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All 24 Santa Teresa hotels

Esencia Hotel & Villas: Traveler Reviews

3.0 of 5
Playa Santa Teresa, Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
Hotel amenities
Esencia Hotel & Villas
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Ranked #20 of 24 hotels in Santa Teresa
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56 reviews from our community

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Traveler rating
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Date Rating
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Reviewer
5 reviews 5 reviews
5 hotel reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
7 helpful votes 7 helpful votes
“Awful, over priced”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed April 1, 2012

Stayed here for 3 nights, it's a step-up from a hostel, so it is worth about $50 or so a night, not $100+. Make sure you stay in a stand-alone cabin, not in the on the rooms that is in the big building at the end of the property. We were in the big building and I can attest that you can hear everything your neighbor does.

Random issues we had - broken AC, gigantic ants coming out of toilet into room, millipedes in the bed, and a breakfast service that came only half the time. Breakfast is terrible too - stale bread and cereal, bad coffee (in costa rica!)

Not good, stay elsewhere.

  • Stayed March 2012, traveled as a couple
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 1 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 2 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 2 of 5 stars Service
Was this review helpful? Yes 3
Ask Derek S about Esencia Hotel & Villas
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
StefanoEsencia, Guest Relations Manager at Esencia Hotel & Villas, responded to this review
April 18, 2012
Dear Sir,
first of all, in name of all hotel’s staff I’d like to apologize for your unpleasant experience during your stay.
We feel horrible when guests don’t receive what they’re expecting or they complain for bad service .
I only permit to explain that we serve breakfast daily on a tray to the rooms and sometimes it can generate some misunderstanding because some guests order it the night before at specific time (serving time is 8-10 am), other guests prefer to decide at last moment so they inform us the same morning.
Maybe this is what it could be happened to you if you didn’t ask for your breakfast at the reception’s desk.
By the way, we are going to improve the quality of our breakfast with better coffee (all the other items we serve, like corn flakes, yogurt, butter and jam are in a single-use small box).

Broken AC: we know that it could happen and we have to solve this kind of problems offering a solution to our guests (fixing the AC or offering another room), but we need to be informed about the problem.

Ants and bugs in your room: we try to keep rooms cleaned but as you saw Santa Teresa is in the middle of the jungle and this is what makes it so beautiful, but it’s not always possible to keep ants away, even if we clean the rooms daily.

Once again, all our apologies.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
San Jose, Costa Rica
Senior Reviewer
10 reviews 10 reviews
4 hotel reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
6 helpful votes 6 helpful votes
“Excellent for the price”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed March 12, 2012

We stayed here for two nights from march 9 to the11th with a group of family members, we had two two bedroom casitas and they were very clean, the bathroom was large and the shower had good water pressure. Each bedroom has its own A/C unit and they give you the remotes when you check in. The A/C´s worked very well. There is a digital safe in one of the rooms thats big enough for your laptop and other valuables. The kitchen is basic but fine for simple meals and includes a smallish fridge, sink and gas stovetop with four burners. Plates, cuttlery and glasses were in good condition. The pool is nice and has shade for some of the lounge chairs but none for the pool itself.They only have one set of keys for each casita and that can be a problem with a group. The hotel is across the street from a disco and we were worried it would be very loud but it wasn´t. We did hear it on Saturday night but not loud enough to keep anyone awake. The Hotel itself is on a small hill with the hotel rooms at the top, then the pool and WiFi area and then the casitas going down to the entrance where the parking lot and reception are. Lodgings are a bit removed from the street which is great because it is soooo dusty. The dust is not an issue in the rooms. You have to walk across the road and down a path to the beach. You could take a car too since there is parking at the beach. Esencia is very simple but clean and well cared for. We were pleased with what we got for the price.

Room Tip: casita #7 is closer to the pool
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  • Stayed March 2012, traveled with family
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
Was this review helpful? Yes 1
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Hong Kong, China
Senior Contributor
46 reviews 46 reviews
5 hotel reviews
Reviews in 7 cities Reviews in 7 cities
9 helpful votes 9 helpful votes
“Saint Teresa here we come!”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed March 11, 2012

This is a cute little place to stay, the walk up to our room was interesting, especially since I lost my flip flops on the first day we arrived. Room was adorable, local style and clean. No breakfast included, which was fine. No phones in the room, which only posed to be a problem when we found a scorpion in our bed! Fun times though, and when in Costa Rica, the wildlife truly does sit at your doorstep, and closer! I woke up on the first morning to find a huge Iguana on our balcony, and monkeys in the trees! Not bad!

Room Tip: Choose on of the stand alone bungalows closer to reception, they look so cute and have hammocks outs...
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  • Stayed March 2012, traveled with friends
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 3 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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Los Angeles, California
Senior Reviewer
7 reviews 7 reviews
Reviews in 4 cities Reviews in 4 cities
6 helpful votes 6 helpful votes
“Esencia Hotel is great”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed March 11, 2012

There are two choices here. Hotel rooms and cabins. Choose the cabin. The hotel room was small and nothing special. For $15 more we got a cabin. It's like a large studio apartment with full kitchen with no walls adjoining any other cabin. Very good beach access. No phones and No TVs when we were there and pretty close to grocery store.

  • Stayed March 2012, traveled as a couple
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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Bern, Switzerland
Contributor
12 reviews 12 reviews
11 hotel reviews
Reviews in 11 cities Reviews in 11 cities
6 helpful votes 6 helpful votes
“Nice bungalows”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed February 25, 2012

Clean bungalows, good price and quality. Enjoyed the last night in santa teresa before we left. Thanks to esencia.

  • Stayed February 2012, traveled as a couple
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Dan M about Esencia Hotel & Villas
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
 
 
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Additional Information about Esencia Hotel & Villas

Also Known As:
Esencia Hotel And Villas
Esencia Hotel Santa Teresa
Esencia Hotel & Villas Costa Rica/Santa Teresa
Address: Playa Santa Teresa, Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
Region: Costa Rica > Province of Puntarenas > Santa Teresa
Amenities:
Fitness Center Free Parking Kitchenette Swimming Pool
Hotel Style:
#15 Romantic Hotels in Santa Teresa
Price Range: $
Hotel Class:3 star (3*)
Official Description (provided by the hotel):
Located in Santa Teresa-Mal Pais Beach, one of the most virgin and beautiful regions! Endless miles of soft, white sand beach perfect for swimming and surfing. The hotel offers ten marvelous, independent and private villas. All villas have their own terrace with garden view, bathroom, hot water and safety box. Other exquisite elements are the teak chairs, the furniture and the deck of the villa made out of precious woods. ... more   less 
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