spirit of jungle lodge

It's located away from the tourist areas in the jungle near a lightly visited beach. Wildlife all around. Peaceful and beautiful. Very clean.

Some repairs needed here and there. Older A/C couldn't quite keep pace. Beware: bad roads and river crossings are a Nicoya norm.

Super quiet, beautiful nature, very private, the kitchen has top quality ingredients, friendly staff

jungle type.environment. very remote. Restaurant was excellent!! Lovely selections and great preparation. Organic and many vege options

No other options close by for dining or other activities.. the listing stated it was beachfront but it was far from that...staff said it was 5 min walking distance...more like a drive on very rough roads. Samara purported to be 10-15 minute drive. More like 45-50 minutes. Feel that the.details were somewhat misrepresented. The way we were told to get to Samara was a road in terrible condition and the need to cross a river far too deep to drive our car. Did not want to take that chance and so had to turn around and go long way. Let the management know and were completely ignored..manager did not even have the courtesy to introduce himself or even thank us for the visit. We felt very dismissed. A/,C had to be repaired in our room twice. Coffee cups and coffee machine were provided in the room but no coffee or condiments and no offer to provide to us when asked. No pool towels in our room...had to search them out. Other guests reported they were in their rooms. ..

The pool is great! The grounds are beautiful and well taken care of. The Beds were great, everyone in my party of 10 was really happy about the beds and pillows. The bungalows and apartments had all the necessary kitchen gadgets. There was no salt, sugar or anything else, that sometimes you find at other places. There was dish soap and a dish towel. The fridge and gadgets were pretty new and nice. Much appreciated. The hotel is really quiet and really rural. FYI - We were kicked out of the pool at 8:50pm. We were not being loud, just chilling. The beach close to the hotel, is really beautiful, but more on the wild side. I loved it, but it is my personal taste. I wouldn't swim in it, though. It's pretty rough, not really a swimming beach. My friends didn't swim in it either, we had to drive to another beach. All good, but FYI.

The wifi never worked for us. You need to bring your own shampoo, soap, and conditioner, there is nothing. Also take into consideration that it is 45min to Samara on a bumpy gravel road OR 15min crossing a river. If you have a relatively high car and in dry season, you can easily cross the river. HOWEVER, during the rainy season AND/OR if the river is high, you can't cross unless you have a 4x4 car. The last morning of our stay, there was no power which meant, NO WATER. We didn't get any heads up on the situation, we simply ran out of water. The power company was doing some work in the area and were told power would be restored at 2pm. So, there was information available, we just never got it. This is Costa Rica, the least a hotel providing services to their guests, would do is have an external power plant. It is a common experience in CR. GET A POWER PLANT. Especially, since no power means no water. We were planning on having breakfast there, we couldn't because no power, meant no way to pay with a credit card. We were also criticized for not carrying cash. Also, if there is no water, it is doubtful to have clean practices for cooking breakfast. We left pretty fast that morning. The owner was rude to us from the beginning. It is not due to cultural differences, he called us "pussies" to our face, for not wanting to cross a river with a sedan that was having some mechanical issues on our way there. So, don't expect smiles and welcoming vibes. I always ask the locals if the beach is good for swimming and I like to get information about warnings regarding the water. We were not able to get any info from them.