Best Western All Inclusive Resort • Jacó — Hotel in Jacó

I think this hotel has an issue with its advertising. Let me give the first sentence from the hotel's own website, at time of writing: "Whispering palms, a beautiful beachfront, lush gardens and laid-back tropical rhythms make the Best Western Jacó Beach All Inclusive Resort an inviting gem for your Costa Rica beach getaway."

To me, that meant a relaxing place I could read on the beach and could have my meals and drinks sorted out.

WRONG. This is a 24/7 party. Replace "laid-back tropical rhythms" with "high-volume, upbeat Latin music." I've heard 50x more Pitbull and Daddy Yankee than Bob Marley, whether I wanted to or not. The music plays at all hours of the day and night, reverberating from the bass-boosted speakers into every room and spilling out on to the beach. That's right, no reading on the beach for you. There is a carefully-place speaker near the second pool angled to cover the area not covered by the central speaker at the main pool. This second speaker's angle delivers thumping beats and the live DJ's exhortations to gyrate all the way to your beachside chair.

Above I wrote "all hours of the day and night." Let me give a more precise schedule:

8 AM: Construction workers start hammering. Surprisingly, this is the thing I'm most OK with. Maintenance has to happen.

9 AM: Music at the pools starts. You're awake now, if you weren't before. Enjoy your breakfast & coffee within the blast radius of the main pool speaker, pointed directly at the resort's restaurant to ensure your conversation is drown out.

10 AM: DJs get on mics. They are louder than the music.

8 PM: The music finally ends. Peace at last?

9 PM: Nope, no peace. The disco starts. THE DISCO STARTS. There is a small dance floor/bar area, and the main speaker here is pointed INWARDS, TOWARDS THE HOTEL ROOMS. The disco goes until 1 AM, including another live DJ once again exhorting gyration to those sick beats you can't ignore, even if you want to.

1 AM: Blessed silence. You can hear the whispering ocean waves. It's actually really wonderful and peaceful. No time to enjoy it, though, as you need to get to sleep ASAP. There are only 7 hours before the hammering will wake you up.

I'm a Puerto Rican guy, so I kind of get this schedule. This is what a good time is in most Latin cultures. Music is part of our way of life, and within that culture there's really not a reason for it to be off if you're supposed to be relaxing. A lot of this resort's clientele are Latino families enjoying a vacation together.

But there's a reason I didn't go to my family in Puerto Rico for my vacation, and that's because I was looking for something different. Something with "Whispering palms, a beautiful beachfront, lush gardens and laid-back tropical rhythms."

Which is why I say that this hotel's problem is one of advertising. I see some other reviewers have complained about the music, but that's ultimately not the issue. Plenty of guests here probably look at the music schedule and get excited for a fun weekend. Those of us who are appalled by it are just not the target audience, and were lured in by the advertising.

I want to close out by providing some brief comments on key services: Food: The food is fine. Go for the local stuff - rice, beans, fish, fried plantains, etc. It's not bad at all. +Drinks: The drinks are strong and use fresh ingredients. There's some decent liquor behind the bar, if you ask. You can get a beer, too. Overall excellent for an all-inclusive. +Service: Excellent service, just excellent. One of the most friendly and helpful staffs I've ever met. My suspicion is that the people leaving negative comments about them may have either met them on a bad day or may be the sort of people who bring negativity into their interactions. +Location: Right in walking distance of the whole town, 1-2 minute walk to the beach. Perfection. Rooms: Look, it's a garden-style hotel on a beach in a tropical country. The rooms are designed to clean sand and combat the depredations of humidity. Their worst quality is that they don't keep...

First of all, it’s a Best Western. Expect corporate Best Western rules and procedures if you decide to stay. The location was great since it was right on the beach, even though very few rooms had more than a peekaboo view of it. Rooms were all the same and very basic, they weren’t anything special but that just helped us not want to be in them and get out which is what you would want to do in Costa Rica with so much beauty to explore.

The place was generally okay. Free food and drinks is always great. Drinks were easy to get from the two bars and occasionally someone would take drink orders poolside, but not very consistent. Bartenders were really friendly and made great drinks however you like. The beach bar was a great place to hang out in the evenings with a DJ playing cool music and anything we requested. I know crowds vary but even with over 100 guests at a vacation resort with a bar next to the beach and free drinks, it was mostly empty. Maybe because there were a lot of families with children so, often it was just my wife and I and maybe one or two more tables, but hey, we had the bar to ourselves!

The food was just okay for our first week but much better our second week with a little more Costa Rican style, likely because there were more people. Selection was limited at the “restaurant” which was really a Best Western style cafeteria so you walk to the buffet tables and someone would scoop food onto your plate from a limited selection that varied only slightly. Yeah, it was an All-inclusive hotel, but for breakfast, lunch, and dinner we had to make reservations which was kind of limiting when your on vacation to have to try and decide exactly what time you were going to eat. We just made reservations for every meal whether we were going to be there or not in case our plans changed from day to day. All the people working at the cafeteria were super friendly and helpful, Luis was fantastic!

The front desk wasn’t helpful. My wife and I are fluent in Spanish, so there were no language barriers. Before our trip, we called to check on a few things. We asked about Covid testing and were told the front desk would schedule appointments for us. They wouldn’t. Instead just scribbling some local urgent care locations and telling us we had to. Not a big deal but still kind of a broken promise. We asked about an in-room refrigerator and were told to ask for one when we arrived. Hen we arrived, front desk said they do not provide refrigerators or a microwave for the rooms. Another disappointment. We asked about tours and were told they had none. Another disappointment initially until after a couple days found out it was a temporary suspension of tours from the hotel because of covid which is totally reasonable, they just didn’t say that when we first asked.

Even though this is a review of the Jaco Best Western, I’ll add that halfway through our trip we drove to Manuel Antonio National Park which was beautiful. Afterwards we stopped at El Avión restaurant in Quepos and wow! Absolutely amazing views. We found out the owner also owns Hotel Costa Verde. Another wow! Same amazing views we loved it so much we decided to take a break from our vacation and stay there for a few days. We did not want to leave to say the least. They even have 747 fuselages perched in the trees and made into rooms. Highly recommend a stay here. Also went to Rafael’s Terrazas restaurant, a short walk from our room. Food, drinks, and view were spectacular. We went each day thanks to the owners brother, Freddy. Super friendly guy! Even hung out with Rafael the owner one night, he definitely cares about his customers and really explained well the Pura Vida Costa Rica feel.

Would I go again? If I were staying in Jacó, I would stay at the Best Western again. The free food and drinks make it a great base for exploring the Pacific Coast and having a nice place to relax without worrying about food and drinks. Really loved Quepos, going...

Unfortunately, no matter how much one is inclined to stay on the positive side, this establishment will definitely compromise your intention. The good is very scarce here.

First and most - don't be misled - this is NOT a Best Western hotel. This simply is a franchise which has purchased the right to use the Best Western logo. The Best Western features stop at the logo and are limited to the signs. The two buildings, especially building 2 are about 35 or 40 years old. Building 2 is particularly miserable. This is exactly a motel 6 structure, however not the nowadays one but Motel 6 from the 80s or 70s, as interior and exterior as well.

The rooms in building 2 do not have balconies, just facade open hallways. The beds are very primitive and we are familiar with these beds from Motel 6 from the 80s era. No spring box frame under the mattress. Just the basic wood frame of the bed itself, extremely uncomfortable. More than Spartan furnishing. The only renovation that has taken place over the last decades has been the replacing of the tiles on the floor of the rooms. The tiles in the bathrooms (no bath tubs) and the faucets, shower heads are still the ones from the early 80s, corroded and rusted. That exact early 80s style. The motel has issues with the water and sewer. The odor from the drain in the bathroom is constant and hard to stand. During our 4 days stay, there was a time when there was no cold water, thus the shower was unusable but also flushing the toilet was impossible.

The bars, the garden type structures, the sofas, the chairs are very, very old and worn off. The two main pools have seen some renovation though.

Now comes the worst part - the permanent, non stoppable extremely loud latino disco music and DJ's shouting. It never stops from 6 pm until 1 am in the morning. No matter where your room will be, you will not be able to hide from it. Even after 1 am it does not stop abruptly but gradually and there will always be groups of intoxicated guests who will continue to shout loudly in the yard, right in front of your room until 3 am. So, be aware - sleep is almost impossible. This is not announced by the hotel in their advertising and terms and conditions. This motel-like "resort" has a constant clientele which consists of 95% local people or people who are from other countries in Central America. It encompasses the style of life and celebrations that are characteristic of the Latin cultures. Nothing bad with that. Just on the contrary - great! However, that way to spend a family vacation is not for everyone. It MUST be well announced when customers make their reservations. All over the world the time between 10 pm and 6 am is considered as a legal quiet time and the quiet is enforced by all means.

Part of the attraction of this place originates from the all inclusive light drinks, made with cheap alcohol.

The food is significantly mediocre but can be eaten for a few days.

Of note - during the daytime the phone is never picked up at the reception desk by the receptionists on duty and the excuse is that they are busy.

We certainly know very well that you get what you pay for. However this place is not cheap. We paid for each night $230. Even with the all inclusive this is well overpriced. For a comparable amount you get much, much more decent conditions everywhere in the world.

It is quite clear, there is no doubt that this motel has different rates (much lower) for the local tourists. And that is a double standard.

Only two good things - the close walkable distance to the shore and the good job and politeness of the housekeeping people.

Concluding thought - avoid it at all cost! This is a motel, not even a hotel. Why is it then misleadingly labelling itself as a resort? No resort here. Only the price for tourists from abroad is the one...