ehallison

There's nothing within walking distance. And we were even told by the gate guard not to leave the property on foot because it wasn't safe. My husband, speaking to the guard in Spanish, got the impression it was due to unsafe walking conditions and not crime. But it was disappointing to us. The resort is small and we couldn't even go for a decent walk. (the beach area is also small).

If we were to return there (which we wouldn't) we'd rent a car. There is not a lot of "relaxing around the hotel" to be done unless you rent a cabana. The pool area is tiny (count the deck chairs in the picture, and only the chairs on the right - the ones on the left are for the cabana rentals) and insufficient for the guests when the property is anywhere near full. All the chairs were "reserved" with towels & personal items by the time we went down for breakfast. On weekends, the beach area is very crowded with locals setting up big canopies with loud competing boom box music. On Monday, the beach area was completely trashed with stuff left behind.

Night life at the hotel is non-existent. They advertised music in the bar area two nights we were there and both nights it failed to materialize. When we decided to leave for an activity or dinner, we called down and asked the concierge how to order a taxi. She told us she'd take care of it. Instead we were given a hotel car at what seemed to us an inflated rate.

As far as the kayaks, I'm pretty sure they were free but we felt pressured to return them quickly - I think there was a time limit after which there would be a charge? I don't remember bikes being available, but really, where would you ride them? As noted above, the guard told us not to leave on foot so it couldn't be safe to do so on a bike.

The gym had huge glass walls which made the view nice, but it meant the sun beat down inside the room at times, and the A/C couldn't keep up with the heat in the afternoons.

We don't require a lot of entertainment to enjoy ourselves at a resort. But I'm surprised at the positive reviews in this thread. It was really 3 of the most boring days of my life. If you go, absolutely rent a car or be prepared to spend a lot on transportation to go to restaurants or activities.

On a positive note, the Plat breakfast benefit was excellent and the room was nice.

Our stay was January 2018. We then went to Punta Islita where we had an AMAZING stay. We are returning there next week; I can't wait.

spainlover

I don't know why the guard would say not to leave on foot. It's an extremely safe area. I went running alone twice, both on the roads and on the beach. And we walked around as well. They're probably being overly cautious. Maybe you wouldn't want to walk at night because there wouldn't be much illumination and a car might not see you if you were walking along the side of the road.

ehallison

It was puzzling to us, too. It was broad daylight. He literally told us not to leave the resort on foot. We felt we had to take his word for it.

Kacee

When we went to Costa Rica a few years back, our only chain stay was a brief overnight at LIR after a night time arrival. We found the independents offered much better value and experience. Considered both this property and the JW and neither compared well at all to the local options.
That certainly makes sense. The roads in Guanacaste often have no shoulder and the locals have the unnerving habit of walking in the middle of the road at night. I sure wouldn't do it.

ehallison

We are spending 3 nights at a small hotel in Liberia before headed down to Punta Islita next week because we are going to visit a couple of the national parks. I suppose El Mangroove would be a good hotel for a trip like that...but I agree with you on the value. Why pay those prices if you aren't going to spend any time on property?

JBord

Well, I wish I had seen all this new information before my refund deadline of 12/30. We're staying at El Mangroove regardless now.

Last weekend I was trying to decide if we should rent a car for the whole time, or just as needed from the on-site Avis. I know from experience how expensive rental cars can be in Central America, so prefer not to rent one for the whole 5 nights. We'll do at least a same day rental, maybe to drive down to Tamarindo or to one of the parks -- still figuring out exactly what we want to do off-property.

But we'd also like to check out Playa Hermosa or Playa Coco one day, maybe lunch there and a couple hours on the beach. Is it reasonable to ride bikes to Playa Hermosa? If not, any ideas on what we could expect to pay for a taxi?

ehallison

I don't think you should plan on a bike ride to Playa Hermosa.
I *think* we paid $40 for the hotel car service to get to & from Playa Hermosa. Seemed expensive, but definitely cheaper than a car rental! On this upcoming trip we are renting for 9 days from Adobe and the price was reasonable - a small 4wd SUV to carry 4 passengers and suitcases for about $450 including the required liability insurance. But we reserved a while back; prices are much higher now.

$40 isn't a lot when looking at a vacation as a whole. But we have traveled a lot in Latin America - mostly Peru and Mexico - and found taxis and ride hailing apps to be extremely cheap. Maybe you can figure out how to call for an actual taxi and that would save you some $. Like I mentioned upthread, that's what we thought we were doing the first time when we asked the concierge about a taxi. The second time, we just wanted to go to dinner and my husband didn't want to waste time pushing back and saying "we want a taxi, not your over-priced car service."

ehallison

Oh and I wanted to say also that I think you will have a great stay since you are planning so many things off-site! The rooms and restaurant are nice. We were just disappointed because we thought of it as a resort where we could hang out, enjoy the pool and beach, work out, go for a run...and not a lot of that panned out for us.

JBord

Thanks, I'm sure we'll enjoy it. I've been around C. America a bit but never in CR before, and of course there are always little differences. A $10 taxi in Panama City can seem like a ripoff, but you might get nowhere near that low in CR, as far as I know. If it's $40 round trip we'll probably just do the onsite car rental for a day and take a taxi once or twice while there.

Fortunately, my girlfriend was a Spanish major in college, so that may help us a little when getting taxis or other transportation -- but unfortunately, I'm the more assertive one when it comes to stuff like that, and my Spanish is very basic.

To the other request upthread, I will plan on adding a brief report on the hotel after our stay.

CO-PLAT

Did this change from category 7 to 5 or is it just another Marriott IT glitch?

JBord

Just returned from my stay at this property. Here's a summary of the good and bad, but first the really disappointing start to our stay.

We checked into the hotel and were escorted to our room. First thing we noticed was 2 double beds instead of the King we had booked. We called the front desk and they said there were no Kings available and that our reservation was for a King OR 2 doubles. I looked at my confirmation email from Marriott and it clearly stated a King bed. I actually recall having the choice of either type of room when I booked, so this was an attempt to lie their way out of it. Further discussion revealed that there was a King room available that night, but not for our whole stay. So, as a Plat Premier (Titanium) I didn't get my choice of room so someone else could have it. I asked further and was told it was because I booked with points instead of $!!! Very disappointing. Finally we agreed to stay in the room for that night, as we were tired from the travel that day, and they would continue to look for options.

Went to the desk in the morning and was given the same story -- nothing available and I used points so I was low priority (my interpretation). I brought up the room/bed type guarantee for PPE's and then the $100/day compensation. That seemed to unsettle the woman I was speaking with and she told me to come back at 11 to speak with a manager. Came back around noon and spoke with the manager who had a King room waiting for us. So the issue was resolved but I was extremely disappointed that they consistently lied to me for 24 hours, and that I was regarded as less important than someone who paid with cash (and probably at a lower status than me). It's unfortunate I had to threaten them with the compensation. I've never had to bring this up with Marriott in any way before this trip.

The good:
- The rooms were nice, although a little small
- The property is beautiful, we really liked the option of hanging out by the pool, on the grass terrace facing the beach, or on the beach itself.
- The view of the bay and hills is very nice. Also, if you walk maybe a hundred yards down the beach, it's completely quiet and almost private.
- Service overall (minus our room mishap) was very good.
- The breakfast buffet, which you can choose as the Plat benefit, is excellent. We ate big here every morning.
- We used the kayaks and bikes, which are included in the resort fee.

The bad:
- The property is fairly isolated. We rented a car for about 30 hours and went into Playa Hermosa once for dinner, and to buy some supplies for a trip to Rincon de la Vieja.
- The food onsite is average. It's also small portions and very expensive (example, a few bites of Guacamole was $9 - about $1 per chip). We didn't really enjoy Makoko at all, but found Matiss a little better. But we ate a big breakfast and skipped lunch every day because it wasn't worth $70 for a lunch we didn't enjoy. We also ate at Abbocato, which is on a nearby hill, one night and it was excellent.
- The cocktails were weak and the wine was subpar. I'd recommend sticking to the local beer, at a reasonable $4.

Overall - pretty good experience but not sure if we'd stay here again. If we do, I'd rent a car for the whole time and eat every dinner off the property. But the time relaxing by the pool and beach was great, so if you're looking for that, it's a good place to stay. Just be prepared for a fight if you use points.

Kacee

Thanks for the report, sounds like you didn't let the room issues interfere with your vacation.

I believe you were entitled to the $100 based on their failure to provide the King room on arrival. Fixing it the next day did not cure their failure to deliver on the room type guaranty.

If it's any consolation, with a couple of notable exceptions, we found food in general to be overpriced and pretty average throughout Costa Rica.

exploreaswego

Nope, it was 40k pre-merger, and has stayed at 35k (CAT 5) since.. It's a great property for those CAT 5 certs which we are planning to redeem..
Then again, there are also Punta Islita and the JW also cat CAT 5 to choose from..

JBord

Yep, I am entitled to the $100. Just a cost-benefit tradeoff for me in deciding not to pursue it further. You hit the nail on the head, doing so would have interfered with my vacation, and now I don't feel like wasting my time chasing $100.

We had mixed results with the food. We had a good meal at Ginger in Playa Hermosa, but it was certainly not typical Costa Rican food. We loved Abbocato, which is owned and chef'd by an Italian (from Italy), but was more of a farm-to-table concept. But Abbocato definitely came at a price.

rharrigill

I know it's been a while, but do you recall which company/boat you took the cruise on? Looking for something like this as we'll be visiting the area in November.