My husband and I are in our late 30s with no children. We went to this resort for a week through an RCI Exchange and only had to pay a $258 exchange feeto stay the entire week. Because of this, and my strong desire to see Costa Rica, this place worked fine for us. I came up with this list while at the resort and I hope it helps others to make an easier decision on whether or not to stay here than I had.

Top 10 Things this Resort Does Well-

1. The pool. It's well taken care of and I love the pool water temp whirlpools at the end.
2. They leave you alone, nobody nagging you about tours. In fact, nobody even here.
3. Huge balconies
4. TV-It gets CNN and the local major US television network stations
5. Wi-fi. Only had an issue connecting one time, otherwise it's very reliable.
6. A washing machine and dryer in the unit.
7. Wildlife right in the trees that you can spot when your lounging at the pool. Who knew we needed binoculars at the pool right? Yesterday, we saw 2 Scarlet Macaws (parrots) just from our lounge chairs.
8. Coffee maker in room
9. The air conditioning gets COLD. And, that's really important here
10. Shower is decent

Top Things this Resort Needs Improvement on:

1. No amentities. No soap, no dishsoap, no laundry soap, no coffee, no welcome treats or cream and sugar, no dishtowel, no paper towels. Nothing extra except for small bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
2. They didn't inform us how to work the air when we first go here & it was miserably hot in our room. That led to a really bad first impression.
3. Ants in the kitchen and living room area
4. Not the best maintained. Toilet paper just sitting on the back of the toilets when only half of the toilet paper holder fixtures are mounted. Blood spotted on a rug and the secondary bedroom comforters. Floors are dirty, dishes chipped in the cabinets. Lampshades crooked. Laundry door missing from it's track.
5. The 2 unfinished buildings are a huge eyesore outside. They claim from a previous review they aren't theirs--but they look exactly like the buildings around us & the one we are staying in. It's like they just went bankrupt & didn't have enough money to finish what could've been a truly outstanding resort.
6. The misrepresentation of the rooms on the internet vs reality. The pictures of this place show only the walls that have been painted vibrant colors with the beautiful large pictures on them. The reality is, right across from that wall, none of the other walls are painted--everything is white, no pictures on the wall. It's very odd. It was obviously staged just for pictures. The "flat screen" tv might be a flat screen, but in reality it's not. It's not the current kind that can hang on walls.
7. No clock anywhere
8. No radio anywhere
9. Furniture--all of it. is. uncomfortable. Deck chairs on balcony are cheap. Pool chairs are white plastic and cheap. Bed is low to the ground and only on thin slats of wood. It fell apart while we were here and we had to fix it. Couches and chairs are weird and not comfortable. Living room table is cheap. You get the idea.
10. Reception area was unprofessional. When we first got there, a bike was blocking the steps to the door, and a friend was in there with their child just hanging out with the receptionsist. When our keys were deactivated because they didn't realize we were staying the week & not just the weekend, another friend was in there and it appeared that they were watching a youtube video and laughing at it. They seem interrupted when they actually have to work to help someone.

After reading some of the reviews its obvious the hotel manager is writing reviews that are FALSE - STAY AWAY!

We stayed at the Ramada Jaco Bay resort for 2 weeks in January 2011 - WHAT AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER!!! We strongly recommend cleaning every piece of your luggage and clothing when you leave - the infestation of bed bugs was horrible. They rent nightly party suits to locals who play loud music until 3-4am and security does nothing about it. Our rental car was damaged 2 times in the guarded parking lot. Our room was disgusting when we checked in and they said sorry we didn't have time to clean it? Who gives a guest a room that hasn't been cleaned? The furniture was stained and smelt bad, the beds were broken, the walls in the washroom were molded and bathroom doors could not close due to water damage. We had a blood stained mattress and the staff claimed it was hair dye? We read the negative reviews before booking out trip, but we still went because a friend of ours had been a few years back and enjoyed it - well they changed owners since his trip and its evident. The place is a complete disaster and the hotel is apparently on the brink of bankruptcy according to locals, you'll notice construction has stopped on the building they dont show you in the lovely photographs, and by the way that will be your view!!! You will find better, cheaper and cleaner accommodations in the area, we stayed at other properties even though we payed for 2 weeks at the ramada. We booked with Nolitours (transat) who lied to us about the room - NO OCEAN VIEW SUITES ARE AVAILABLE FOR RENT!! AND Nolitours offered NO SUPPORT ON SITE, NO CUSTOMER SERVICE, NO COMPENSATION for anything - stay away from both Nolitours/Transat and Ramada Jaco Bay its not worth the aggravation. I have been traveling for years and I have never written a negative review EVER but this time the world must know about this and hopefully save people from experiencing what happened to us. STAY AWAY.

Hotel/condo was clean and modern. Loved being able to do laundry. Staff where great. Nice pool and the grounds are well kept. We are used to traveling in small hotels with no laundry or kitchen. This condo was was very spacious and the full kitchen allowed us to prepare our own meals. Shopping was easy to get to by foot or for $1.00 you could get a cab. Having travelled in central america before we new enough to get out of the heat by 11:00 am and seek shetler until 4: pm.

This was our first visit to Costa Rica. We traveled with another couple and our two bedroom condo was exactly like the photo on their website and was very spacious. It was furnished well, the kitchen was adequately equipped and we had a washer/dryer. However, what their website did not show you was that the resort was not complete. Two of the six towers were only hollow shells and the drive up looked like a construction site. The pool was complete and was actually very nice. However, the two incomplete towers were definitely a distraction. There weren't many guests at this resort and most of the time we felt that we had the place to ourselves. This was not the true resort experience. There was no restaurant or gym. We were suppose to have internet in our condo, but it definitely hit or miss. Most of the time, we had to go down to the office to connect. We had daily maid service for an extra weekly fee but had to wash our own towels. We were within walking distance to a beach, but it wasn't very nice so we chose to drive to other beaches close by. We were also within walking distance to the town of Jaco which was nice. The staff was friendly and tried to accommodate us if possible although we ask for a room with an ocean view and found out these were only available for sale. I would only recommend this "resort" if all you want is a nice condo within walking distance to Jaco.