Isla Chiquita Glamping Hotel — Hotel in Paquera

This spectacular glamping experience far exceeded all expectations. Don’t let its unassuming charm fool you - the spacious, well appointed “tents” include all the amenities of a nice hotel, like double vanity sinks, tiled walk in shower and even robes. The covered outdoor patios have spectacular views of the Nicoya Gulf. And several of the 18 glamorous tents have their own plunge pools. The exceptional service staff is made up of beautiful Ticos like Xenia, Luis Diego, Daniela, Marvin, Mario, Jaime and Alejandro, who made our stay here so special. But the true draw to Costa Rica is its nature and this small island offers it all. On a lovely and fairly easily traversed trail on the property, I saw a howler monkey family with its baby in tow swinging through the branches. I also saw various colored hummingbirds and other birds, including seabirds like pelicans, cormorants, and fragatas. Butterflies of different colors including the huge owl butterfly, iguanas, hermit crabs and so much more are teaming on this paradise property. The island also boasts the most magnificent flora - banana, teak, sea almond, coconut and many other trees are densely and naturally found at every vista mixed with flowering shrubs and trees of all sorts. And I haven’t even started to tell you about the food! The restaurant is amazing! In fact many local people come to the island by boat or helicopter just to dine at the restaurant. In addition to all the natural beauty, there are plenty of other things to do here - they have kayaks and paddle boards on property, a spa, yoga deck and many excursions such as line fishing (you catch it, they’ll cook it), island hopping, a luminescent night tour, etc. We hope to come back soon with family and friends in order to share what we feel is a hidden gem tucked away in a spectacular...

This is a very small island with the 18 glamping sites, the restaurant and nice beach area with canopies, and lounge chairs/tables. For me + family, this was disappointing experience. ||Pro: the glamping sites are neat, and nicely distance one from another with greenery and trees so the sitting areas in front of the tent are private. The tent was fine, furniture is high quality, but the bathroom lacks light and the toilet did not have either light or door, so that was a bit uncomfortable. The included breakfast was good, and luckily for breakfast there were no reservations needed. ||Cons: apart from taking tours with the hotel, there are very few things to do. The water in July was full of trash and green looking (I was told it is seasonal), and not inviting at all for swimming. We did kayaking (complimentary) and paddle board (complimentary) but that is 1h each. The walking tour was cancelled twice, so we went alone and it was muddy mess, but again 1h max. As for the hotel staff, everyone was super nice, but if you need anything it will be 45min or 1h. For fresh towel, (we stayed 3 nights and no towels were changed), they needed 1h, for getting our luggage from the reception area to the tent 5 (very close), 45min, for getting another portion of veggies in my dinner plate (have garlic allergy and even that I asked for no garlic in my meal the veggies came with garlic) 45 min. If this was some camping price place I would not have such high expectations, but the price was close to 400$ a night, and meals were about 80-90$...

Super glamping experience not too far from San Jose (especially if you use the Puntarenas ferry, to either Paquera or Naranjo - the latter only if you have a car). Otherwise it's a long but pleasant drive around the peninsular. Tented rooms are super and very well appointed. Very comfortable with great decks. 17 and 18 have great views. Go for a plunge pool option if you can; it gets very hot and humid on the coast (we were there in the rainy season). Lulled to sleep by the surrounding forest. Howler monkeys at 5am can be loud if close by ! Make sure you close the main doors to the tent and not just the bug screen doors, as the racoons are expert burglars - I found one in the top shelf snack bowl at 3am ! Kayaks and paddle boards are free to use. You can kayak around the island in an hour or so, but best to do it slowly and enjoy watching the pelicans catching fish. There are shallow areas which are worth waiting in quietly in the kayak - if you're lucky then stingrays will swim right past you - beautiful. The night-time bioluminescence tour is very interesting and we saw lots of other things e.g. fisher bats. Food good in places - excellent large shrimp cocktails. Shrimp good generally. Bar does good cocktails. Service is friendly but English is a little challenging for some of the waiters - go slowly ! Wildlife is good - plenty of howler monkeys, iguana, racoons (cute but watch out) and rays if you're lucky. Plenty of bird life. Overall a lovely chilled place to spend a few days....