Hakuna Matata Ecolodge — Hotel in Bahía Solano (Mutis)

We booked not a place in the hostel but 2 of the private cabins. I have no idea what the hygiene standards these days are for hostels, but my standard for a private cabine is at least a clean floor. Only one of the cabins had a private terrace. And in only one of the cabins the toilet worked. The mutual space was to share with the guests of the hostel, but there wasn’t enough seating to put everybody at the table. One of the benches was on the edge of falling apart. By the absence of a smoking policy, people were smoking in the mutual area. When we arrived we had to pay before we were able to see the rooms. After seeing the rooms and wanting to complain, the owner was gone. The person of the kitchen told us he wasn’t reachable. After finding another venue we started moving our luggage and suddenly the owner was only one telephone call away. It is relatively far from the sea with absolutely no sea-view. In the neighborhood they don’t have a good reputation either. No idea how they end up with this high google score but for me definitely not worth it. Since I didn’t felt to argue I didn’t ask for a refund of my money, which I wasn’t...

Mislead by the google reviews, we unfortunately booked 3 nights at this place. No idea where this google rating comes from but since it are only ~70 reviews it was most likely rated by friends and family of the owner.

The facilities are basic but fine for the price, no different from any of the other hostels. The main problem is the owner, he is very pushy and when you don't book overpriced tours with him he will ignore you. Breakfast was available only at 08:00 but the owner tries to get us on tours already at 07:00. When saying I want the tour to start a bit later the owner just laughs at me in the face. He even chased us on his motorbike in the city to get us to eat at his place. The owner generates a very toxic atmosphere which led us to go to other places to hang out. We literally only came back at night to go to bed and left the place again when we woke up.

Extremely toxic atmosphere. Just avoid this place, especially if you are not a local. There are plenty of other good options in town to enjoy your...

We stayed 3 days at Hakuna Matata and it was a wonderful experience. The facilities, the food, the views and the staff are just 10/10. The energy there is quite different to what we’re all used to, they’re very relaxed and calming, always happy and, above all, positive about everything. Being surrounded by such positiviness makes you feel at home and forget about any life troubles. The beach and the sea are amazing, as well as the rainforest. You can order a wide range of guided tours to fill some of your time in, but chilling around there is also a very good idea to reset your mind and body. I’d recommend this place to everyone and I certainly will be back someday. Camilo and Rey are very cool people, cheers to them and to Hakuna...