My partner and I are planning a trip to Manuel Antonio in November and are trying to decide between staying at Costa Verde and Hotel Si Como No. Costa Verde only has Studio rooms available (with no ocean view) for $135. Hotel Si Como No has rooms for $225. We are in our 30s and want something romantic and comparable to a 3 star hotel, but we're on a budget. I was thinking about Costa Verde, but will we feel jipped if we don't have an ocean view? Is Si Como No so much nicer that it's worth the extra cost? If anyone is familiar with these (or other MA) hotels, your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I am one of a few who do NOT feel Si Como No is worth the cost. We like CV, but thats with our children. More "romantic" try Mangoe Moon, La Posada Jungle, low cost romantic try Didi's charming B&B.

We toured the Si Como No property when we were there, and it gave us the vibe of being very family friendly. They had a kids' pool and a movie theater on site. It did not seem all that romantic to us. We stayed at Mango Moon - it has more of a romantic vibe. We weren't crazy about our first room, but they upgraded us for free to an amazing room with a private balcony. A lot of the rooms there share a balcony which didn't give us the privacy that we wanted. The hotel itself is really cute - kind of a boutique place and it has gorgeous views of the water and a nice, small pool. The breakfast area is gorgeous - you sit in an area that has a beautiful view of the water. They also have a small beach at the base of the property if you want to make the hike down. It was close enough to several places that we could walk to like Barba Roja and Cafe Milagro.

Hands down, the most romantic hotel in this price range is Makanda by the Sea. Studios are $265.00, and have an ocean view. Breakfast is served daily on your veranda. This is an adult only hotel, and has a very high staff to guest ratio.

They have the most romantic restaurant in the area too. I always recommend this to my guests, even if they are not staying there. They have fairly easy beach access too.

In November, you can get a free standing bungalow at Tulemar for only $178.00. And they have a private beach. It is not as romantic as Makanda. But it is private, and the units are well appointed.

You will need to hurry. They are filling up for late November. Ever our own allotment is almost gone.

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

Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
(Travel professional)

LOVE Makanda.... stayed here on my honeymoon. Pricey though.

We have friends that stayed at Makanda for their honeymoon earlier this year, and they loved it too, but yes, it was expensive. I don't think they would have done the splurge if it wasn't their honeymoon.

We stayed at La Mansion Inn and loved it. The views were amazing and it was very romantic. We paid $125/night, breakfast included, in low season. It was fantastic. We also stayed at Issimo suites but the suites with the best views are pretty pricy. We had a partial ocean view and it was $130/night, breakfast included, low season. We loved it there too.
The grounds at Costa Verde are so pretty and the adult only pool has the best view I've ever seen in MA. Its still a good option.

Mango Moon sounds nice. How does it compare to La Posada? I've seen great reviews of La Posada on TripAdvisor, but there are others which make it seem a little dumpy (or "rustic&quot.

Costa Verde is around the same cost as Mango Moon. Which is nicer?

I think Makanda and Tulumar are out of our price range.

Thanks in advance!

Mango Moon is up on the hill, so it has great views. I believe La Posada is located right next to the park, so more convenient to that, but probably doesn't offer the pretty views that Mango Moon does. It was pretty easy to get around Manuel Antonio. We walked a lot of places, and our most expensive taxi fare was only 5 dollars. I have not stayed at Costa Verde, but it gets good reviews. Mango Moon gets consistently good reviews as well.

Costa Verde 2 is the adult only area of Costa Verde hotel and has INCREDIBLE views, pool area is very nice, it's certainly romantic but perhaps not as intimate/quaint as MM. But... with Mango Moon you can have some children around. CV 2, no kids. Out of Posada and MM I would choose MM.

We're leaning towards La Posada for our stay next year, but if you're looking for something romantic the other hotels mentioned here probably offer more amenities and view for romance. For us, we like the smaller, homier, low-key places and don't mind walking down that street with the "animals" to the beach (TA review) and like the proximity of the park to the hotel.

When we stayed at Mango Moon, they had a "no children" policy - not sure if they have changed that or not.

Help! I just learned that Issimo Suites is comparable in price to Mango Moon. Costa Verde is a little cheaper, but they have no studio plus rooms available, so we'd have to settle for a room with no ocean view.

Which of these hotels is nicest (i.e. clean, no bugs, good amenities and service)? Since we'd like to be able to relax at a nice pool (without small children), which of these hotels would be best?

Also, where is Issimo Suites located? Is it near Mango Moon?

Thanks again!

I can only speak to Mango Moon; when we were there last year, it was immaculate. They have housekeeping that comes in every day, and they were scrubbing and scrubbing, working very hard. They do have a nice pool area, but it is very, very small. One thing I should mention - maybe TMI, but their toilets don't take paper, which can be common in CR - took us by surprise, but we got used to it. I didn't find that aspect tremendously romantic - LOL.

Issimo is near to Mango Moon, but Mango Moon is on a quieter stretch of the road. I would choose MM over Issimo, and I believe Issimo still accepts kids where MM seems to have changed their policy as Volcanogirl mentioned. The toiletpaper thing is normal.

Hi, faithie! Regarding the toilet paper thing, is that more common in a smaller establishment or in one near the coast? In all the places we've been in CR, that's the only place we've encountered it, and we were curious.

Hmmm..... I dunno, we have always encountered it.

Issimo suites is just a little further down the road from Mango Moon. As I said in my last post, we stayed at Issimo in June and LOVED it there. There are just 7 or 8 rooms there and it was probably the cleanest room I've ever had in CR, including La Mansion. The food at Issimo was really really good and the spa was amazing. The service was a bit more attentive at La Mansion but I wouldn't hesitate to stay at Issimo again.
We are getting married in MA next August and everyone will be staying at Costa Verde but my FI and I will be staying at Issimo the night of our wedding and the following night. Beautiful place. I have pics if you want just email me at vanessalvalen at yahoo dot com.

Caught a ride with the owner of Issimo and his visiting daughter up the hill from Biesanz Beach on our last visit, he mentioned he was a part of some of the development taking place on the once virgin rainforest I used to hike, left a bad taste in my mouth I guess, it's a stretch of road now unrecognizable.... Inevitable I guess.

Just curious, when we were at Mango Moon last year, there was some major construction going on at the top of the street near the main road - what did that turn out to be? Looked like a huge project, but we never found out what it was. Anyone know? It would be between Mango Moon and Barba Roja area.