I can't say enough positive things about Makanda. Beautiful grounds, knowledgable, friendly staff, absolutely perfect rooms, great in-house restaurant and bar, romantic infinity pool, howler monkeys nearby, etc. Book your stay now. Oh, and spring for the villas if you can. The "deluxe" room was nice, but didn't hold a candle to villa #1.

I have found TripAdvisor as a great resource for vacation planning and have used for a while now, but never had an account. Let me start with saying that even though my wife previously wrote her individual review about this property, I created an account just to write my personal opinion about this hotel for future travelers.

To begin with, let me say that there were several issues with this Hotel - the delay to check-in and get the room set-up, unavailability to dine in the restaurant because of rain in a rain forest (!), mediocre quality of room service food and a night long nuisance of fruits dropping on the roof right on top of the bed. We were absolutely willing to pay the first night charges plus early check out penalties and check out the next morning. We did so too and what makes the experience about this hotel more horrible is the delay in getting our money back. We stayed at the hotel on July 9th, and after at least 20 rounds of e-mails and phone conversations back and forth (I can post copies of the e-mail conversations here if anyone is interested) and finally having to file a dispute with our credit card company, we got the refund back on Nov 5th. There is no reason to require travelers to pay in full in advance when no other places around asked to do so, there is no reason for the hotel to not pay the remaining refund if travelers need to check out early and there in absolutely no reason why the hotel should take 4 months to refund the money they had agreed to and signed on. I'd highly encourage future travelers to check out other options in the area and certainly question paying in full in advance.

My Fiance and I stayed at Makanda towards the end of our Costa Rican vacation and loved it. If you're looking for good service and an amazing view - this is your place! The view from the infinity pool & rooms is to die for - absolutely breathtaking. The pictures don't do it justice. We were also extremely pleased with the upscale rooms on the property. The beds were extremely plush and comfortable and the bathrooms were expansive and clean. We enjoyed our sitting out on the balcony in the mornings with breakfast delivered to the room. Try the pancakes - they are amazing.

The restaurant on the property cinsists of 4-5 tables on the pool deck. It was just OK, our food for dinner took a good 45min and wasn't necessarily worth the price paid. But it was perfect for lunch by the pool, where we got pizzas, sandwhiches and salads (all of which were excellent).

The drinks at the poolside bar were wonderful - as was the friendly bartender. We saw a ton of wildlife from the pool area: white faced monkeys (pictures attached), howler monkeys and sloths. Really neat.

The small beach is a bit of a hike (200+ stairs down and back up). I would suggest the beach off of Quepos for swimming and sunbathing.

In all, we had a wonderful stay and would recommend Makanda to anyone visiting the MA area!

This is our 3rd trip to Costa Rica and every year we end up in Manual Antonio area. Part of the reason we come back is because of the Makanda. The rooms are awesome and the service is even better. It is extremely clean, upscale, and quiet. The staff at this place are there from year to year and remember us and treat us like royalty. Can't say enough great things about this place.