After a relaxing stay @ Andaz Papagayo, we decided to spend one additional day/night at El Mangroove.



El Mangroove, Autograph Collection


As Marriott Gold only, I was not offered any upgrade at check-in.



We got to our “Bark Suite” room, located on the ground floor. Couch & hammock in the non AC area. Bed/TV/bathroom in the AC area.

Bark suite (ground floor)

Bark suite (ground floor)



We walked on the beach for sunset, fine black sand. The beach is public and quite busy with locals.
The sunset is much nicer than at Andaz.


Cloudy sunset



El Mangroove has 2 restaurants: Matiss & Makoko.

Service @ Makoko was fantastic for dinner. We were offered tasty bread to start. I was able to practice my 'Spanish' with the waiter who was very patient.
He also recommended some good wines.

Note that prices are lower than Andaz:
Imperial local beer is only $4. Breakfast buffet is $25 ($32 at Andaz) but quality & choices also lower.

We wanted to relax by the pool the following day. However all cabanas were “reserved” by 9am. Same for sunbeds, where entitled customers mark their territority with books or clothing...

Other sun-beds are set-up closer to the beach. However, there was no staff to service that area, so we had to get drinks/water ourselves.


Pool



Overall, nice facilities but we liked Andaz Papagayo much better