My 2 teenage surfing sons and I are travelling to Mal Pais. I have narrowed it down to santa teresa staying at either hotel esencia or tropico latino. Haven't seen many reviews on Hotel Esencia-. Also if I am flying into Tambor where could I rent a car ? Or do I need one? Not too keen on driving my self- rather hire out.

Hi! I am bumping this message because I would like some feedback on Tropico Latino. We are planning on staying there this June and recently, there has been a lot of negative reviews (on TripAdvisor) and I am concerned that it isn't worth the money. Any thoughts?
Thanks!

We thought it was a very good value 3 years ago. We stayed in the one beachfront bungalow and the beachview was nice. We liked everything about it. It wasn't fancy, but entirely acceptable. The price was $90, high season. I know it has increased (hasn't everything in C.R.?), but if you can get that bungalow, it would be nice. There is another one directly behind it, but it doesn't offer quite the view, naturally. The garden side rooms looked okay to us. They faced each other with a walkway in between connecting the parking area to the lobby/bar/restaurant area. We'd stay there again.

Thanks Shillmac!
$90 in season...wow, that was a great deal! We are paying $105 in off season for a garden bungalow! We are choosing this hotel based on the location on the beach. My boyfriend surfs and I love yoga so it seems like a good choice. I appreciate your assessment!
lucky 7~ we too were looking into hotel esencia and moana lodge. We couldn't find anything about esencia, bad or good! Moana lodge is supposed to be very nice but not right on the beach. Please post if you find out any other info!

My husband & I stayed there last June.
My husband is the surfer but unfortunately there was an offshore storm & the water was really too rough for surfing. We also had a lot of rain during the week we were there but when traveling I always look at it as an adventure & try to find the positive in every experience. We loved listening to the rain coming down on
the tin roof of the bungalow at night. Aside from a few coconuts hitting the roof we didn't hear any other noise. We did stay in the Beach Bungalow & I don't know if I would've liked it as much in one of the other rooms. We were very satisfied with the food, service & staff of the hotel. It's certainly not a luxury resort but if you know that going in you shouldn't be disappointed. I have read some of the posts on trip advisor & they do make me laugh. We too had bugs in the room/shower but nothing large enough to carry us away. They were mostly like
gnats attracted to the water in the shower. Once the water was turned on down the drain they went. The staff was very helpful with making car rental & transfer arrangements. As long as you're not looking for luxury I think this is a good hotel in a good location.

Thanks for your experience Petite1! We were going to splurge and stay at Casa Chameleon but they were booked! I'm looking forward to Mal Pais and just relaxing so no, luxury is not a must.
Did anyone do the yoga classes or get a massage during their stay at TL?