Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge is an excellent choice for travelers visiting Playa Samara, offering a charming environment alongside many helpful amenities designed to enhance your stay. Rooms at Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge provide air conditioning, and getting online is easy, with free wifi available. In addition, Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge offers a pool and free breakfast, which will help make your Playa Samara trip additionally gratifying. And, as an added convenience, there is free parking available to guests. New !!! Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge is offering a full luxury equipped villa up to 8 persons Should time allow, Belen Waterfall is a popular waterfall that is relatively easy to get to. Enjoy your stay in Playa Samara!
Camino Playa Buenavista, Playa Samara 50205 Costa Rica
Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge
850 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
We (family with triplets aged ten) had a fantastic few days at the Sámara Pacific Lodge.
Our suite of rooms comprised two single beds in the entrance hall, with two doors each leading to a double room with an en suite and a shower. The rooms are comfortable, clean and well proportioned. There’s a balcony front and back, and we enjoyed sitting out there reading (see photo).
The staff at Sámara are excellent. They take real pride in ensuring everything is well maintained and nothing is too much trouble. We’d travelled around Costa Rica quite a bit prior to our arrival and really enjoyed a chilled day sitting by (and swimming in) the pool in the beautiful tropical gardens (see photo). The sun loungers are incredibly comfortable and cold drinks served direct; couldn’t have asked for more!
Breakfast was included and very good with fresh pancakes, fresh juice, eggs, toast etc.
The food at the evening restaurant is excellent. Really good value, beautifully presented (see photo) and absolutely delicious. We only had dinner there one night as there was a special set menu on our first evening (NYE) and we weren’t hungry enough to justify the cost, then it was closed on New Year’s Day. A shame as I’d have like to try more of their menu.
The other photos are of the small beach accessed when turning right out of the hotel (away from Sámara beach). We walked down there (takes 10/15 minutes) every morning after breakfast and saw howler monkeys, lots of birds, lizards, etc.
Main Sámara beach is also about a 10 minute walk away in the opposite direction. We swam in the sea a couple of times and ate at La Dolce Vita and Luv Burger (see separate reviews), both are right on the beach and decent. The hotel food is better though, and cheaper.
We enjoyed our kayaking and snorkelling excursion to Chora Island.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great food whether it was the complimentary breakfast or the evening meals. Very friendly, helpful staff. Owners live on site. Grounds are well maintained. We enjoyed the pool. Close to downtown yet quiet at night for those who want to turn in early. Tours and excursions can be booked through the hotel at a discount. Very reasonable prices. This was our fourth time staying here and have already booked our next visit. As an added bonus we have, oftentimes, been able to strike up friendships with other guests. The restaurant was able to accommodate special requests due to allergy restrictions, etc.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:There are 2 different size rooms one of which is larger that can accommodate larger families.
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The hotel is run by a very nice family, supported by terrific staff. Everyone really wants your stay to be comfortable and fun so they are very helpful, patient and accommodating. The hotel is a 15 min walk, via Playa Samara, to the town centre. This is a good thing as you are on the edge of the jungle so there is plenty of wildlife (especially Howler Monkeys) and a hiking trail to awesome lookouts and Playa Escondida. The hotel is also a 15 min walk from Playa Buena Vista, where the sunsets are spectacular. The hotel restuarant is the best in town, with excellent, well-priced meals. The breakfast that comes with the room fare, is very good and generous. The pool is large and surrounded by a beautiful garden that attracts songbirds in the morning. Our room was very spacious with a lovely private patio. We stayed at this hotel for two weeks and loved every minute of it. Our thanks to the owners, Glorianna, Ronald, Javier, Santo and all the other staff who ensured we had a terrific holiday!
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Date of stay: February 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Room 14 - spacious, with a private patio that looks over a farm filed.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
With my wife, we ha stayed 2 nights at hotel samara pacific lodge. Everything is good at the hotel (people, room, breakfast, location) but the water of the pool is really dirty, troubled water. I don’t feel good to swim in this kind of water. But all the other things are clean. It’s just the pool water which is dirty nothing else.
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Date of stay: March 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Samara Pacific ... C, Propriétaire at Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge
Responded Mar 16, 2020
Dear Maxence Thank you for your comment. I would like to talk about our pool. We are living on an area where temperature are very high. We have a very good maintenance but the water is so hot that some products are not working well. But you can swim perfectly everything is good.Sorry for the inconvenient
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I stayed in 5 different places in Samara over the last month, I liked each in different ways. I liked here that it was close to town but not in town (you could walk but probably 1 1/2 miles on a dirt road) The pool was really chill, lots of seats around it, sun or shade, they have 3 different WIFI networks on the property so seemed like always had a good signal. Room relatively simple but nice, shower was either on or off, no temperature control but was comfortable. Parking is in a walled parking lot with electric gate which is nice.
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Date of stay: January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is a fine resort just outside the busy center of Samara (5 min drive offroad). We had a room directly at the pool which had something special. The room itself was not so big with a bunk bed in the first room, a 2p bed and some closets in the next room and then a separate bath room (with a nice big shower). It was good that the beds were separated but the airco was in the second room and it was therefore not so easy to get the kids room at the same cool temperature. At the back is a small terrace with a table and some chairs. Same is true for the front of the room, at the swimming pool. The swimming pool itself is quite big and the water is warm, while in the water you see the monkeys going through the trees. Breakfast and dinner are in the same restaurant. You have the standard choice for breakfast (typical, pancakes, toast, eggs, fruit, etc.) and it was all well prepared with good coffee. We also had dinner there (although the evening restaurant is separate from the hotel) and we enjoyed it very much. The cocktails were really good. Staff of the hotel and restaurant was very friendly and helpful.
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Date of stay: July 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Samara Pacific Lodge, Directeur général at Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge
Responded Aug 14, 2023
Thank you very much for your coment, we really appreciate it !! We are delighted that you had a pleasant stay in our hotel. Hope see you again one day in this beautiful country
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We were traveling with 3 family's which made us a group of 9. This is our second time in Costa Rica and most definitely not last. We very highly recommend This stay for everyone but mainly families with children. The hotel in general was very clean mainly the pool, the rooms were basic but has very good AC and hot water. The owners and staff are very friendly and helpful. The breakfast and service were excellent.
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Date of stay: March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great food, price and service! Definitely recommend! Apparently I need to write 200 words for a review! So blah blah blah ver good blah blah outstanding blah blah very clean blah blah very friendly 198 199 200
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Date of stay: February 2023Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Samara Pacific Lodge Clémence, Propriétaire at Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge
Responded Mar 2, 2023
Thank you very much for your coment ( and so funny comment, you make my day !! ) We are glad that you enjoyed your dinner Hope see you soon Regards Clémence
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We had a lovely 6 night stay here in February 2024. The rooms are basic but clean and comfortable. We had a family room for 6 of us and it worked really well. The staff were wonderful to deal with, helped us book activities and offered advice. Pool was a little on the cold side which was great after the hot sun. Breakfast, which was included, was really good. We really enjoyed our stay here and loved Samara.
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Date of stay: February 2024
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Samara Pacific Lodge, Directeur général at Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge
Responded Mar 1, 2024
Dear Melanie Thank you very much for your comment We are glad if you had a good stay in Samara Pacific Lodge Hope see you again Regards Staff of Samara Pacific Lodge
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
The location and accommodations are adequate for most travelers, but what disappoints most is the management style of the family that runs the hotel. The hotel is pretty far from Samara center and the beaches (the popular free map of Samara is not to scale!). This is fine, if you have a car; plus there is a decent convenience store within 5min walking distance. The place is surrounded by farms and forest, so be ready to wake up from a lot of loud animal noises (cows, horses, birds, etc.) at night and early morning. Also, we could hear every sound in the next room.
The rooms are in two buildings: a two story structure by the pool and a one story building at the edge of the property, where my girlfriend and I stayed. The first thing that struck us was a strong odor in the room. Hotel staff tried to explain this by recent pest control efforts, but there were still plenty of ants in the room and bathroom. When we opened all windows (which do not have the insect nets), the smell receded somewhat after three days. The room was tidy, if not very spacious. The floor is covered with a red-brown paint which stains even dry feet, socks and shoes. After a streak from the bathroom to the bed you are guaranteed to have brown spots on your sheets. The electric water heating element is built into the showerhead and worked fine, aside from spraying water all over the floor and giving you a stimulating jolt of electricity if you touch the showerhead with the water running. The safe in the room was locked and we could not get anyone to open it for us during our four night stay.
The breakfast was supposed to be included in the price, but they actually had a menu and it was NOT cheap even for basic stuff (an extra toast costs around $2). When we asked what we could order for our included breakfast, they told us that we could get “anything you want from the menu”. Imagine our surprise when we got charged for every fruit plate (included in breakfast EVERYWHERE ELSE we stayed in Costa Rica) which is considered extra in SPL. The owner refused to correct this mistake despite our best efforts to clarify the deal from the start. In addition, the French family that owns the hotel lives on the premises and management seems lax and not very professional.
Our stay in beautiful Samara was spoiled by the unfortunate choice of hotel.
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Date of stay: December 2008
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Check in / front desk
Service
Business service (e.g., internet access)
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from samarapacific, propriétaire at Hotel Samara Pacific Lodge
Responded Dec 13, 2008
we would like to answer the critics from our unsatisfied russian clients. If you do not like to be awaken by monkeys and animal noises, you should have picked up a hotel in the center with trucks and drunk people's noise. This is at this stage, the only bad critic we've had over 1 and 1/2 years of operation. We did our best to satisfy their needs but when breakfast is included, you can choose any breakfast on the menu ( choice of 5 ) but they took both and every day 2 different breakfasts !!! We are exactely 0.7 miles from both beaches and 10 minutes walk from town center. We must emphasize the fact that this customer had a car. Our rooms are perfectly clean with important janitorial staff. We are a small 65 dollars hotel with family atmosphere. I would suggest that the next time they book with Hilton'stype of hotel.
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Yes! Playa Samara has an awesome beach for swimming. It has been a while since I have been to Tamarindo, but I would say that Playa Samara has the perfect level of development, while Tamarindo May be getting a bit overdeveloped. Also, Playa Samara is a better beach for swimming.
There are more places to choose from in the Playa Samara area.
PRICE RANGE
$87 - $130 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
hotel samara pacific playa samara
LOCATION
Costa RicaProvince of GuanacastePlaya Samara
NUMBER OF ROOMS
16
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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