La Palapa Ecolodge

Pleasant atmosphere, smells good, spacious rooms, friendly and cordial staff, good location. Very good breakfast, very complete and healthy, we were pleasantly surprised.

The path lights could be directed more towards the path and not towards people's faces, as the light is annoying when walking at night. The room could have a lamp on the nightstand for greater comfort so that guests don't have to get up to turn off the light. There is no simple closet or coat rack to hang clothes or travel items.

Graceful, quiet and safe location where you are lulled asleep by the sounds of night jungle and awoken slowly by feathered friends.

Slowing aging facilities are quaint and still have much to offer those who appreciate substance over glitz.

The place is a piece of jungle paradise with bungalows in it. Quiet and safe. You can easily spot iguanas, amazing butterflies and birds. The host is kind. Safe parking for the car, near beautiful beaches and near Langosta Feliz (one of the best seafood restaurants in the Pacific coast)

The pool was awesome but it was out of service and we didn't get noticed prior to our arrival even if the host excused herself for this.

There are mixed reviews for this property so let me try to explain what to expect. The hotel will offer a very basic stay in the jungle which can be a great experience if that is what you are looking for. The owner is gradually investing in the property to bring the facilities up to standard but this will be a multi-year project at best. The location will allow for day trips to Manuel Antonio national park and Dominical, and you will wake up with jungle sounds or with a large gecko in the room, which happened to us.

We stayed in many ecolodges around the world both basic and luxury, and see two main issues with this property. The first one is that the apartments/houses are dirty. It was not properly cleaned and sheets had stains on them and were ripped when we arrived. The maintenance backlog is not helping either. We stayed 3 nights and realize that it is an ecolodge so we were not expecting bedding and towels to be changed daily. But emptying garbage cans, sweeping the floor and making the beds are not eco unfriendly and important when it comes to hygiene in the jungle. The second one is that this is listed as a 4-star hotel. This is not a luxury hotel, and should not qualify for four stars. There is no overall service, breakfast is basic, pool is cloudy, apartments are dirty and not well equipped (two plates, a fork, and 3 glasses for a apartment for 5 people). The maintenance backlog is simply too big. This is a 1 or 2 star at best.