We were travelling to SJ for the purpose of renewing our visa (we live in Costa Rica) and had booked into a hotel in SJ which had a swimming pool etc. Unfortunately I had my pocket picked at the border and had to look for cheaper accommodation! We bumped into a surf dude who said he was staying at Joxi "It's not luxurious but it's cheap and friendly." So that's how we ended up at Joxi - it was very basic and the rooms offered the bare essentials, but who goes to the beach to spend their time sitting in their room!! The staff and our fellow guests were incredibly friendly and kept my kids (6 and 8 yrs old) entertained throughout our stay and even gave them free surf lessons. If you are looking for cheap and cheerful, look no further. P.S. If you do stay and you like pasta, then try out the house specialty "Pasta Joxi" it is delicious and extremely addictive (i would love to know the ingredients...)

We went to this hotel because it was listed in Lonely Planet. Guess the author has not been there in some time. After staying there one wanted to check into a clinic for a complete physical.
Avoid at all cost.

I stayed at this hotel a few years back and it was a dive. I heard that it was bought and had new owners and decided to try it and see if it was better. It was even worse!! The sheets that they had for the bed were frayed and had holes. One of the pillows had mold on the pillow. The bathroom was small and the tile repairs looked like it was done by a 5 year old.. Looked aweful. They turned the upstairs lounge area into a restaurant and it made the place noisy. The music from the bar made you unable to relax and watch tv. We wont be back... It was only $15 before now it was $25 per night and no improvements. The rooms are dark and dirty and moldy... We were in San Juan for four days but left the Joxi after the two we had prepaid.

We were dropped off at Hotel Joxi in San Juan del Sur by the taxi we took from the border of Costa Rica. We didn't like the look of the Joxi so we were told that there was a brand new hotel just opened that day by the same owners. We went there - it was at the end of town over a walking bridge next to a nice looking hostel. It was empty. I think we were the first guests. It was called Hotel Liri. It was a nice enough looking hotel - nice view and nice pool and rooms. The first night was great - the rooms hadn't been properly cleaned but it wasn't a real problem because of the privacy and view. The second day a group of 11 surfers from the middle east arrived . They took over the hotel and proceeded to invade the kitchen, refrigerator, TV, downstairs and they played loud music and yelled until 3 am for two nights. When we asked them to please be quiet on the second night and respect the rest of the guests (two couples including us), we were told to leave if we didn't like the noise and that the owners had told them they could do whatever they liked since there were eleven of them and only four of us. We asked the night staff person to call the owners and he did but the owners never showed up and the noise only increased. They also stole our food from the refrigerator. The other couple and we left as early in the morning as we could after no sleep at all the previous night. Our room was never cleaned. The towels and sheets were not changed or the TP replenished. This could be a nice hotel but management will have to change a lot of things first.