Selina Tamarindo

The location is very good, and I liked the pool and common areas. The room had AC and was okay, though kind of moldy, and the shared toilet was dirty. If they improved the toilets and renovated the rooms, I’d definitely consider staying again.

I’ve stayed at several Selina locations around the world and usually had a good time, so I picked Tamarindo expecting the same. It was a huge letdown, by far my worst Selina stay. My friends and I were bitten by bedbugs, and the breakfast was overpriced, tasted awful, and took far too long to arrive. I was also checked into the wrong room, and basic supplies like soap and shampoo were missing. There wasn’t even hand soap in the toilets. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Save your money and avoid the disappointment.

The only things I liked were the location and the fairly nice front desk staff. The place was filthy and poorly kept, though, and it was expensive for what it was. The kitchen is at the very back of the property, and you can’t eat food in the front restaurant. The soap, shampoo, and conditioner looked disgusting, as if they hadn’t been replaced in years. I asked for a refill of hand soap, but there still wasn’t any, and the shower was always cold. My six person room didn’t have a properly working door lock. The front door scraped along the floor whenever it opened or closed, and there was black mold everywhere. They fumigate from 10 pm to 3 am, which is loud, and there were still bugs all over. I’d wake up with bites, and there may even have been bugs in the bed. My aloe water, fizzy drinks, and food were stolen from the fridges despite having labels on them. Awful, disgusting experience. I’d recommend pura vida or backpackers hostel nearby instead. DO NOT STAY HERE.

Parking and the location near the beach and local amenities were the upsides. Otherwise, the hostel looked dirty and run down. The dorm door was badly misaligned and scraped the floor whenever someone came in or left. It had a huge hole at the top and another in the door itself, letting in bugs and humidity. The bathroom felt coated in grime, there was a dead roach, the bin was full when we arrived, and there was no toilet paper. When they showed us the dorm, nobody assigned us a bed or explained that we could choose one. Some of the supposedly clean beds had sand and bugs from outside. The pool water looked so dirty that we didn’t use it. The kitchen was removed on 25/01, even though the hostel was still advertised with one and the photos hadn’t been updated. The value was awful. Several people said they’d been told they had the last beds available, and some were checked into the wrong room before being “upgraded” to the room they’d originally booked.