Hotel Casa Del Mar

We were happy enough staying for a couple of nights. The property was quiet, the bed comfortable, the wifi good, and we slept well. Our room had A/C and a private bathroom. Valerie was nice and helpful, though we didn’t really deal with anyone else. The courtyard and surrounding area had lovely trees and foliage. Breakfast came with cooked food and a nice fruit plate, and there was a small menu. The hotel is close to downtown, the beach, and restaurants, and had a cool plunge pool, evening security at the entrance, and good adherence to COVID protocols. The room was basic, had no view, and the property could use some updating and TLC. Breakfast was also basic, for example, no real bacon. There was no TV, which is usually fine, though sometimes it’s important to keep up with world events. Some rooms lack A/C or private bathrooms, so I can imagine the cheaper options might draw younger guests and possibly contribute to problems others have reported. We’re a couple in our mid-seventies and had no problems during our stay. In response to my review, Hotel Casa del Mar said it repaints the property and rooms every 6 months. They also said we’d refused daily cleaning, which they had offered, and blamed ants and cockroaches on that, along with our not putting food in the mini fridge. They referred to sugary alcoholic drinks we’d had all day, and said the toilet clogged because we’d put half a roll of toilet paper in it. They said this was normal in Costa Rica, that they were a beach B&B rather than a resort, and that their prices reflected that, then called me unsympathetic for criticizing a budget place. I found the response dishonest and nasty. Their review of us was just a period, which seemed intended to avoid writing anything that might contradict it. Our own review had mostly been favorable. Airbnb gave me no way to respond to the hotel’s reply.

I’d stayed here before, but this time the host was hostile from the start. We considered moving to another hotel but our plans made that hard, and we should have done it anyway. I was with my family of six, and breakfast was included in the booking. When my family went down in the morning, they were told it wasn’t included. I’d made the booking and confirmed that with the woman, but she basically called my family liars and claimed my father had asked if they could eat somewhere. Then another woman came out of the office, tried to intimidate us, called our attitude horrible from the start, and told us to leave, saying we’d be refunded. It was the busy season and everything was booked. When we questioned the timing, she called the police. The officers said they’d had to visit this location multiple times. We asked them to confirm we’d get a refund if we left, but no refund came, and Booking.com wouldn’t refund a non-refundable reservation. We went up the road to a place that cost twice as much, but it was worth getting away from them. While we were waiting and dealing with the police, an older Canadian couple came down and said they’d also had an appalling experience with the staff. We’ve stayed in hundreds of hotels and never had anything like this. As we left, we told them how disgusted we were. Honestly, you can see what they’re like from their replies to negative feedback.

The rooms were old and dirty. There were stains on the bedsheets, so we slept in our sleeping bags, and there was a huge cockroach in the room. On our last day, the owner and her husband physically assaulted me, and I reported that too. Earlier, we’d been robbed inside our room. When I raised it with the owner, she called us liars and was very rude. The cleaning towels had been left next to where our money was, which we took as proof that hotel staff had entered the room, even though it hadn’t been cleaned. We reported the theft at the police station, where we were told there had been many complaints about this hotel, so please avoid it. A note to the hotel manager: be careful how you accuse customers. The hotel depends on them, so think about what you publish online and how you treat people. You say you have video footage, but I asked several times to see it and you still haven’t shown me.

The owner and staff were kind and helpful, and always had answers for my questions about the bus, a Covid test, and laundry. The location is perfect, just a 2 minute walk from the beach. I stayed 5 nights in a private room with a shared bathroom. It was peaceful there, breakfast was included, and cleaners came every day. I thought it was a little overpriced, but still okay.