Name: Hotel Samara Beach
Address: Main Street, San Juanillo, San Juanillo, San Juanillo, 50235, Costa Rica
Rating: 7

24-hour reception

Smoke-free property

Newspapers

Ticket assistance

Garden

Terrace

Express check-in

No elevators

General

Accessibility features

Wheelchair Accessible

Accessibility

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Dry-cleaning

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Coffee/tea for guests

Breakfast

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Area shuttle

Transfer

Multi-language staff

Languages Spoken

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Hiking

Sun Deck

Recreation

Parking

Event facilities

Business

Pets allowed

Pets

Personal protection equipment for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Personal protection equipment for guests

Contactless check-in and/or check-out

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the hotel

Samara Beach

Nosara Airport

Tambor Airport

Hotel Samara Beach

San Juanillo

Staff was amazing...did everything they could to make stay enjoyable and comfortable. Only drawback is Hotel advertises on site bar. Hotel does have onsite bar but not in operation. It is only there to borrow a glass, opener, etc.

We ended our two week stay in Costa Rica at the Hotel Locanda. Sadly it was our most disappointing hotel and town, after enjoying La Fortuna and Monteverde. 

Upon check-in we were begrudgingly led to our room via a shortcut, clambering over logs and ropes all while lugging our baggage. Clearly the short cut was not for our benefit but for the young lady at the front desk who was not enamoured with her job. Our room was as photographed, however what we didn’t realize was how dark the stone walls make the room. I tried to turn on one of the side lamps but it had been rewired (poorly); the on/off switch was gone and it could only be plugged in or unplugged at the risk of getting shocked. There is no wifi in the room, other than standing by the door, and (fyi) no tv. We proceeded to discover how many items in the room were glued down. Including the toothbrush holder. How is that cleaned I wonder? The bathroom lacked essentials such as anywhere to hang wet towels (no hooks or towel rods), no soap dish, no where to put soap or shampoo in the shower other than the floor. Complimentary toiletries are stated on the hotel site, but other than a bar of soap, there’s nothing offered. Not even a hand towel or face cloth (apparently guests steal them… is that why the lamps, vases and toothbrush holder are glued down?) The beds had only one sheet each, no blanket or coverlet. The air con worked very well and was definitely needed. We missed having a safe in the room, also as stated in the hotel specs, and no mini fridge. We purchased a small cooler from Super China and daily bags of ice from a local market as the hotel won’t provide any more than a few cubes of ice in a glass to their guests. We were in one of the two beachfront rooms, however the hotel is very compact so no room is more than a few steps from the beach. We were shocked that the beach loungers had no sun umbrellas; there were only two palapas for shade. This is a necessity in the strong 30+ degree sun.

Breakfast is included but service doesn’t begin until 7:30am. Not even a cup of coffee is available before then. Five options for breakfast and shockingly, only one, the yogurt and cereal option, comes with fruit. When asked for fruit with the other choices, the answer is no. This blew my mind as Costa Rica is a country of fresh fruit choices! 

We enjoyed the wood fired pizza for lunch. 

Bottom line is that this hotel has a ton of potential as the location is perfect. The beach is long and smooth. There are plenty of restaurants close by. But there are far too many things that are just basic expectations in a hotel room, especially at this price point, but they just don’t seem to care. The town is grungy and dirty and the restaurants we chose were very expensive. We wished Hotel Locanda (and Samara) wasn’t our final destination as it was the most disappointing of our time in Costa Rica.

It could be so much more

Comfortable, convenient, great service & breakfast. It is outdated yes, but it is clean. The proximity to the beach, shops, restaurants (Sherrif - good, cheap & great service) is perfect if you are not looking for quietness. It is located in the heart of Sámara (which is quite small of a town). Don’t blame them if it gets noisy at night.We are a couple on vacation that would recommend the hotel.

There is room for improvement for the breakfast.

We spent couple of nights there, the hotel was clean, the room was OK for the price. The check in was not that good to be honest, they charged our credit card wrongly, reason why we had to wait 6 days to get our money released for this error. Not much information provided, as a turist we want to hear recommendations, advices, things going on in town, this as part of the good service you expect when u do a check in in any hotel.
Along our stay, we mentioned that there was a weird smell in the bathroom area but they quickly send people to check and clean it and the smell was gone. Quick solution, very appreciated. We liked thet fact there was security at night. We love the fact that we had a mini fridge, nice amenity. We met the italian owner next morning, very kind man open to heard feedback, which is really important when u manage a hotel.  As part of the feedback for this hotel, breakfast was Ok, open from 7am to 9am, but 2 things: we normally like to sleep until 8am, so we went down for breakfast around 08:30am the 2 days we were there, unfortunaty the food was cold and the area itself kind of messy. The orange juice is NOT orange juice, it is just water with a bunch of sugar, you gotta improve that or get it out of the menù to not create fake expectations. Cleanness and Hygiene are very important nowadays, the spoon, knife and folks shouldn't be on the table without protection, cloth napking or paper cover might be a better idea.  Hope you work and take in consideration this opportunity areas to improve. Its a beautiful hotel, well located with lots of potencial.

Hotel well located in Samara

We booked this hotel very last minute while waiting for another place to become available. Customer service was great, the girls at reception were very helpful, the hotel pool is nice and clean and the hotel is centrally located, close to the beach. However, rooms need quite a bit of maintenance. Tiny fridge was not working, some light bulbs were burnt/ not working and it was full of mosquitos from the moment we walked in the room. We also did not find the bedsheet very clean. Breakfast was very simple, no fruits and not lots of choices.

Good location close to the beach

Spent 2 nights there. Each room has a patio in front with 2 chairs, the pool was really nice, short walk to the beach  (2-3 blocks), small fridge in the room. Breakfast buffet was included. Located right in the middle of town. Easy walking to many restaurants.

Nice Place

Stayed here one night while waiting for our AirBnB to become available.  The rooms were basic but comfortable.  Centrally located, but just about everything in Samara is centrally located.  5m to the beach.  Showers were large and the AC worked well.  The breakfast was a bit limited.  The staff was very nice and helpful.

Nice one night stay in Samara, Costa Rica

Haven't stayed at the hotel BUT - Steffany and the staff went above and beyond and I couldn't be happier with the service at this hotel. 
My mom was staying in the hotel for her 65th birthday and when I reached out to them to see about having a cake delivered to her, they did one better and showed up to her room with a special breakfast, flowers, a cupcake with a candle AND they sang happy birthday to her.  I was so excited to be able to surprise her for her big day, and couldn't have pulled it off without Steffany's help. Thank you thank you thank you!!

Amazing Customer Service

A very nice hotel, straight on the beach. Lovely rooms and appartments, swimming pool and restaurant for dining with your feet in the sand. All comfort is present and it's in the center of Samara. Would highly recommend.

Hotel Samara Beach

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Paid on the spot

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