I’m very late in writing this, but because our experience at Arenas del Mar was so wonderful, I want to thank the resort staff. Everything about the resort is incredible-the refreshing welcome drink, beaches, property, rooms, food, and most of all, the staff. Ersel, the naturalist, is so knowledgeable about the wildlife that can be found all over the grounds. He was so kind and shared lots of interesting information. There were a couple of sloths that were easily visible (once Ersel pointed them out and explained the type of tree they like) during our stay and it was a lot of fun watching them move ever so slowly. The property sits on a steep hill but the bellmen are always right there when you need a ride.

We began each morning with a wonderful breakfast on the patio next to the pool, watching the iguana in the tree and listening to the birds singing. Each day ended with a soak in the jacuzzi tub on our patio watching the stars and listening to the ocean. Our room was an ocean view premium suite and it was absolutely amazing.

We spent an afternoon at Playitas, the small, private beach, and enjoyed watching the monkeys playing in the trees and on the beach. We were also treated to fresh coconuts….so refreshing and sweet! The current is very strong at this beach so be careful if you take a dip.

I can’t wait for my next visit to Arenas del Mar!

We loved our stay at Arenas del Mar, where we spent 5 nights at the end of October! We agree with the highlights other reviewers have mentioned - friendly and helfup staff, beautiful property, amazing beach location, great food, peaceful and tranquil environment, comfortable rooms, great views.

But perhaps what most impressed us most is that this hotel is unique in Costa Rica because it is both 5 "star" and 5 "leaf" (I think the first, and until recently the only one with that status). The 5-star rating is well deseverd, with excellent service and all the comforts one could hope for. Initially less evident to the casual observer is what it means to be a 5 "leaf" hotel in Costa Rica - we highly recommend taking the free "sustainabilty tour" offered to understand and see first-hand what this means.

Piero, the sustainability manager, gave us an amazing tour of the property and insights into what "sustainability" means for Arenas del Mar - from reducing waste and recycling, use of biodegradable products, a pool-cleaning system that does not use chlorine and thus enables local birds to drink from it, an innovative laundry system that reduces water use, and purification of waste water to irrigate the property, to providing additional benefits to employees and direct support to address needs of local communities living in poverty. Most of this had been invisible to us prior to taking the tour, and it made us appreciate our stay much more!

Here are some of the highlights that we most enjoyed during our stay at Arenas del Mar:
- Starting each day with a great breakfast that begins with fresh fruit, fruit juices, pastries and wonderful coffee outside on the pool deck with an amazing view of the ocean from the top of the cliff;
- watching the sloths in the trees on the hotel property at the "playitas" beach (the friendly hotel guard at the beach was always happy to point out where to find wildlife);
- an incredibly comforable bed;
- great food, at both the main restaurant and the smaller one at the beach (we love seafood, and enjoyed many of the selections, but the tuna is definitely a highlight);
- daily happy hour at the outdoor bar in the lobby area (passion fruit moijitos and mango daquiris were amazing);
- walking down the beach to the Manuel Antonio park (we took a tour to the park once, but went back ourselves another day at our own pace - it's nice not to have to depend on a vehicle, and it's a lot quicker to walk the beach to get there!);

We stayed in an ocean breeze suite and enjoyed using the jacuzzi on the deck and hanging out in the ocean breeze. While we had a view of the ocean, we were on the ground level and soon realized we needed to heed the instructions to keep our sliding door to the patio locked to avoid sharing our suite with the local raccoons - indeed, we watched how a brave racoon was able to open the sliding screen only to find the glass door obstructing his entry! We appreciated that we were in wildlife terrain, so resigned ourselves to keeping the glassdoor shut and turning on the air conditioner instead of inviting the ocean breeze into our bedroom.

We took a couple of the tours recommended and arranged by hotel staff, and enjoyed them and found the guides to be excellent - very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Arenas del Mar. This was the second hotel we stayed in that was run by Cayuga - the company that manages small eco-friendly hotels in Costa Rica. The other was in the Osa peninsula, an amazing rainforest that was our favorite spot in the country. We highly recommend both!

We stayed for eight days at the beginning of December. It is hard to add to what has already been said by others. The resort has a wonderful location and the staff is incredibly friendly and constantly goes out of their way to assist in any way possible. We had an Ocean View Premium Suite (room 603A), which had a large veranda and an excellent view of the ocean. Even with the bedroom door to the deck closed at night, you could still hear the ocean. We were visited one morning by white faced capuchins at breakfast and another morning we were awakened by the howler monkeys. We did a number of activities, all arranged through the hotel. We particularly enjoyed the hanging bridges tour and the visit to the Villa Vanilla farm. The highlight was a dinner on the beach, which we received as part of the romance package. The beach restaurant closes at 5:00 pm, so we had the whole beach to ourselves, save for our server. Overall, we highly, highly recommend Arenas del Mar!

This is a beautiful beach front resort and was our second stop in Costa Rica, I preferred the rain forest. The resturants at this place were amazing. The presentation of the food was a piece of art and it was even better when you realized it tasted just as great as it looked. The staff was very pleasant and wanted very much to make sure our stay was one to remember. Great view from our room with some extras like breakfast, calls, internet. Very Nice