Really love this small hotel. It's sad that the hurricane has washed away most of the beach.

First of all, the location is perfect. It is right on the beach and close to everything in town. There is a taxi stand right in front in case you want to arrange a taxi to take you to the nearby towns. Marlena's Restaurant is also connected to the hotel and you can eat there or be served down at the beach for lunch and adult beverages. Secondly,making reservations is very easy as Charles, the owner, is very good about returning your emails.
The rooms are all great and choosing the one that best suits your needs is easy as long as it is available. If you just want a room that is inexpensive to sleep and it has a bathroom, they have one for you. If you want a place that is bigger and you save some money and eat inside, there is a room for you. Our favorite thing about Casa Chips is Charles and his staff. We have been there four times now and each time, we feel more and more like family. The last trip was during the hurricane. Charles immediately, arranged for our safety and we were well taken care of. We will always be forever grateful for his and his family's hospitality.

It was my first time in Barra and it was great, no complaints. The hotel is right on the beach, in the middle of town, so it is close to everything. This hotel had some bigger and nicer rooms upstairs with views and balconies. However, we stayed in the cheapest room, which sadly had no windows...at all - probably the most disappointing aspect of this stay. The room was small but decent enough: clean, nice bathroom and shower. (One of the paintings on the wall was obviously hung 90 degrees sideways...which made us laugh). Good deal for your money and probably better than some other places for the same cost in Barra. The water right in front of the hotel was great for swimming for adults swimmers. Not for young children as the water gets deep quickly and some big waves can sneak up on you. One morning I saw a group of whales really close to shore, maybe 100 feet off shore or so. Swimming best in the morning, waves get bigger in the afternoon. We only spent 3 nights here and spent a lot of time driving to surrounding areas and beaches, but overall, good memories about this place. It would have been great to have one of the upstairs rooms with the balcony.

After reading the reviews and knowing the area, Casa Chips delivered exactly what we expected. It was our anniversary and I wanted to find something a little special. Something with a nice view, privacy and comfort. Seeing that the owners where American i knew we could expect good value for our money. As we live in Manzanillo we know very well how somethings don't deliver what they advertise. I made my reservations by contacting the email provided on the website, quick reply with the appropriate information requested. i made a deposit (as per the norm in Mexico) and scanned the verification and returned an email. Again quick reply and all was good, or so i thought. When arriving the front desk personal had no information regarding our reservation, she simply told me the room that i wanted was available and how much it would be for the night. Lucky it was a Monday, the room was available and i had my deposit receipt.
Ok, time for constructive criticism.
1. The kitchenette seems to be an addition to the original building and there is a gap where the two roofs meet, not a big deal except for the birds that lived in the gap, thus birds and poop on the kitchen floor in the morning. Upon inspection, it looked like someone had once tried to fix the problem by placing a piece of cardboard in the gap.
2. The lower deck has some pieces of the railing missing, not dangerous yet, but we where drinking and could have been.
3. The master bathroom, the towels are old and need to be replaced, there are no beach towels, the toilet paper dispenser is loose and the roll falls off as soon as you go to grab some, the sign informing you to not to put your toilet paper in the toilet is taped on the wall (not a big deal, just looks bad, old tape has turned color and is peeling, wouldn't take much to have it in a frame). Last but certainly not least, the website says there is a double headed shower, not the case, there used to be a double headed shower, but not anymore and i probably know why, not enough water pressure, gravity fed water from the roofs water tank wont allow enough pressure for two shower heads to work at the same time. Also, there was not hot water, not a big deal for this time of year, since it is really hot and a cool shower is fine, but if it was during cooler weather i would not be happy.
4. There didn't seem to be any beach umbrellas and chairs for the hotel guests. There are photos of chairs and umbrellas on the web site, i just assumed that being a beach front hotel it would be something offered to guests.

I know there is a long list of nit picking. Nothing from the above list ruined our stay, we knew what to expect in sea side hotels, this is a step above most. We had a great time watching the sun set (well i did, the wife took a well deserved after noon siesta).
All in all, we will be back, if the owner/management reads this we would like to book again for the fallowing year. I saw that the owner had replied to previous guests reviews and would hope he still does, email me for my confirmation of next years reservation.