Cozy but Unsafe
Submitted: January 31, 2013
Stayed: January 2013
I would NOT recommend staying here if you travel with any possessions and if you appreciate a clean environment.
My boyfriend and I stayed for 3 nights on a recent trip to Costa Rica. We were pleasantly surprised by the bare bones "beachy" property and environment. It is a private area where you are sure to meet other interesting and wonderful travelers. While the company was great, the amenities were lacking. It looked as though our bungalow hadn't been cleaned in ages, with cobwebs in all corners and ants filling the bathroom. We were given 2 towels total, and expected to use these for both the beach and showering (may I remind you it is a beach town).
The worst part of this stay is that there is essentially zero security and we were robbed on our first night. There is no lock on the gate to the property, no security guard, and apparently the locks on each bungalow are easy to pick (or there is someone walking around with another key). Our room was broken in, while we were out to dinner and approximately $1,300 of property was stolen.
It put a damper on the entire trip and I would not wish this upon anyone else.
Owner's Response: Thanks for your comment, it is not the best one we had but it is not the best stay they got either. We'll learn from that experience and improve our service. This event is very unfortunate but we tried our best to make the rest of their stay as enjoyable as possible. That obviously was not enough and I know how frustrating it can be to be robbed. It is the first robbery we ever had since we opened and we are doing whatever it takes to improve security. It is a challenge in Tamarindo during peak season and we thought we were doing good so far.
I believe the frustration from such an unfortunate event leads to exaggeration in comments on cleanliness. Yes there might be ants because this is Costa Rica and a beach bungalow made out of teak where we don't spray pesticide inside the room. We clean each bungalow the day of the arrival of each client. We might have not done a perfect job on that one and feel sorry about it. I always believe that communication helps and I wish these people had told us after check-in that their bungalow was not clean. We don't take that personally and would have cleaned it again right away.
As far as beach towels, that is true we don't provide them but for those who don't bring a beach towel to Costa Rica we will be glad to provide one during their stay with us, as long as they ask for it. Instead of asking for towels the clients took the bed blankets to the beach and returned them full of salt and sand. Who is to blame here?
We will keep on doing our best to offer travelers a quality, safe and affordable experience with us. We succeed with a large majority of them and feel bad when we get a nasty comment, not only for the reputation of our business because we can always improve it but for the traveler's experience that can't be changed. We love Costa Rica and Tamarindo, we love our little bungalows because we put a lot of time and positive energy into them so we want our guests to get a feel of that and we'll keep on trying our best.
Pura Vida
Helpful votes: 4/4
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