Dos Mares Barefoot Luxury

The staff made us feel so welcome, and the hotel is almost right on the beach. If you're visiting in January or February, ask for a partial sea-view room. The morning sun reaches the balcony and it's lovely.

The rooms are decent, though a little small, and the bare concrete look is pretty stark. Downstairs, the restaurant turns out good food, but hardly anyone seems to eat there, which makes dinner feel a bit odd. Breakfast was uneven: stale bread, overcooked eggs and apples that felt out of place locally, rather than a fun local egg dish. Upstairs is where things really let it down. The bar needs work, the coffee was lukewarm, and they should stock white wine, get a wine key and train the staff. An espresso machine would help too, if someone showed them how to use it.

The beach is right across the street, with beautiful nature all around, so the weak Wi-Fi may be a good excuse to unplug. We were there for three nights at the end of September, in rainy season. Our room was lovely and clean, and the staff were kind. The restaurant and bar didn't have everything on the menu, perhaps because it was low season. There was no mojito or Coca-Cola, and with no music the atmosphere felt a little flat. A heads-up about power cuts in town: the hotel has backup for things like lights, but the boiler can't run on it, so you might go a few hours without hot water. That's not the hotel's fault, but useful to know in advance. With the limited drinks and snacks and no music, we gave it three stars. We imagine it might be a four- or five-star stay in high season.

The interior design was nice, but we spent most of our time at the neighboring hotel, which had more people and a much better atmosphere. We wouldn't come back. We booked expecting the 3.5-4 star stay described on Booking.com/Hotels.com, and that wasn't what we got. The hotel didn't answer our emails about transportation before we arrived, even though it was listed as a service. Staff didn't speak English, so we used Google Translate for basic conversations. Breakfast was just a small bowl of fruit and two slices of buttered toast. Several things in the room and hotel didn't work as expected. Wi-Fi worked only on the first day, the AC quit on day two and we had to change rooms, and there was no refrigerator. On our last day we found mold on the bedding; the room often smelled bad from poor ventilation. Hallways outside the rooms had puddles every day, even though we were there in rainy season. The clothing shop in the photos was closed for our whole stay except the day we arrived, and the pool bar never opened, even while we sat by the pool. The lobby was often unattended, which felt concerning in an open hotel where anyone could walk in. After a power outage the night before, a loud, constant noise, likely a generator, kept us awake on the final night. No one explained what was happening to guests.