El Establo Mountain Hotel

I was a bit apprehensive about this resort after reading some negative reviews, but I was very pleasantly surprised! The rooms are huge. They are an older style so more basic but still nice. Just make sure you don’t leave any food or soft drinks as small ants appear quickly (and disappeared equally quickly if you remove the cause). Our introduction to the resort was excellent, explaining why the lights are low, that the hot water takes 30 minutes to regenerate (which we never had an issue with as a family of 4) and the activity options. The grounds are huge and we saw lots of agoutis and cotis. Loved the pool and going for an early morning walk, probably should have done their guided tour. It’s also a fairly short (though hilly) walk into town. Definitely recommend asking for a room close to the reception so you don’t need to bother with the shuttle.

The view and breakfast

The pullows had a bad smell

The location and nature is beautiful.

The staff was not polite and they had a policy that we were informed only at checkin, that if the kids made noise at night, there was a 100$ fee.

View

Ants

The hotel lies on a huge green area with plenty amenities like restaurants, pools, gym etc.

We were told during check in that after 10pm we should not be loud, and for every sound we would be charged 100$. Not very kid friendly. Same goes for smokers, smoking is not allowed in the whole area you have to go outside the hotel in the street.

The location, the nature surrounding the property, the views to the Golfo de Nicoya

The blinds of the back doors were not in optimal conditions, the windows of the bathroom were open and had no blinds, that made it easy for some unwanted crawlers to get in the room. There was only a small window open through the back door, that one had a screen to prevent unwanted visitors, but it was too small and that made the room feel way too hot in the middle of the night. There were no elevators for those who find it difficult to climb the stairs.