Hotel Vista las Islas — Hotel in Paquera

This place has all the makings of a 5 star review: gorgeous views, beautiful pool, recreation area with a fuseball and pool table, nice rooms…BUT, the customer service is just not there. We felt more than unwelcome. The first night after checking in we went out to dinner and a tree had blocked the very steep driveway up to the hotel. My husband walked the rest of the way to tell the staff. When he arrived, the young man at the desk told my husband to go back out in the storm and take a picture to send to maintenance so that he wouldn’t get wet. He didn’t ask if we were Ok, he didn’t offer my soaking husband a towel. My husband just laughed and asked him for a chainsaw but the boy said he could not let him use it so my husband told him he better get out and do his job then. The boy finally followed my husband with an umbrella (not offering one to my husband.) When the maintenance man showed up he was great! I think the maintenance crew at this hotel is phenomenal because the grounds are beautiful and he was the nicest employee we met the entire time. He had the entire tree cleared in less time than it took to convince the boy to come out in the rain. The next morning breakfast started late because I guess some more trees had fallen to block the entrance. Because of this there was a rush between 7:30-8 and we didn’t have set plans so we let other families go first. After waiting about 45 minutes for more food to be brought out we asked the ladies to confirm that more was coming. They said “no.” I asked her if they could at least make some more scrambled eggs for my family, especially since we had been there waiting since before 8am and it was now 8:40. Please keep in mind breakfast is supposed to be until 9 and they started half an hour late. She refused. I had to argue with her and then I had to listen to her talk about me from the kitchen: we speak Spanish and she was speaking loudly. She finally made some eggs but it was literally a serving for 3 people meant to feed my family of 7, not forgetting that they refused to make anymore plantains, gallo pinto, or sausage which is what breakfast is supposed to be. Each day we were asked at breakfast if we wanted our rooms cleaned or new towels and they were visibly annoyed when you answered “yes.” The first day we only needed towels and I got an eye roll and a furrowed brow. The second day when I asked for the room to be cleaned she actually asked “are you sure?” before looking disgusted. There are a lot of staff at this hotel so they did not appear to be overwhelmed, they just seemed to be very bothered by our presence. This place is just not worth the money: if it was cheaper I might consider coming back here since the facilities are beautiful, but the people ruined our entire experience. Also, I posted a video of the driveway:...

Wonderful resort at the top of a really steep and rough road. Very attentive and friendly staff. Beautifully landscaped, lovely pool, daybeds with curtains,

Excellent buffet breakfast included. Fresh squeezed juices, eggs, sausage, fried plantain or potatoes, toast, cupcakes, overnight oats which was new to me and very good. The sweetest juiciest pineapple I've ever had and other other fresh fruit. Some cold cereals, granola, liquid yogurts which tasted like they had sodium benzoate in them which I'm sensitive to and burns my mouth, but that's common all over the Caribbean too. Coffee was good and a selection of teas. You could order espresso but it wasn't included in the free breakfast.

The evening menu is somewhat limited. The tenderloin steak was quite good, the bacon topped mashed potatoes were excellent. I didn't like the chicken fajitas. There is a spice they use in the fajitas and in the sauteed vegetables that I've never had anywhere else, definitely not in my kitchen and I didn't like it. The chicken for the fajitas was tasteless and tough. The 2 spare ribs were very fatty and slathered in very sweet sauce, so there really wasn't enough meat. The chicken wrap tasted like it was made with mayo rather than sour cream and we didn't like it. We liked the fish fingers and fries. We liked the passionfruit cheesecake, chocolate brownie with tart passionfruit sauce and ice cream was also good. We didn't like the banana "cake" which was more like a solid pudding and served very hot with ice cream.

We had a private balcony with a gorgeous view of the ocean.

Overall I'd give this hotel 4.5 stars, despite the food issues but I'd like to see a bigger menu and I'd like them to throw out whatever that spice is. It gives the vegetables a nasty aftertaste.

The staff were universally helpful...

I stayed at the resort for a week and let me tell you, it was a disaster. Before I write this, I would like to share that Anja was amazing!!! So the hotel charges like a 23% service fee on everything you order, so it is a bit expensive. Seafood Macho down the street is great and cheap. The second day, we went to pay our bill for the previous day, and it was significantly higher. We paid it though. After doing calculations, we realized that we were finessed out of lot of money. We went to the manager, Tomas and he was very rude about it. He told us we were lying. I emailed his wife Anja about it for a resolution, which btw is the most beautiful soul ever. I wish I could’ve met her!

Then my friend checked her bank account and there was 2 charges from the hotel. The front guy kept telling us the card machine wasn’t working, but it was. So we were cheated roughly out of almost $200. The tv in the room didn’t work, the AC didn’t work for a whole day, and the shower water was cold. They realized that the front desk manager took our money, charged the card several times, and inconvenienced us with our room so they gave us food and drinks free for the rest of the stay.

The server Luis was very rude and disrespectful. When me and my friend ordered food or drinks, he would just stare at us. They (Tomas, Dennis) wouldn’t help us with excursions or anything. It was honestly a nightmare.

I’m not sure how they have 5 star reviews. Me and my friend experience was nothing like the reviews. It was awful. I do NOT recommend this property to you if you are a black woman.

I recommend living in Montezuma, Santa Teresa...