There were a few minor things that we didn't like, but there was one thing that was absolutely unacceptable. When we arrived Nic told us that we made an invalid reservation. We made a reservation through hostels.com, like we always do, but Nic said that this was impossible.
After a long day of travel and glad that we finally arrived, the manager accused us of being two days late before even asking our names. Never did we experience such an unkind reception. When he finally got his laptop and looked up our reservation he told us our reservation was invalid and he did not have anything available because he was fully booked. When we tried to talk to him or tell him our side of the story he simply would not listen. Our deposit was gone, he would never receive any of it and we were stupid using a website like this (we never experienced any trouble in three months..) Then he offered us a more expensive room (so he did have beds available?) when we asked if he could make us an offer because of all this trouble he looked at us if we were the dumbest thing he ever saw and said he also could give us a room with ocean view and more expensive (even more rooms available, so strange..) so we should be glad he even gave us a room. We had no choice but to accept the room since it was already getting dark and this was the only hostel there in the middle of nowhere. We didn't let him spoil our stay and decided to avoid him as much as possible.
Minor problems:
- There would be a swimming pool, which was empty
- There would be a restaurant, which was closed
- The kitchen smelled terribly
- Surfboards were a staggering $25 a day, normal price for this region (panama, costa rica, nicaragua) is $10 a day
I would recommend this place if you bring your own vehicle and surfboard, and if you're lucky enough to somehow have made a valid reservation. The waves are really good and the location is incredible. But I can't reward this kind of management to leave a positive review. Nic really needs to sort these things out and learn how to work with online booking agencies, otherwise more negative experiences will occur. Nic even said that he was so fed up with these stupid people booking through hostels.com etc. that he was thinking of charging them 10% extra.. You really can't do that! Furthermore, I told him that I thought $25 for a board is quite a lot and that most hostels charge around $10. His response was that those places are located at worthless surf spots with poor waves and that you would get a sloppy board. Later experiences however taught me that this is not at all the case. Nic even said that he was incredibly cheap.. I hope he will realize these things, otherwise it will be a waste of a potentially great hostel.
