This is the perfect place to stay in Santa teresa, on the beach, simply but nicely decorated and in very good order, it is extremely peaceful and quite, and we loved the fact that it was on the beach, close to a lovely beach bar full of young surfers, baby surfers and yummy mummies! the pool is also gorgeous, and if the waters of mal pais are a bit to rough for you (or your kids) it gives you a break and it offers you a good swim!
The only thing that could be improved is the food at the restaurant! The staff is very nice but food is not great, not bad either but just mediocre. However breakfast on the beach was extremely nice!

Santa Teresa is a surf town, first and foremost. Hotel Tropico Latino is probably the most upscale hotel around, with a nicely maintained property, adequately secluded from the surrounding craziness (which, as it turns out, I happen to enjoy, but, just a heads-up that this place is NOT typical, and the "town" is not much more than a one-lane (really bad) road with cheap restaurants, hostels, campgrounds and surf shops). Don't plan to come here to hang with rich ex-pats who like to play golf. BUT - if surfing is your thing, and you want a little pampering (i.e., a nice place to stay), I can highly recommend Tropico Latino. The staff is great, and the ambiance is chill and accommodating. The restaurant and bar staff are a lot of fun, but you'll have to ask them to speak Spanish if you want to practice, because they all want to practice ENGLISH. The food is only ok, though. Beautiful presentations, but the food is fussy, not well cooked, and too contrived. We got better fish at Basta Pasta, up the road. The cook there knows when to stop cooking a good piece of fish. Not so much at Shambala.

We'll definitely go back, but will eat dinner elsewhere.

Oh yeah - this place isn't easy to get to - be sure to take the ferry (we didn't), but even with that, you still have 10k of gut-busting dirt road to negotiate.

We stayed here for a week over New Years. The New Years party summed it up for us. There was a drum band (very high energy) which played on the beach around a huge bon fire. People were dancing like mad and running around the bon fire. Very primal and super fun. Ok, so the hotel. The resort is real nice, not super fancy and not over the top, making it very comfortable. We stayed in the garden view two bedroom house which was real close to the beach but I'd say if you can get the beach front house do it. The resort is obviously on the beach side of the road and all the houses/rooms are seconds from the beach. The security was exceptional. The bar drinks were great, the restaurant food was alright. There is so much good food in this area that you really don't need to eat at the resort. The location is pretty much in the heart of the town but believe me you don't feel like it. The resort is very quite and the general vibe from others staying here was friendly and really mellow. I would recommend this place to my friends, parents and anyone looking to have a very relaxing experience. Don't expect anything excessively lavish but it is really nice. Do I even need to mention that the beach, water and waves are incredible here? World class beach, like I said, just seconds from each room here.

This was my first time in Santa Teresa, apart from the beauty of the beach and nature, the experience in Tropico Latino was way much better than expected. Beautiful vegetation surrounding the Hotel, nice swimming pool, few steps from the beach, remarkable customer service. Highly recommended.