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El Punto: Traveler Reviews


El Punto
On Panamerican Highway 150 meters South of main intersection | We are behind the pink fence!, Liberia, Costa Rica
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Traveler Reviews

82% Recommend
4.0 of 5 stars 56 reviews
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El Punto, Nice Owners, Convenient Location

El Punto

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4 of 5 stars
rock2fox 38 contributions
the moon
Mar 30, 2008
2/2 found this review helpful

El Punto hotel was our last stop on a trip through Costa Rica. We chose this hotel because it was convenient for our early morning flight.

The hotel did meet our expectation of convenience. It was located literally less than 100m from the main intersection in Liberia (Hwy 21 and Inter-American Highway 1, I think). Upon our arrival there was no one in the office, so we waited for about 10 minutes until one of the employees rolled in. We hit somewhat of a language barrier at first; I speak some Spanish, and the employee spoke no English and apparently did not understand my mixture of Spanish, English and pointing (this is probably all on me). Either way she made some calls and I ended up talking to one of the owners who spoke great English on the telephone at the front desk. They did not have any record of my reservation...shocker. I produced the receipt and was told to wait until the owner could drive in and handle things. About 10 minutes later the owner showed and looked at my booking receipt and gave us our room key.

The rooms were brightly colored, and much more spacious than I had imagined. Although I didn't need it, there was loft bedroom in addition to the king size bed below. The water was steaming hot, pressure was great and an iguana had a great view from on top of the fence outside the window. The air conditioning worked perfect and the general cleanliness exceeded my standards.

The owner of the hotel arranged for a taxi to pick me up at 0400 in the morning, and he showed right on cue. Also, the property security card gave me a breakfast to take with me (yogurt, crackers, cookies, mango juice and something else I can't remember, it was a feast at the airport though-- the only things they were serving in the terminal didn't look too appetizing).

During my conversation with the employee who couldn't speak English I inquired about a good place to eat within walking distance, I thought she pointed across the street to a place called "El Boyeros", she did not. Needless to say, I ate there and became violently ill that evening. Honestly, I have eaten some crazy stuff in my life, and this was worse than most anything. DO NOT EAT AT EL BOYEROS!!!! Come to find out, the restaurant she was pointing to was the next one down (about 100m, on the same side of the road back at the intersection; I don't have the name).

All in all, a decent place to stay. They don't claim to be the Four Seasons, and they are not. They do claim to be a great hotel with great management, and they are. No complaints, and all compliments-- I highly recommend this for a night stay in Liberia.

Thanks for Reading.

  • Date of stay March 2008
  • Member since December 05, 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Average price*: $85 (year-round)
Unreliable and unhelpful

El Punto

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1 of 5 stars
jhosler 1 contribution
Boston
Mar 19, 2008 | Trip type: Family

Beware! I had reserved (and prepaid) a room thru AnywhereCostaRica.com as we needed a place for one night on either end of our trip to Costa Rica. I confirmed twice the week that we were expected and was told that everything was in order and a free shuttle would pick us up from the airport. When we arrived at the airport, no one was there. Aftering taking a taxi to the hotel, a night watchman told us that they were booked and had no room. They did nothing to help us find a place. Thankfully, the taxi driver helped us because I'm not sure what I would have done late at night with my family. On the backend of our trip, it happened again. So far, I have gotten no response from AnywhereCostaRica.com and am out the money for the two nights. Completely unprofessional and unreliable. Try to find another place even if it means driving 30minutes to the coast and stay away from AnywhereCostaRica.com.

  • My ratings for this hotel
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
  • Date of stay March 2008
  • Visit was for Quality time with family
  • Traveled with Family with young children
  • Age group 35-49
  • Member since March 05, 2008
  • Would you recommend this hotel to a friend? No
  • I do not recommend this hotel for Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Great pool scene, Pet owners, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
  • I selected this hotel as a top choice for Other
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Management response from elpuntoinformation, We need to clarify on that
(Management representative)
Mar 24, 2008
The situation you have mentioned in this review is entirely responsability of us at the hotel.

The hotel at the same time has made the necessary arrangements with Anywhere Costa Rica to refund the money you spent for those two days through the account you have with them.



This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Average price*: $85 (year-round)
Great hotel for location and price

El Punto

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4 of 5 stars
babyinboston 2 contributions
boston, ma
Mar 18, 2008

If you need a hotel when you arrive late into Liberia or depart early the next morning, El Punto is your hotel.

I am very surprised by some of the negative reviews of this hotel. Marianna, the hotel owner, was a fantastic host. She picked up our family from the airport at 8pm and personally walked us through our room. Each room has a mini fridge, microwave, and coffee maker. The hotel is located next to a modern shopping plaza with lots of restaurants, a supermarket, Internet cafe,and ATM machines. Breakfast was great-- fresh fruits, bread, juice, coffee/tea, eggs, etc. The employees of the hotel were nothing but gracious and helpful. This hotel also had a small play area for children.

We stayed at El Punto at the start of our trip and on the last night in Costa Rica. Our flight back to the US was departing at 6am the next day. Here's the best part of our stay -- One of the El Punto staff members came to our door at 4am to help us set up our taxi pick-up as well as serve us coffee/tea and snacks before our trip that morning.

We booked through a travel agent called Anywhere Costa Rica. However, El Punto has a facebook page and you can contact them through it too.

  • My ratings for this hotel
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Check in / front desk
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
  • Date of stay March 2008
  • Member since April 29, 2007
  • Would you recommend this hotel to a friend? Yes
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Average price*: $85 (year-round)
Reasonable,convenient and nicely kept.

El Punto

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4 of 5 stars
sdcVancouver 1 contribution
Vancouver, Canada
Mar 12, 2008
1/1 found this review helpful

My wife and I booked a last minute flight from Vancouver to Costa Rica in late Feb.08. This left me to find hotels on the internet in short order. The internet visibility of El Punto Hotel did not reveal the business immediately, in other words you have to know it exists to find it easily on the net. If you go to info at elpuntohotel dot com you'll find the info you need including the phone number and the reservations info.

This little B&B is very convenient to the traveller arriving at and leaving from the airport at Liberia in C.R.'s Guanacaste province.
It's located in Liberia , a 10km cab or bus ride from the airport. If you take a cab it's about $12 dollars or 6,000 colones. The hotel will send out a van to pick you up if you prearrange it however this did not work for us so we just took a cab to the hotel and gave Mariane , the owner, a receipt which she deducted from the bill, as the internet rate we had included transport from the airport.

The hotel is an old one storey school facility which Mariane has nicely converted with upgrades and bright colours. There are about six rooms . Our room was very clean, in good working order, secure and had a small loft area where older kids could sleep if needed.

The a/c is supplemented with a ceiling fan .Both worked quietly ,as required. The bathroom is smaller with a large shower stall completely tiled and having a huge sunflower sized shower head, a nice treat. Good volume and hot water.

The facility is clean and well maintained with much apparent effort being made to establish and maintain a lush garden in front of the rooms. Each room has a porch with wicker chairs and a hammock.

The building itself is very sturdy and the doors are original steel which keep out a lot of the outside background noise to a reasonable, non distracting level. The hotel is beside, although set back from ,the highway. When outside you can see and hear the traffic through the trees and other plants.

We stayed one night allowing us time to explore the town of Liberia ( 35,000 ) on foot, in the evening and part of the next day before catching the public bus to Tamarindo. The central plaza of Liberia is only seven short blocks from the hotel, about a 10 minute walk.
The included hotel breakfast was delicious and served in a delightfully sunny room or on a patio if you prefer.

Beside the hotel is a small car rental office and a language school. On the other side is a modern outdoor shopping mall with several restaurants, banks and a supermarket.

Mariane is a thoughtful host, thouroughly bilingual and businesslike. This small hotel , no pool, provides a convenient, clean , and reasonably priced location in a town that might not have a lot of similar options especially on short notice. The perfect place to stop after a long flight(s) to Costa Rica or on the way home , to catch an early flight. We did meet others at the hotel who were using the hotel as a base to visit parks further up the highway and the numerous beaches a short drive ( bus ride ) from Liberia.

  • Date of stay February 2008
  • Member since November 26, 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Average price*: $85 (year-round)
I wish I could stay longer...

El Punto

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5 of 5 stars
AndresCostaRica 1 contribution
Costa Rica
Mar 6, 2008 | Trip type: Business, Solo travel
1/1 found this review helpful

I was in El Punto for two nights, I wish I could stay there longer! Nice, clean, big rooms and nicely decorated with bright colours, good ilumination and arragements. The AC worked perfectly plus a fan made the room confortable. Good breakfast plenty of fruits and coffee I loved that. Next door there is Mall and banks where you can buy food if you need to or get some money. There is a phone outside reception to call taxis. Good customer service as needed, they are polite and nice to make your stay troublefree. I started chating with Mariana without knowing that she was the owner, my impression is that she is a pretty and nice lady who tried to give you her honest opinion about your options, I noticed that she is very busy all the time, but when she has some spare time she cames and talk to guesses as she did with me which I appreciate very much. If you are looking for a basic, decent place to stay, this is for you. I would stay here in the future.

  • Liked — Breakfast, decoration, price, people
  • Disliked — internet was not available when I was there
  • My ratings for this hotel
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Check in / front desk
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
    • 3 of 5 stars Business service (e.g., internet access)
  • Date of stay March 2008
  • Visit was for Business
  • Traveled with Solo traveler
  • Age group 35-49
  • Member since March 06, 2008
  • Would you recommend this hotel to a friend? Yes
  • I recommend this hotel for Older travelers, Families with young children, Tourists
  • I do not recommend this hotel for Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Great pool scene, Pet owners, Families with teenagers
  • I selected this hotel as a top choice for Other
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
Check Rates
Average price*: $85 (year-round)
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El Punto Address

On Panamerican Highway 150 meters South of main intersection | We are behind the pink fence!, Liberia, Costa Rica