The El Jardin was not the highlight hotel of our trip. Although not terrible or a bad experience, I would not stay there again. The hotel is dated and does not have the extra amenities that other hotels have, but it was also the cheapest hotel of our stay. It was clean enough, but reminded me a bit of a camping or dorm room experience. Something in the bathroom was leaking (water on the floor). The breakfast consisted of a banana, graham cracker type cookies, and coffee. On the other hand, the staff was friendly, the grounds were nice, there was AC, and the pool was ok. Also, there was a night watchman. Plus, it was a great location.

You might want to spend the extra money on Ylang-Ylang. We only went to happy hour there, but it suggested nice rooms.

As for activities, if you are the adventurer and an active traveler, we suggest the El Chorro hike (not horseback) and a day trip to Cabo Blanco followed with a drive to Mal Pais to have a gourmet pizza beachside (four wheel drive absolutely required to get to Mal Pais from Cabo Blanco). Also, head over to the Artista Italian restaurant - wow.

I first stayed in Amor del Mar in Montezuma and switched to El Jardin the next time and was very happy I did.
I was there during the low season (July 07) but hotels were surpisingly booked so make a reservation if you can. El Jardin was sold out the 1st nigth I got there.
I was in one of their cheaper rooms ($60) and the room itself was actually not that great: very dark wood from wall to ceiling, the bathroom was a bit questionable but it had an a/c and a little fridge. The outdoor , especially the pool was very nice to have. Their jacuzi though is just the same pool water with jets, it is not a real one but sti ll it is nice. As far as Montezuma goes, this is probably the nicest hotel.

We stayed at the El Jardin in Montezuma for 3 nights. To get there, we took the Zuma Tours speed boat across the bay from Herradura/Jaco to Montezuma. We loaded from the beach with lots of luggage -- "No problema!" It was a relatively fast trip,over some big swells, just a little over an hour. (We felt very safe with this company and used them for our return trip and a snorkle tour to Tortuga). We off loaded at the beach and had to lug our stuff across the sand and up a steep hill to the hotel. The people working at the front desk were very helpful, friendly and proficient in English. They made arrangements for our tours, and the return trip to our next destination Manuel Antonio.

The rooms are really small with not a lot of storage space. The beds were OK, but the sheets became a tangled mess overnight since they weren't fitted to the matteras, and there weren't any blankets. The air conditioning was very efficient in cooling the room, but it was so noisy that we had to wake up to turn it off just to get some sleep, and then wake up again to turn it on when the room got hot. We would have gotten by with a ceiling fan, but our room did not have one. Another drawback at night is that since the town is so small we could hear the motorcycles, and trucks from the road. The pool is lovely with a lower level swimming area, and then an upper level jacuzzi with cool water and jets. I would have liked to have stayed in one of the rooms near or overlooking the pool. Our room was furthur up the hill and we had a beautiful terrace With lounge chairs and hammocks. There were lush gardens all around with birds and howler monkeys. The hotel does not have a restaurant , but there are many restuarants close by and we had exceptional meals at all of the restaurants we tried. We expecially enjoyed Sano Banano across the street from El Jardin. Their seafood dinner specials were delicious, and the Brazilian style ceviche was outstanding. Free movies were shown each night on a large pull down screen or the flat screen TV at the back of the restaurant. This restaurant also has a coffee shop with delicious frozen yogurt, blended coffee drinks.

Six of us also went on the Waterfall Canopy Tour and had a great time. I have been on four different canopy tours in Costa Rica and this was one of the best with a swim stop at a waterfall with a deep pool.

Also, the best beach was a short walk from the hotel in front of the Ylang Ylang hotel--Soft, white sand and fun waves for swimming or body surfing.

An excellent hotel in Montezuma within walking distance of everything (although the same could be said about most of the town). El Jardin is a lush, tropical garden cut into a hillside overlooking the town center and the Pacific Ocean, and it boasts a lagoon-like waterfall jacuzzi set about six feet above a lagoon-like pool. No television, but plenty of hot water and air conditioning. Besides, only a madman or a fool would spend his time watching television in this beautiful setting. Large tile verandas with hammocks and chaise longues in front of all of the rooms. We really enjoyed our stay and were sad to leave. $75 a night with a credit card. You could squeeze four persons in a room, but at this price, why do it?

El Capitan de Espana