Hotel Mono Azul

Every staff member we met went out of their way to look after us. Emily welcomed us at the front desk and showed us to a clean room that matched what was advertised. We watched Back to the Future 3 in Spanish, and I felt like I was learning a lot without English subtitles. Breakfast came with the room for both days, with no extra charge. There are two pool areas, and getting to Manuel Antonio by Didi bus or Uber was quick and cheap. After a full day walking in the park, Valentina brought us towels and we went for a swim. Jorge kept watch overnight, and Michael put our leftover bacon in the refrigerator. In our last hour, I spotted monkeys on the roof. Valentina noticed our excitement and showed us the terrace roof where they liked to hang out, no pun intended. She also pointed out a sloth in a tree that we never would have seen otherwise. She didn't know the English word, so when I asked what perezoso meant, she ran to find something to translate and then showed us the animal. There was construction across the street, but it wasn't intrusive. My dad and I had a wonderful stay and would definitely come back. 11/10. Pura Vida! Con gusto!

After about an hour, our food finally arrived, and it wasn't good. We went for dinner with my wife and her parents, and the whole experience was one of my worst restaurant visits. Our server was Israel. Drinks took a long time, and although we were seated, service then felt inattentive. Tables that arrived around 30 minutes after us got their food sooner and even paid before our food came. The restroom made things worse. The main one was locked, and after I asked twice, I was told to walk around the whole hotel to find another. When I got there, the lights wouldn't turn on. By the time I returned, staff were suddenly able to unlock the main restroom. Between the slow service, poor handling of a basic need, and disappointing food, it didn't feel worth it. I wouldn't recommend eating here.

We booked four nights but left after the first because of mold throughout the hotel. Management tried moving us twice, then said we'd get a refund for three nights. After that, they stopped responding to calls and messages. During our lovely three weeks in Costa Rica, this was our only experience with mold and dishonesty. The music played loudly late into the night. A man in a pink speedo at the pool made our family of three uncomfortable, and the place had a swingers vibe. It felt weird and definitely not family friendly. A family dining next to us tried to cancel their order because their food was taking so long. Service was lackluster and the place seemed poorly managed all around. There was no luggage rack, so my wife, who was five months pregnant, had to sort through our suitcases on the floor. We didn't want to put them on the bed because we know that's a travel "no/no". It had a pay by the night feel, and struck me as a low-class establishment with dishonest management and mold problems.

The room was nice and the hotel seemed newly renovated. It was decent overall, but traffic from the main road made it very noisy, with apparently no soundproofing in the room. Maybe that's normal in CR.