You arrive at this friendly oasis by passing through a watermelon farm on a dirt road. The grounds are beautiful with perfectly groomed gardens and iguanas roaming around. Friendly staff, inviting pool, small restaurant. Rooms clean but a little worn. Hot water intermittent, but the weather was hot and steamy anyhow. Amazing sunsets! Yes, hardly any chairs, but also hardly any people.

From check-in to check out, our experience was superb. Reception and Restaurant/Bar staff all spoke excellent English (but welcomed our attempts at Spanish). Service was prompt, accurate, seamless.

Rooms: The 5 of us stayed in 3 adjacent one bedroom casitas. They were clean and appeared freshly painted. Nothing at all run down about them.

Air-conditioning - excellent - all the cold air we could want.

Bed - King-size. Mattress - excellent - firm without being too hard. Pillows - We all wanted to take them home with us - seriously. These were the the best pillows any of us had ever experienced. The only thing missing was a bar refrigerator. You'll need a cooler if you want your own refreshments. Shower - the water was hot, hot, hot! and the shower spray was strong.
Towels were OK, but not outstanding. But the pool towels were thick, soft and luxurious!

Pool - large, beautiful, sparkling clean and not over-chlorinated.

Grounds - Lushly tropical and groomed every morning- walks swept, lawn raked. Iguanas were abundant!

Restaurant - Both food and service were above average. Hamburguesa Monterey - a bacon cheeseburger - was outstanding, even at the $11 price. Menu items ranged from about $5 to $25. Tico breakfast or continental breakfast is included in the room rate. Beer is expensive - $3.50 for standard Costa Rican beers, but cocktails were reasonably priced.

Beach - The hotel is right on a beautiful, uncrowded beach that extends at least a mile in each direction. The hotel puts out umbrellas and beach lounges every morning. The water posted as having dangerous riptides, so swimming is probably not a good idea.

I'm certain I've forgotten to mention something, but for us, there was not a single item other than mentioned above that did not exceed our expectations. As residents of Costa Rica, we will be frequent visitors to the Monterey del Mar and has many shells and sand dollars to find. It is uncrowded.

This is a jewel, nice, clean, sandy beach, meticulous maintained grounds and clean, comfortable rooms.
The food is good, not spectacular but well prepared and served and reasonably priced. The staff is friendly and attentive. Needs more pool and beach furniture.
We will go back.

The rooms were immaculate and modern with 2 queen beds, bright white duvets, a/c and wifi. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash dispenser in shower. Handsoap and lotion dispenser near bathroom sink. Beach views with great pool. Beach is dangerous and unswimmable. Lots of shells to be found.
Drinks at bar overpriced. Location is isolated. Staff great. Grounds beautiful with fountains, flowers, etc. It was a pleasure to stay here.