We spent almost three weeks in Costa Rica and this was BY FAR THE WORST place we stayed. Even places less than half the price were miles better. We were meant to be staying 3 nights but as soon as we checked in, we dumped our bags and went looking for somewhere else to stay instead. We got a bad feeling as soon as we saw the run-down reception. The lady on reception was not very hospitable and they insist you pay up front in cash. It soon became apparent why... to get to our room we had to walk down the longest and STEEPEST hill ever, only to discover we thenhad to walk back up the damn thing to get our safe key which they made us pay extra for! The rooms look like they were decorated in 1960 and the make-shift roof was also home to a giant lizard whose belly we could see and he just loved to run and scratch along the corrugated roof - NOISY. The restuarant was equally run down and horrible. DO NOT STAY HERE - the beach front location may seem perfect but the rooms, hills, and rip-off prices are NOT.

We had a very nice experience with Hotel Arboleda. The rooms were clean, hotel grounds were beautiful and the price was right. Compared to all the other hotels located on the beach at Manuel Antonio Hotel Arboleda was about one-third the price. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. The hotel was right on the beach and easy walking distance to the park. The monkeys seemed to like the location as well.

I recently stayed at the Hotel Arboleda with 25 wedding guests. We all had a wonderful week, and everyone in our party fell in love with the hotel. The location is perfect - right on the beach and in walking distance to Manuel Antonio. The grounds are gorgeous - loads of trees and flowers and monkeys and lizards. And the staff, particularly the manager Jeanette, went out of her way to make sure we had whatever we needed. She even arranged gorgeous tropical bouquets to hang off the palm trees for our wedding ceremony as a surprise for us. Our rooms were all very comfortable and clean and attractive. And the price was excellent. We couldn't have picked a better place for our wedding!

This hotel has gone downhill, it was just a big disappointment this time. What is up with the front desk lady? She always (it's our third time here) is on a need to know basis and yet barely knows any English. Each time we've come here, she gives us a key for room 34- no thank you. Then we end up in the building with a nicer room. This time, it wasn't satisfactory. The porches had tons of iguana crap on them. The bed spreads were dirty. We weren't told that breakfast was included but then I spoke with a woman at the restaurant through mime pointing and gesture since we couldn't comprehend each other and she said yes it was included. We went down the next morning and the waitress didn't even say hola and proceeded to serve about three ounces of coffee, a little juice and some toast and that was it. We thought eggs or something else was coming but nothing and no communication whatsoever. Very odd! We didn't see any other guests or any staff members. We used to like supporting this family owned Costa Rican hotel but now we know we will never go back. We did enjoy having the pool to ourselves and we enjoyed seeing the iguanas but we hope to find a nicer place to stay next time. This hotel has so much potential yet there is no effort put into it, very unfortunate. It used to be cheap but now it is not cheap so don't bother.