Easter Island is a magical place: beautiful, tropical, mystical with some amazing sights. We happened to be there during the Annual Birdman Festival, which is a bonus. I think that 3-4 days is plenty to see pretty much everything. Unless you're a total hippie eco-warrior that wants to hike up to the top of the volcanoes. Have fun with that.
PREVISIT PERCEPTION: We were excited about this hotel/hostal, as it had great reviews and the website was lovely. We wanted to be able to see the ocean from our room. Finally, it was touted on Airbnb as being multiroom with a private bathroom.
THE TRUTH: We must have gotten the crappiest room in the entire location. It was right next to the dining hall so that all the traffic went by. Since there was NO AIR CONDITIONER in our room (missed that one in the fine print), we were sweltering hot. February in South America is like August in North America- HOT AS HADES! The room was in the middle of the property, so the airflow was terrible. We had to keep the windows and the curtains open in order to get some relief from the heat. I would get my T-shirt soaked at night before going to be bed, hoping to fall asleep before it dried.
The room was smallish, old thin beds, small fridge, and frumpy linens. We won't even elaborate on the lack of privacy. But they did clean it and turn down the beds daily. The bathroom- don't even get me started. I've never had a more SCHIZOPHRENIC SHOWER that was hot one minute, and cold the next. For no good reason!!! I'd rather have a lukewarm shower than one that alternates back and forth.
The bright star in the whole Easter Island "Ecohostal", which I learned is a Euphemism for POS, was the service. Elvira was a gem. She came to pick us up at the airport late, around 11:00 PM, took us back to the hostal, took care of our needs, arranged for a rental car (a must have on Easter Island), and did her best. The daily breakfast was better than your usual continental breakfast.
In summary, this place got 2 stars for amenities and 5 stars for service. But I couldn't round up to 4. The Wi-Fi was out all week, and the cell phone coverage was spotty at best and expensive.
We were uncomfortable. And when you're on vacation, even if you want to save money, you want to be comfortable. If I had it over, I would have splurged for a nicer place. You're only coming to Easter Island once in your lifetime. You might as well be comfortable.