Anyone stay at Hotel California in MA? What are your opinions?

We stayed at Hotel California, however it was in 2002. Have not yet returned to Manual Antonio, but would certainly consider this hotel if and when we do return to the area.

We very much enjoyed our stay, the staff were pleasant and helpful, food was good, room was comfortable.

I do recall some much more recent comments than 2002! Type in the search box at the top of the page and see what comes up.

Unfortunately there is not alot of talk here on Fodors about this hotel.

Hi Lutherkins,

We stayed at Hotel California this past December. We liked the hotel. Its located on a quiet drive off the main road. The staff was friendly and the included breakfast buffet was good. The room was not particularly fancy, but was nice, comfortable and clean. We stayed in a deluxe room that offered a pretty ocean view from the balcony. It was a good place to spend the last few days of our vacation.

The only minor downsides were the fact that the room did not include a hair dryer (none of us had brought one along), and the bed placement partially blocked the balcony door, so that you could only open it about half way (our room happened to contain 2 double beds; rooms with only one bed would not have this issue...).

As far as a decent, pleasant place to lay our heads, the hotel worked well for us!

Thanks for your opinions. If staying at Hotel California do I need a car or are we still pretty close to restaurants, beach, etc?

You will be close to the beaches at Hotel California, but not within walking distance. The nicest beaches seem to be within the national park which is a couple of miles up and down the winding hillside road from Hotel California.

We had a car and enjoyed the flexibility it provided, but several posters here have said that its easy to get around MA by bus (I'm sure taxis are probably easy to come by as well).

The main road through MA is probably about 4 or 5 miles long, extending from the south end of Quepos to just south of the national park entrance. The road is dotted with several hotels and restaurants. Hotel California is close to the Quepos end of the route, but you can be at the park within just a few minutes.

We visited MA in early December before the peak tourist season began. We really liked the area. The park is wonderful! We ate at Cafe Milagro (great blended coffee drinks and pastries) and Mar Luna (nice deckside dining overlooking the ocean). We also ate dinner at Hotel California one evening and it was a good meal.

Hope this helps...

thanks so much. I can take as much information and opinions as possible right now. There are a lot of decision to be made when planning a trip to CR.

There are so many choices and different things to see and do that the planning phase can seem a bit daunting, especially if its your first visit!

The folks who post regularly here (shillmac, tully, suzie2, sandyc, dfarmer, earthtraveler, to name just a few...) really do offer some great insight and know what they are talking about.

Hotel California doesn't get tons of reviews here, but both dfarmer and shillmac gave it thumbs up, and that was good enough for me!

Its a nice place. I would definitely stay there again.

Why thank you cmerrell! I wish I had more time to answer post. I think those of us that have visited CR several times, have developed an overwhelming passion for the country. Myself, I still have several more trips to CR planned (on paper that is) just have to make the time for them. Every time I think I have the perfect trip planned, I stumble upon another location or site that I want to visit!

As for transportation in MA. We opted to use the local buses and cabs. During the day we took the buses (which are dirt cheap), at night we sometimes used cabs.

We ate at least 2 maybe 3 dinners at Hotel California and every breakfast. Everything we ate there was delicious, sounds like it is still the same.

We had a car delivered our final day and headed up to Arenal. So really the buses and cabs are great.

If by chance you do what we did!! - Talking, looking, etc - miss your stop at Hotel California! WELL, No Worries - just get off in Quepos, walk around, shop, have a snack or drink and catch another bus going back! All in a day of travel - well at least for us!

BTW - we had a deluxe room on the upper floor with only one bed.

We enjoyed the beaches inside the park and we enjoyed the public beach. Now our form of travel is very laid back and pretty unstructured. Meaning that many of our days may be spent doing little more than nothing! Simply walking, stopping in local shops, local restaurants and bars, people watching, talking and taking in the fabulous views.

Good hotel, and great views from the Deluxe rooms. I think that this hotel is a very good value for the price.

You do have a little bit of a walk up from the main road, and this is where the taxis cruise. But if you don't mind this walk (500 yards?), then you won't need a car. Taxi service is pretty efficient in this area.

I hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer more advice.

Warm Regards,

Pat Hewitt
Costa Rica Travel Exchange
Costa Rica Concierge