Most expats and travelers in Ecuador just skip it.
It’s hot, it’s humid and the mosquitos plentiful. But if you stay there for a while, you’ll automatically be compelled to know the best way to stop mosquito bites from itching.
Ecuadorians will tell you not to go there cause it’s dangerous.
Welcome to Guayaquil. Ecuador’s largest city and top international port.
But after a year of living there I can honestly say it is also a great investment for short-term, furnished, up-scale rental properties.
There simply is more demand than supply. And it’s year round!
Guayaquil along with the heat and humidity also happens to be the main crossroads of Ecuador. Wherever you’re going, chances are you’ll need to pass by Guayaquil.
Locals in the city haven’t quite grasped the idea, and almost all the properties for rent ask for long-term leases (1 or 2 years) and come unfurnished.
But…
…it’s an easy sell to many executives and travelers alike as to why stay in a hotel room for weeks or months when you can enjoy the privacy of your own apartment and kitchen.
There’s money in Guayaquil.
And you’ll soon discover you’ll have just as much interest from local, Ecuadorian executives as you will from foreign travelers just passing through maybe on their way to the Galapagos… or maybe on their way from Salinas/Montanita to Cuenca (they have to pass through Guayaquil).
You could rent by the night, week or month to month.
So where in Guayaquil is best for this type of rental?
Well, I’d avoid the city center like the plague although the river boardwalk (malecon) while nice to visit in the daytime it’s dodgy at night. I’d avoid the south of the city too cause it’s just plain ghetto. Samborondon is nice, and where the local rich live but it’s far away from everything and your renters will need a car to rent there from you.
Urdesa is a pleasant neighborhood with lots of restaurants that is nice to live with tree-lined streets but being in a narrow valley the traffic during rush hour can get untolerably bottlenecked, not for me.
I’d stick to the north central part of town between the city center and the airport. Particularly, I like the Kennedy Norte area and even more specifically the Plaza del Sol area.
The Plaza del Sol area is the new city financial center, right next to the Mall Del Sol and where both travelers and the locals (with money) want to be.
You’re in the middle of everything. A few minutes from the airport, a few minutes to Urdesa or Samborondon or even the old city center.
There is a Sheraton and Howard Johnson in the area too. The Hilton is nearby.
There are a few condo towers I like specifically with pools, parking, elevator and 24 hour receptionist. Two are the twin towers adjoined to the Howard Johnson, and another is the Elite Tower across the street. In any of these towers you can find a luxury one bedroom suite starting around $85k resale. The two bedroom start about $10-20k more. The suites rent for $1100-1200 a month, or around $80 a night. But there are VERY few for rent as short-term furnished rentals!
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