Bw Tamarindo Vista Villas - Tamarindo, Costa Rica 

I was generally pleased with quality of the hotel. It was comfortable, close to the beach and had amazing views of the ocean. However, I would advise anyone staying here to keep a close eye your bill; I feel they were very dishonest with mine. They tried to pull a classic bait and switch on my room rate. At checkout, after finally agreeing and printing out a receipt for the roomrate I had originally agreed to, I returned to the states to see my credit card charged for the greater amount. I will be disputing the charge with my credit card company. This leaves a poor taste in my mouth after what was otherwise a very pleasant stay. I can't say anything bad about the quality of the hotel, just be advised to keep a close eye on your bill.

I can't say this hotel is great. I expected it to be better because in The Lonely Planet guidebook it is described as "top-range". I expected it to be the same standard of Best Westerns that I have stayed in in the states, but it isn't. I booked it on a hotel booking website that said it was $80 a night, they added over $10 a night in tax. This seemed far too much for what is was. I moved to the Barcelo in the end. This was $105 (including tax, and all your food and drink) it was so much nicer, I should have gone there in the first place. I also stayed one night at the Tamarindo Diria ($120 including tax) that is also lovely. I regret spending 5 nights at the Best Western because my room was dingy and depressing. It is slightly too far out of town. There aren't proper pavements so the walk to town at night-time, though short, was slightly scary, I felt as if I would get run over. The hotel looks nice on the outside. The gardens are lovely. But my room was cramped. I was alone in a twin room (208) yet there wasn't really enough room to open out my large suitcase, except on the other bed. It would have been hard had there been another person with me. There was a coffee maker with no coffee. My biggest complaint was a lack of a fridge in my room. I expected a Best Western to have one, especially at the price I was paying. The nearest shop was 10 mins walk and if it wasn't ladies night at the bar it was hard to get a drink, it was dead so you had to wait for a bar tender to show up. The pool area was pleasant to sunbathe at. The pool was cool and refreshing, and you could see the ocean and get a nice view of the sunset. The staff were unorganised. When i arrived a guy took me to my room, opened it, and a woman screamed, it was already occupied. It took 10 mins before I was in an empty room. Then the light didn't work, more waiting while the guy went for a spare bulb. Even then the side lamp didn't work. I found in Costa Rica there was something wrong in every hotel room. They don't seem to check these things. There was a terrace with table and chairs at the back, with an ocean view. However it wasn't private from the next door terrace, there wasn't a proper dividing wall, great if you want to chat to your neighbours, not good if you don't. Plus there was a path that went past all these terraces, so I didn't feel comfy in my room with the curtains open in case people walked past. My curtains didn't close properly, there was a gap, so I always had a little feeling of "is anyone looking at me". I didn't have a do not disturb sign, even though I asked for one at reception (they did exist I saw them on other doors). This was unfortunate as the maids start knocking on doors at 9.30pm and just walk in. They also chat very loudly in the corridors. This really annoys me. I have stayed in plenty of hotels where your room gets magically cleaned and you never even see a maid-so it is possible. But not here. They seem to spend half the day going in and out of rooms, knocking on doors and scraping furniture across the terraces. It is sometimes hard to tell if they are knocking on your door or the one next door, so I felt constantly on edge when they were around. Another problem was my keycard. Three times in 5 days I went to my room and it didn't work. This was very annoying when I had walked back from the beach, I was boiling hot and desperate to jump in a cool shower, then had to traipse down to reception again and back up the hill. They don't say sorry or offer an explanation.