We will be in Manuel Antonio for 4 nights. We would like to stay somewhere with breakfast incl, under $150 a night incl tax, good ocean view, balcony, hammocks. Quaint. I am comparing Villa Nicolas, Costa Verde, Casitas Eclipse, Hotel California, Blue Monkey. What do people think and why?

Villas Nicolas comes highly recommended, but we stayed next door at Si Como No. Also have stayed at Hotel California. We liked it okay, but Costa Verde has gotten better reviews on this board.
Why not do a search on Fodors?

Hi Julie,
Look at Villas Kristina. Its private and off the beaten path with great ocean views and a private beach you can walk to. I know they have kitchens. We stayed in a house down the drive from here. Looks like a really quaint place.
Website www.villakristina.com
TRIP

Villas Nicholas is very quaint , rooms are great , pool area beautiful , I have stayed at a few you mentioned , and visited all . Out of those I would definitely go with Villas Nicholas . It gives the feeling of a small boutique hotel . Faith . P.S. Costa Verde was perfect for us with the kids , we really enjoyed it , they also have a very beautiful adult only area , but I would have to say Villas Nicolas is more quaint .

This is TOO funny . I did not finish my last post because I wanted to search for the name of a small hotel we loved . And your other post was a question about it !! Mango Moon is REALLY beautiful , very romantic looking , beautifully decorated , definitely quaint . It is on the little side road which takes you down to Beisanz Beach , past the Mariposa , Makanda , etc. They have an ocean view , but not the view to the park , in the other direction . Very lovely ! Faith

ttt , sorry guys ! For Julierae .

Julierae, I answered your email directly, but wanted to post in response to something I read.

Many times we take the recommendations most often suggested. Therefore many more people visit the same hotels. I am certain there are many very lovely places to stay, if we just had the time to visit them all. I personally have seen several in these posts that I want to try.

(Remembering that it has been nearly 3 years since we were at Hotel California) - we truly enjoyed our stay. Actually we left for one night to stay somewhere else for 3 nights, ditched that idea after the first night and returned to the Hotel California.

Anyway the staff and owner were truly remarkable when we were there. The food was delicious, the room very comfortable, the view beautiful, the pool peaceful. And I love the fact that it is very small. So that is my pitch for the Hotel California.

Good luck on your search!