My last of at least 7 visits during the past 3 years was in the beginning of December 2007. The staff as always welcomed me like a family member returning from a long voyage at sea. My son was there with a friend in November and he was treated with the same warmth. It was his second visit. The hotel itself is just the right size and the rooms and grounds are very clean and modern. The food in the restaurant is excellent and so is the view but the best thing about the hotel is the staff. Beginning with the manager Larry Sanchez and everybody from check-in to wait staff to cleaning and grounds keepers and security are all typical Ticos with a friendliness and warmth that has made Costa Rica what it is. You should also know that the owner Robbie has a facility for handicap children about 40 minutes away. How may hotels are owned by such a giving person? I know that both Robbie and Larry are well known and respected in Manuel Antonio by all their peers and the residents of the community and Costa Rica.

I absolutely love Costa Rica and the Hotel California is a big part of the reason.

Lastly, I left home with a bad cold that only became much worse upon arriving in Costa Rica. Larry took it upon himself to contact a local Doctor friend and made an appointment for me which was within the hour. I had a thorough exam and received the proper meds and was well within a couple days.

As long as I visit Costa Rica, the Hotel California will be my home away from home.

This was to be our fourth stop of a 10 day tour of Costa Rica.
We arrived after a six hour shuttle drive from Arenal with confirmed reservations in hand at six o'clock in the evening.The Hotel Clerk refused to even look at our reservation since the hotel was full. We asked him to contact the Manager, Larry Sanchez who had emailed our confirmation. He dialed a number but said it was busy.
We were stranded and they didn't care.
After a bit of frustrated, angry dialogue he called Hotel Mimos and they said they could take the four of us in. Our stay at Hotel Mimos was so delightful we quickly forgot about the worst part of our trip, Hotel California.

We stayed 3 nights in a standard room at the Hotel California and whilst we have no major gripes it didn't have the wow factor that some of the other places we stayed in had.
Good points - very friendly staff (best we came across), quiet location with no traffic noise, great view of coastline, free room safe, close to bus to Manuel Antonip park 110 colonnes each way
Not so good points - curtain across patio doors in room were not big enough so people walking past could see us in bed or dressing (Room No.2), staff at breakfast were not very organised with things being put out late, the low thatch roof on eating area made it very humid, road down to main round at night was a 5 min walk in pitch dark so our torches came in useful.
We had a guided tour of Manual Antionio National park and saw more wildlife than at Monteverde & Tortuguero.
Summary - it is a good value hotel but don't expect a 'wow' factor. For that you have to pay a lot more.

I was staying in Costa Rica for over a month this was my second trip to the country and I stayed for a couple of weeks in Manuel, so beforehand I done thorough research of all the hotels in the manuel area. I choose the hotel California for my two week stay in MA, and very pleased to say it was an excellent choice. I've stayed in many hotels throughout the world and I can definitely say that this was the most enjoyable. Firstly the hotel has 22 rooms so the staff get to know you on a more personal basis, because there are less people you don't get some of the bad service which tends to happen in some of the larger resorts. The staff were very friendly, and would go out of there way to make me feel welcome..they even helped me greatly improve my spanish. I stayed in one of the standard rooms (garden room) with was lovely, it was really nicely decorated and to a good standard... I had a look at the superior rooms and didn't find a great deal of difference apart from the view. Aside from the good room the pool area was fantastic which is v important to me because lets face it when your at a hotel and not in your room thats probably where your going to spend most of the time..i had a look at a couple of hotel around manuel and found that this hotel had the nicest pool area. The dining area is beautiful, it's outside with a roof over head which is so much nicer when your staying in such a beautiful country than dinning indoors, and has a beautiful view not just of manuel but you can see right alone the coast which was magnificent. This hotel really fits in with the surroundings unlike some other hotels in Costa Rica. It's surrounded by rainforest, is easy to get to and far enough off the main road by a private road so there's no noise. Also when I stayed back in sep this year there were free internet facilities. Highly recommended.