We've visited Poor Man's Paradise on two different trips to CR and plan to go back again. For the price you can't beat three meals a day and a beach all to yourself. We stayed in regular rooms there and, knowing there is no electricity in the region, were content even with the extreme heat. In fact, the no electricity was a huge draw for us goign to this part of the world. We found the food to be quite tasty and it's really easy to go out on any and all tours in the region. The beach in front of Poor Man's is quite rough and has very strong currents. I found myself being pulled when I was only waist high. However, it was nice to have an excuse to do a walk to Playa San Josecito beach, which is calm and beautiful. I am a professional nature photographer and I found that I also had lots to do just staying around Poor Man's photographing macaws. In fact, the two times we were there there were huge colonies of macaws that were very active at sunrise and sunset.
In fact, if you are an avid birder you will love this area. I went on a bird tour one morning and it was fascinating. There is so much diversity in this area. I've also done the park tour and it was awesome.
I found the family to be very accommodating and were very easy to get to know and they were very gracious. Personally, I'm shocked at some of the reviews here. In fact, on our last trip I decided to spend almost every day right around the resort because the macaws were so active. My husband signed up to do scuba a few times so I was at the resort almost alone and the family was completely fine with me hanging around. They would come up and talk to me occassionally about photography, tell me about macaw behavior, good spots to find other wildlife, etc. We have never had any of the ill treatment described in these reviews.
I'd recommend the place to anyone who is used to traveling off the beaten path. If you are expecting North-American style accommodations I would suggest you probably skip going to Osa/Corcovado entirely because this area of the world is for travelers who want to get away from other people and who enjoy roughing it a little bit. If you've never backpacked or don't enjoy hiking or adventure travel then you won't enjoy any of the places in this area. Another option is to stay in a more expensive hotel with more amenities, or perhaps go to Puerto Jimenez area (Matapalo is quite nice) since that part of the country has electricity but still enjoys close proximity to the park.
