or family. Great location.
The house is located on a residential area, near 2 good hotels and a very nice restaurant, no cars or bikes on the area, only accessible by little water taxis, very cheap ($ 0.60 the ride) available 24 hours. and is just 2 mins walking distance from a nice and calm beach where you can snorkel, kayak or just relax.
The house features a nice size pool with BBQ area, nice cover terraces and another one, on the top floor, with a jacuzzi and with a magnificent view of the bay.
We asked for a person who help us buying groceries in town and anything we needed. She also cooked for us and it was great!
We were 12 persons in total, between family and friends, but 4 teenagers that was easy to accommodate, so
I highly recommend this house for families or friends!
Sofia

on Nov 10, 2013
A house that lives up to its name

This is truly Shangri-La. I am convinced there is no better option. My husband and I stayed for 10 days. There is absolutely nothing that we did not like about this place. Here are some highlights:

Island: Santa Cruz is ideally located in the center of the Galapagos and you can get to most other islands on day trips. So if you are not a big fan of regimented cruises and prefer to sleep on land then this is an ideal location. Our experiences included swimming and snorkeling with playful sea lions, penguins, and copious sea turtles, diving with hammerheads and all types of rays and sharks, beautiful and diverse land tours including lava tunnels, iguanas, pelicans, blue-footed boobies, frigates, and other birds everywhere, dolphins playing off bow waves, and of course loads of tortoises.

Privacy & security: Shangri-La (the large house) and Casita azul (small cottage) share a single compound. The Casita is adorable but we elected to stay in the larger house because of the 2nd floor views, the Jacuzzi, and the rooftop deck. The pool and barbecue area is open to both houses – this is a large, beautifully tiled pool in well-kept and attractive grounds, the photos do not do it justice. The compound itself is extremely private due to tasteful but high adobe walls and excellent location. The external door to the compound remains locked but we never once felt the need to lock our house inside.

Reputation: This is not some unknown, obscure, private house – all tour operators in town recognized the name Shangri-La and many complimented us on our good choice of lodging. The owners obviously cared very much about our contentment during our stay and I had no concerns in my dealings with them. They came through on all promises.

Views: Fantastic 360 water views from 2nd floor (bedroom, porch, living area) and rooftop deck. The upper deck also has a 2-person jacuzzi, plenty of hot water, very clean (fills in just a few minutes).

Location: Ideal location, charming and scenic 5 minute water taxi across the little bay from busy Puerto ayora, Shangri-La is just steps (on a foot path) from the taxi dock and angermeyer Hotel in one direction and the beach and Finch Bay Hotel in the other. You can also walk to Grietas from here.

Quiet! Although it was very hot in March, we only turned on the bedroom air conditioner (a very high quality setup) for an hour or two each evening. After that we opened the windows to allow the sea breeze to blow through. It was perfectly quiet every night, except for the lulling crash of the waves. I have rarely slept anywhere this peaceful, no chickens, no barking dogs, no loud neighbors, nothing.

Cleanliness & staff: A lovely housekeeper comes 3-4 days/week and scrubs the place from top to bottom. We were amazed at how pristine this place was until we saw her in action – she is quite thorough! Janet even arranged for her to do our laundry for a small fee every couple of days, so we didn’t have to pack much. Also there is a gardener (who will also shop and cook) and someone who cares for the pool. All staff were great people.

Hosts: Janet (owner) was very patient and helpful, with quick responses to my many emails both before and during the trip. She was traveling in the us during our stay, but Treecy, who stays sometimes in the small Casita, was available to help us locally. Treecy is a very kind and gracious host. She was careful to respect our privacy but also nice to chat with each evening. We would talk about our day and plans for the next day and she would offer suggestions and tips as needed. She would take care of absolutely anything that needed doing. She even met us on in town with some items we had left behind when we went over to another island for a week before heading home. She caught us between boat and taxi to deliver our stuff to us!

Wifi: Wifi is not great in Galapagos in general and does go on and off at times, but Shangri-La’s setup was as good as it could be, very useable, and fast for Galapagos.

Tv: I don’t watch TV but if you do there was a good setup with cable, lots of videos, flat-screen and so forth.

Hot water: Excellent. If you don’t get hot water it isn’t because it doesn’t work, it just means the propane tank needs to be switched out which is a 5 minute job any of the staff will do. We found this out by emailing Janet “where is our hot water” and only a few minutes later someone was there switching the tanks and it was all set. It is an on-demand heater so it is effectively unlimited and instant. That said, unless you use the hot tub you really don’t need hot water much in this tropical location.

Purified water: The kitchen is set up with a giant jug of purified water for personal use.

Beds: The beds in the 2 bedrooms are Olympic Queen. This is basically a few inches wider than a normal queen. My husband and I generally only sleep well in King beds so this was a concern, but this size actually worked fine for us. The mattresses are quite firm which so far we have found to be the standard throughout Ecuador.

Highland tour: Janet suggested a highland tour on the way into town and this turned out to be a great idea. The planes arrive mid-morning and you drive through the highlands on the way to town so it makes sense to do the tour then. If you sign up for the tour then a guide will be waiting for you at the airport. After a long trip from the us, this alone was a great service. Without this service, you navigate on your own through the bus-ferry-taxi-water taxi combination needed to get from airport to town. This isn’t particularly difficult, we did it ourselves no problem on the way back, but when you arrive everything is confusing and unfamiliar and you are tired from a long trip, so having someone meet you and whisk you through it all is great. The highlands tour included the usual elements: giant tortoises, lava tunnels, crater views. If you take it, be sure to have hat/sunscreen/warm-weather clothes ready to wear, as most people coming from Quito are overdressed when they arrive. A note on the cost: we almost didn’t take this tour because it was more expensive than other quotes to take the tour as a regular day trip from town. However the difference is that this is a private tour, and it includes the airport pickup (they have to wait for you), luggage handling, and escort to Shangri-La. If you take the tour with someone else as a separate day trip then you waste half a day going back to the highlands, you ride on a bus with a crowd, and you lose out on the nice escort to Shangri-La.

Value: Obviously this is an ideal choice for a family or group of friends who would otherwise pay much more to stay in inferior hotel rooms. However even as a couple, we felt Shangri-La was the best deal in town if you are looking at high-quality accommodations. We compared this to the nicest hotels in town. The prices were similar but Shangri-La had far more to offer.

Tour options: We opted to select our tours at the last minute, one day at a time, from various local agencies. There is a trade-off for this. Upsides: It is much cheaper to book a tour at the last minute as they want to fill their boats (be sure to bargain), and you don’t have to worry about so much pre-planning, you can just decide what you want to do a day or two before. Downsides: If you have limited time and are focused on a particular tour or tour operator, or don’t want to work on picking tours after you arrive, you probably should book in advance to guarantee a space. We found that what we thought we wanted to do changed when we arrived and so the play-it-by-ear approach worked best for us. However it isn’t for everybody. Just FYI (as Janet predicted), our favorite tour was Bartolome, for spectacular views and great snorkeling (with penguins). Don’t miss that one!

I can’t think of anything else to say except that you can’t go wrong with this place and if I get to return to the Galapagos again then I won’t stay anywhere else.

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