Yare hotel is about half an hour's walk from Puerto Viejo. It's a nice hotel with colourful bungalows but the photos - especially those on "costarica link "- are a bit misleading: the hotel grounds are relatively small so that when you sit on your porch you sit very closely to at least two other porches and to the 'bridge' that leads to all the other rooms.
The beach is not very far away (5 minutes) and it is quite nice.
By the way: Beware of "Costaricalink" - they have fantastic photos but the price they indicate for the hotels is never correct: if you contact them you have to to pay triple the price. When we found out about that we tried to contact the hotels directly but mostly Costaricalink interfered.
A very good guide for Costa Rica is Lonely Planet!

My husband and I just returned from a week in Puerto Viejo staying at Hotel Yare. Given the size of the town and relative newness of the tourist industry in that area Hotel Yare is one of the better hotels but it still has some rough edges. First, the hotel is about three miles south of Puerto Viejo in Playa Cocles and we found that a walk to town along the narrow road was a bit hazardous. A few days into our stay we found that we could walk north along the beach and then when the shore becomes rocky there is a path through the jungle that runs all the way into town (it ends just behind the Salsa Brava restaurante). This path to town is much safer and much cooler as it is shaded. Bring a flashlight if you plan to walk back at night, it is very dark. Be aware that the beach is accessed from Hotel Yare by walking approximately 300 yards down the road and taking a short path through the jungle. The beach is very nice with few people and has calm, shallow water excellent for swimming. The hotel has intermittent hot water at best, usually for about 10 min in the middle of the day- get ready for some chilly showers. No TV's, AC, and lots and lots of bugs (bring bug spray, if you forget it there is a small market next door that is stocked with convenience store foods and personal care items, bug repellent included)...but that is to be expected in that area of Costa Rica. The morning hotel receptionist was very friendly and helpful but her afternoon co-worker is not, she can usually be found asleep on the bench behind the front desk. When we were there the restaurant at the hotel would close without warning so if you are planning to eat there make sure you check with the staff first.

What a great place. My girlfriend and I stayed at the end of August in 2005 for about 6 days. The place is fantastic. There is a pristine empty beach directly across the street!
It is out side of the bustle of Puerto Viejo but close enough to walk. The rooms are quite nice. No frills. Very clean. The grounds are beautiful! We saw plenty of indigenous wildlife on the property. Howler Monkeys come right down to the grounds in the AM.
The food is fantastic and well priced.
The staff is amazing!! Two brothers run the place and they do a grand job.
I will be staying there again this February and I'd recommend it to any traveler who is not into resorts.

well, I went as a student in a group of 14. The hotel was completly empty the night we got there, yet they had all of us five girls far from the rest of the group, we were supossed to be in number one and the rest of the group was in the twentys, far down and away from us. The trip sponsor threw a fit, and finally they moved us, but it took a lot to get them to accomadate us. The room they moved us to was dirty, the shower didn't work, and the bed spread was covered in something red and dried, I tried not to think about what it might be. The food was really good though, they had a lot of traditional american food, which I really appreciated, as dild my stomach. And the cleaning staff was fairly friendly, they cleaned our rooms the next day, and made a really cool arrangement with flowers and towls, and the tip jar........I guess the place wasn't that bad, the beds were really comfortable and except for our shower not working, all was fine. If you go, don't get room 18!!!!!! I would suggest one of the bungalos, for the short time we were in there, they looked really nice!!! And number one has a double bed and across the kitchennet was a room with two sets of bunk beds for like a family. It was nice for the whole twenty minutes we were in there.