It's hard not to have a great time at Playa Hermosa. The black sand beach and easy going, relaxed atmosphere is enough to make any surf vacation perfect. Sand Piper inn is a very nice place to stay.Greg was a wonderful host and his staff was equal to any 5 star hotel.Just keep in mind, before booking here make sure that you are getting everything you expect to be getting. There was not a resturant available on site as advertised on the web site. We were not suffering from a lack of food. There are many local establishments with in walking distance that offer a variety of wonderful dishes.The rooms are clean and large. The pool was small and not for swimming.The staff is wonderful, helpful and friendly. Must get a massage from a local massage therapist, Xiena" I hope I spelled that correctly" she is a diamond in the rough.There is cable television with plenty of channels to choose from, but there is no refrigerator in the room. In my travels along the beach I found several other accomodations that were comparable to Sandpiper inn in price, but offered breakfast, some had a resturant,all had refrigerators in the rooms and most had microwave ovens. Hermosa Beach house had safes in the rooms which is helpful since theft seems to be an issue in this area. Most accomodations including Sandpiper Inn have a night security guard. There are some very nice small resorts on this beach with more updated decor for the same price and even some priced even less. They have large pools for swimming.There are even less expensive accomodations on this beach with less ammenities, as well.
My suggestions for those surfers with girlfriends or surfers who don't want to rough it. Check out Hermosa Beach House FabCool rooms 55.00 - 110.00,Tortuga Del Mar Cool European Decor 75.00 - 110.00,Costanera B & B ( no web site) Telephone #[--] it's a cool place that offers a tranquil setting, a cool authentic Costa Rican room. It's clean. You have your choice of rooms with air condtioning or with out ,a room with or with out a refrigerator and a room with or with out hot water. There is no pool, but they serve breakfast in the morning. Costanera B & B offers you a middle ground for 30.00 and 40.00 dollars and well worth checking out. Then there is Las Olas, where you can get a room for 20.00 - 30.00 dollars. The locals really like this place. You get a bed, shower, ceiling fan, airconditioning is more and the second floor is more as well.
The resturant at Las Olas is amazing! You must have the banana pancakes with granola and banana slices topping.
Your next concern is your transport to and from the Airport/ Hotel. Find out if the place you choose offers a service to get you from the airport and back to the airport. Get in writting how much this will cost per person per trip as the price could be higher than you were quoted when booking your trip.There are services that can provide you a less expensive transport, but not by much. So do your research.
All and all, we had a wonderful vacation...I would go back again and again..I am just a bit more educated on how things work here.