Sonora Caribbean Jungle Retreat

For our honeymoon, we expected a hotel-quality yoga retreat, but the yoga was only one hour, three times a week. Hotels and hostels in town offer it daily without calling themselves a retreat. The property is 5km down a difficult road from town. Its website advertises an on-site restaurant, but it wasn't open in the evening, and there's no bar, drinks for sale, or mini fridge in the room. We had to taxi into town each night for food and drinks, which didn't feel much like a retreat. In the jungle setting, bugs and mosquitoes got into the room through poorly sealed gaps. There were no bug screens or mosquito nets, we got bitten a lot, and we had cockroaches in the room. When I brought up the problems, staff were defensive and offered no practical fix to make our stay better. They didn't offer to remove the cockroaches and said my bites couldn't have come from the room. Only after I stood my ground did they offer to reimburse $300 of the $420 I was owed so we could check out early and find somewhere else. We were still $250 out of pocket after switching hotels, but it was worth it. Our stay at Conga Boutique Hotel was far, far better.

The resort has cabins and a pool, with a bit of a hostel feel, and the breakfast was good. Rooms have both air conditioning and a fan, but not much else in the way of equipment, with no coffee machine or fridge. It's a long way from the center, though there's a stunning beach nearby. The road is bumpy and uncomfortable, so I'd recommend arriving in a 4x4.

We spent four days here on our honeymoon and I highly recommend it. The grounds were beautiful, and the pool and common area were amazing. And oh my god, breakfast at the Oasis Fusion Resturant was one of the tastiest I've ever had.

The retreat is tucked into the jungle, about a 5-8 minute drive from a vibrant city. The rooms were spacious and really comfortable, and the property felt welcoming. They supplied yoga mats and bolsters. The chef made everything from scratch using local ingredients, with three meals provided each day. I had an amazing experience and highly recommend it.