Pranamar Villas & Yoga Retreat

The hotel and its picturesque surroundings were lovely, and the staff were helpful and extremely friendly. The pool was brilliant, the beach beautiful and easy to reach, and breakfast was good. But at $320 a night, I didn't think it was good value. Breakfast came with standard options like toast and eggs, while the more interesting menu cost extra. The basic choices felt disappointing for that price. There were only three or four sun loungers, though that never caused us a problem, and they couldn't be adjusted to lie on your stomach. The bedroom sockets were behind the bed, making it awkward to use an adapter and keep my phone on the nightstand overnight. I was also disappointed to learn that yoga classes weren't included when booking Pranamar through booking.com, even though it's described as a yoga retreat. The classes are outstanding, and I feel they should be included at $320 a night regardless of booking method. I understand direct bookings are more profitable, but if they don't want guests using booking.com, they should remove the hotel from it. The biggest issue came when we asked them to call a taxi as we were changing locations. I'd been in Santa Teresa for two weeks and usually paid around $10-15 for a 20-minute ride, so I expected perhaps $5-10 for the five-minute trip to our new hotel, especially since no fare was quoted in advance. The driver charged $25 and said he'd been told to charge that. I don't know if Pranamar only uses the most expensive taxi companies or keeps most of the fare for sending them customers, but it felt like a rip-off. The new hotel's concierge spoke with the driver, and we ended up paying “only” $20 for that five-minute ride, the most expensive taxi trip I've ever had.