The first SG hotel that I listed in the initial post to this thread was the El Porton. It opened in the fall of 2005, thus making it the newest and most modern SG hotel. Despite extremely small rooms, I consider it to be the nicest of the SG hotels. Now prepare to read more than you ever cared to know about the El Porton, including things you would never bother to ask:
EL Porton:
To enter, you walk down a very long, tastefully decorated hallway to the hotel desk. On a greaseboard you will see the posted room rates:
15 minutes $6 or 60p
20 minutes $8 or 80p
25 minutes $10 or 100p
30 minutes $12 or 120p
60 minutes $20 or 200p
120 minutes $25 or 250p
overnight for $35 or 350p but they claim to not rent the overnight rooms on the weekends.
This is a very small hotel; four S/T rooms on the first floor and five overnight rooms upstairs for only nine total rooms.
Great features of this hotel:
Very quite, especially rooms 5, 6 & 7 upstairs that get very little bar noise from Bar El Corral next door.
They have the typical mattress on a raised wooden platform, but they use a premium mattress with a built-in additional foam pad that is very comfortable for sleeping.
Exceptionally clean and well decorated, best SG hotel for that.
Four of the five upstairs rooms (#5, 6, 7 & 8, but not smaller #9) have a decorative table equipped with one small drawer and attractive vaulted ceilings.
Nice headboard mirrors in rooms 5 & 6.
Very nice, clean and roomy walk-in showers, largest ones I have seem in La Zona, roomy enough for gordo me and non-flaca Sandy of Cascades to shower in together in good comfort.
Responsive happy staff
When you rent the room S/T for 15 minutes, you can request the 5-minute, $2 rental term extension from behind the closed door and settle-up when you emerge from the room after its use.
Working electrical outlets, but most in odd places, like hidden behind the mattress or 10 feet above the floor.
If you arrive in the morning, they will rent the overnight room to you right away if one is ready and available, thus you can get a 27 or 28 hour rental period since the 1PM check-out time is not altered.
Marginally effective hallway provided heating in the winter, a/c in the summer
Drawbacks of this hotel:
No hot water delivered to sink, only in shower
Takes a long time for hot water to arrive in the shower
Rooms are very very small, with no closets or storage area other than under the table.
They began assessing joiner fees for more than two chicas in spring 2006.
With only 5 upstairs overnight rooms, expect many sell-outs.
Some rooms have large televisions with built-in DVD players. But since there is no reception, they often just seem to be taking up most of the limited available tabletop space.