Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort — Hotel in Quepos

Ever spend 5 days when the weather, the accommodations and the people were all perfect? My sister and I planned a “vacation”—and instead we got the time of our lives. Arenas Del Mar gave us 5 days of fun, great food, mind blowing views, extremely comfortable accommodations within sight and sound of the waves from our suite, perfect tours and adventures and the staff is just as wonderful as prior reviewers have exclaimed. As one of the restaurant managers responded to us when we complimented the staff on our first evening, “Yes, they’re all wonderful, but they each bring their own personality to the job.”||||The staff was unstoppable in their care of us--from the fun golf cart rides from place to place within the hotel compound, to inquiries as to how our tours went, what our families were like and what they could do to help us in any way. Christian even made sure our van ride back to SJO for an early morning flight had blankets and pillows. I want to put Minor, the kind and sociable bartender, on my Christmas card list! Giavanni, of the concierge team, helped us choose an offsite restaurant by explaining El Lagarto was the place she picked for her birthday dinner each year, and of course she made sure we got the perfect table. Alex, a server, was so kind and caring that we’d look to wave to him from across the dining room. Every single staff member went out of their way to make our stay a perfect vacation and they made it seem effortless and sincere.||||A few specifics:||||I research the heck out of hotels before I go anywhere and Arenas Del Mar kept coming up as the best place for us. When they say the hotel is on the beach, they mean it. No other hotel near Manuel Antonio has such a prime location—on the beach but still close to town. We were in Suite 302B in Unit 3, a spacious Ocean View Premium suite. Great view, incredibly comfortable beds, two seating areas on the balcony which we used a lot and easy proximity to the beach and the lower restaurant and bar, Playitas. We were no more than a 2 minute walk from the suite to the beach.||||When I read about the hotel’s golf cars in previous TripAdvisor reviews, I just assumed my sister and I would walk instead, but the golf parts were part of the fun! The golf cart drivers would appear at our unit within moments of our call to the front desk and they were always available at the lobby area to shuttle us back. Frankly, all our transportation needs were met effortlessly—from the drivers to and from the airport arranged by the hotel, to the golf cart shuttle out to the parking area to meet the guide and daily transportation for our tours, to the hotel van that took us to offsite restaurants. (Thank you Wally!) The hotel van was always timely, inexpensive and billed to our room. So easy!||||The tour book from the hotel was exciting and wide-ranging. It took time to narrow down all the choices and before we arrived the concierge team patiently responded to multiple emails to help us chose our 4 adventures—a private guided tour of Manuela Antonio Park, the eco farm and kayak tour with Johny, and the most unforgettable tour of all, Los Campesinos waterfalls with Jimmy, the guide of a lifetime. After we swam through several swirling pools, climbed up the rocks under the water falls and spent time hugging the rocks with the falls pouring over us, Jimmy explained “a good guide pushes you to do what you think you cannot do.” Spot on, so thank you Jimmy! And then the Sukia zipline tour was not at all as scary as I feared thanks to Charles and Johann. ||||The food was great! Beautiful breakfasts with so many varied choices that we wanted to stay longer just for the breakfasts. Complete attention to detail—we were shown the on premises lab where the restaurant experiments with the morning juice flavors. We had dinner at both restaurants, Mirador and Playitas. At Mirador the chef showcased the fresh fish; all our dishes were delicious. Since the chef was experimenting with his amuse bouches, there was a new one nightly —and the chef’s desserts were another highlight. Playitas features an extensive grilled food buffet 3 times a week barbecues served right on the beach with live music. Another fun and delicious experience (try the tuna tartar).||||When we were there the 37 unit hotel was occupied by a good mix of couples and families which gave the place a special vibrancy. ||||This place was an oasis.||So...

The PERFECT place to spend 3 nights in Costa Rica! I HIGHLY recommend Arenas Del Mar. We had an absolute wonderful experience here.

Everything is top notch - the property is beautiful, the staff are so friendly and professional, the tours we did with Mao (Night Walk, Tour of the National Park, Sustainability and Back of House Tour - free) were amazing and reasonable priced (or free!), excellent food, beautifully eco-luxury room with a large deck, beach/ocean and rainforest view and so quiet and comfortable for sleeping.

We traveled in low season - no crowds, It was also rainy season - only short periods of rain that did not effect our trip, and the weather was great. The private beach and pool at the resort were spectacular.

The breakfast (ours was included in the room cost) was especially delicious - coffee, fresh tropical fruit, and a chia parfait with gooseberries and shaved coconut was my favorite. My friend loved the Gallo Pinto, traditional breakfast with rice & beans, plaintains, and eggs or meat. I also enjoyed that there was always a lactose free option like Almond Milk for coffee.

We enjoyed lunch and tropical drinks outdoor on the beach everyday (Passion Fruit smoothie, Pina Colada) and it was delicious, healthy, and reasonably priced - I had some delicious Grilled Shrimp Tacos that the server recommended (2 days in a row!) Dinner in the open air restaurant was excellent too. Oh - the "welcome" drink was fresh and beautiful and such a nice touch. And, our Mini Bar was stocked with delicious fruit drinks, local wine, and snacks that were also included in our room rate and restocked daily - such a special detail! So many interesting and fresh ingredients and local choices to choose from.

We were thrilled to see so much wildlife right on the property! A sloth spent his day above us in a tree at the beach. He was so close and eating leaves so we could really see him. We also saw a mama and baby sloth on our Night Hike, frogs, and other creatures, - in the day: 3 types of monkeys, various Iguanas, both two toed and 3 toed sloths, and plenty of other gorgeous birds and butterflies only seen in Costa Rica. The sloths that live at Arenas Del Mar were the highlight of our trip. In our week of travels after Arenas Del Mar we encountered many travelers hoping to see sloths and we were so relaxed and happy to have seen so many - and so close and active - at our first stop.

The resort property is an awesome location where the beach and rainforest meet. Spectacular. The only beachside location in the area and it's a beautiful beach (coming from a traveler who lives in San Diego!)

This property is magnificent. We were treated extremely well by all. The staff are obviously well trained, respected, and treated well (we learned in our back-of-house tour that they get free meals and a shuttle ride to work). We used their golf cart service to get to the main entrance / dinner and they were so fast to pick us up! Seems like they were there and waiting before we hung up the phone. So friendly and also were able to drive us into into town one night for italian food (wood oven pizza).

We really appreciate the resorts priority and extensive efforts towards sustainability. This is a priority in my life and it's nice to see how important it is at many resorts in Costa Rica. Eco-Luxury, clean, beautiful, relaxing. I have zero complaints and will dream about getting back there as soon as possible.

See you soon Arenas Del Mar - the Pura...

Just this morning my 14 yr old son said "I miss Brayan," and we all agreed we missed Brayan and everyone else at Arenas del Mar. We visited at the beginning of March and had the most amazing time! The grounds are spectacular, but what makes this place truly special is the people who work there. We have never felt so welcome, so appreciated, and so safe (Covid and otherwise).

Arenas del Mar is built on 11 acres of rainforest with golf cart/walking trails and a beautiful "private" beach (you can only access it from the resort or the ocean).  The property is filled with wildlife - iguanas, monkeys, sloths, etc. It is obvious great care was taken to preserve the rainforest while building the hotel.

The rooms are simple but comfortable, and the bathrooms are a bit dated but well appointed. There is a refrigerator in the room (some were on the balcony) stocked with a bottle of white wine, two beers, water, and some snacks. Housekeeping was incredible and the complimentary laundry service was a nice perk!

Both restaurants on the property were fantastic. Breakfast is included and this family of non-breakfast-eaters looked forward to it every day (I will note that the avocado toast is SO delicious it makes it tough to try anything else). Breakfast and dinner are in the restaurant by the lobby and lunch is served at the restaurant right on the beach. All of the food is so fresh - every meal we ate at the hotel was superb.

Jorge pointed out a sloth (it was not mating season so it was pretty high up in the tree) and our youngest son was in absolute heaven with all of the monkeys (they weren't everywhere nor were they invasive - with us anyway - although a woman we met on on the trip had one trying to break into the mini-frig on her balcony!).

Now onto the people ... from our arrival at the hotel after a 12 hour travel day to our check out 6 days later that ended in a few hugs and fist bumps ... everyone was AMAZING.  Christian was the best first impression - he was funny, professional, helpful, and was constantly checking in on us to make sure we were taken care of.  The manager Derian was so nice and helpful and even before our arrival Jorge, Andrea, and the concierge team were taking care of us.  The restaurant staff made us feel like family - Brayan was just awesome - we loved him :-) Alexandra, Karol, and another lovely young lady (with kind of a curly ponytail) were just the best.  We had the same driver (Randall) to/from San Jose and he was so nice, funny, and played the best music :-)

My 11 year old son summed it up perfectly, he said "I will never forget this trip. I just loved it."  It wasn't easy for us to get there, but we are already looking forward to going back. I'll be making Pura Vida cocktails all spring/summer long! Thank you to everyone at Arenas del Mar for an...