The Makanda ranks as one of the best hotels we have experienced. We stayed in a villa nestled away in the jungle with a breathtaking view of the ocean. It was a very peaceful and intimate setting. The decor is very simple, clean and serene. The staff was very accommodating, providing pleasant and responsive service. The poolside restaurant served delicious meals and a knock-out view. The hotel does not provide shuttle service into town as some other do, so best to have your own transportation or plan to hoof it up and down the many hills. If you are looking for a truly peaceful vacation, you should consider this very small, intimate hotel. Careful when you choose to travel, since Makanda abuts the rainforest - you can expect some downfalls in the evening but may want to stay away from the wet season.

Fantastic & romantic boutique hotel. Loved it from the second we arrived - pictures don't do it justice. All the rooms are private & wonderfully integrated w/ the jungle.

Only 12 or so villas and studios- so very private.

Loved the walk to the beach and running the quiet streets in the morning for exercise.

Monkeys and sloths all over the place.

Pool was amazing. Drinks at pool were great, too. Breakfast is great, as everyone else says, too.

For our last night, Makanda was booked, so we moved to Arenas Del Mar. Down the street from each other. Arenas was nice too but Cheryl different. We preferred Makanda without a doubt.

Walk to town for dinner was very easy. Flashlight in the room - 15 mins tops.

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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.