Hotel Mar Rey — Hotel in Tamarindo

We have stayed before at the Mar Rey, had a wonderful visit, and wrote a glowing review. This time was a little different. The location is still perfect. It’s in the heart of Tamarindo, steps away from the beach, and close to everything. The room smelled quite musty when we arrived, but the A/C worked well and it got better after a day or so. The main complaint you read about is the noise. The hotel is in the center of town and there is street noise and a night club close by, so there is noise both early and late. During the day, if you are using the pool, there is near constant noise from the business next door as they repair ATVs, and run pressure washers and leaf blowers all day. We had hoped to hear birds and the surf, or just the quiet whoosh of the A/C, but there was no time of the day that was peaceful. But, that is just the environment outside the hotel. The stunning part was the dogs inside the property. This hotel is quite “dog friendly”. At the pool, there were as many as four dogs at a time running freely. Not just off leash, but their owners were often not even present. The dogs simply barked at the room doors if they wanted to be let in or out. Constant barking at any hour was perfectly acceptable to the staff and the hotel owners. We’ve been awakened one night and three of four mornings, so far. It was not addressed. At all. Ever. Even after complaints. The dogs run freely onto all the guest room patios, nosing through your clothes, shoes, and belongings, and urinated freely on the walks, bushes, chairs, table legs, etc. We saw a Doberman run into a guest room through a momentarily open patio door and the family all fled onto the pool deck to get away. No one was bitten, but it was quite startling for everyone. The family with three of these dogs seemed to be the hotel owners. It was crystal clear that their dogs were a much higher priority than any guests. Our recommendation is find somewhere else to stay, or if you are still considering Mar Rey, at least ask whether the owners and their dogs are going to be in residence during your stay. Of course, if you have dogs and want a noisy place where they can run and bark totally uncontrolled, this is the place for you!! No need to ever walk your dog, you just open the door to your room and let them out! ...

We have stayed before at the Mar Rey, had a wonderful visit, and wrote a glowing review. This time was a little different. The location is still perfect. It’s in the heart of Tamarindo, steps away from the beach, and close to everything. The room smelled quite musty when we arrived, but the A/C worked well and it got better after a day or so. The main complaint you read about is the noise. The hotel is in the center of town and there is street noise and a night club close by, so there is noise both early and late. During the day, if you are using the pool, there is near constant noise from the business next door as they repair ATVs, and run pressure washers and leaf blowers all day. We had hoped to hear birds and the surf, or just the quiet whoosh of the A/C, but there was no time of the day that was peaceful. But, that is just the environment outside the hotel. The stunning part was the dogs inside the property. This hotel is quite “dog friendly”. At the pool, there were as many as four dogs at a time running freely. Not just off leash, but their owners were often not even present. The dogs simply barked at the room doors if they wanted to be let in or out. Constant barking at any hour was perfectly acceptable to the staff and the hotel owners. We’ve been awakened one night and three of four mornings, so far It was not addressed. At all. Ever. Even after complaints. The dogs run freely onto all the guest room patios, nosing through your clothes, shoes, and belongings, and urinated freely on the walks, bushes, chairs, table legs, etc. we saw a Doberman run into a guest room through a momentarily open patio door and the family all fled onto the pool deck to get away. No one was bitten, but it was quite startling for everyone. The family with three of these dogs seemed to be the hotel owners. It was crystal clear that their dogs were a much higher priority than any guests. Our recommendation is find somewhere else to stay, or if you are still considering Mar Rey, at least ask whether the owners and their dogs are going to be in residence during your stay. Of course, if you have dogs and want a noisy place where they can run and bark totally uncontrolled, this is the place for you!! No need to ever walk your dog, you just open the door to your room and let them out! ...

Imagine a hotel that sounds like your local animal shelter. Does that relax you? The dogs live in various rooms with their respective owners, who own and operate the hotel.||This came as a shock to me, since I stayed here last year and enjoyed the property. New owners, I guess.||No good location or clean room could make up for days of lost sleep that resulted from being awakened, daily, in the nighttime and early mornings (around 5:30 a.m.) by a shrieking Dachsund. But there were also the two Dobermans that could let go with their deep, gruff barks when excited by the Dachsund.||All the dogs have free run of the place. They pee on the porches, in the bushes, poop in the parking lot, and come and go as they please.||I complained to the hotel owner, who owns one of the dogs, and she was unconcerned.||But the barking is not only in the mornings and nights. It continues throughout the day. So poolside is just more of the same.||Just for reference, I have owned dogs my whole life; I dog sit for friends; I recently worked at a doggie daycare and boarding facility. I am what most refer to as a bona fide dog lover.||I have been at Hotel Mar Rey for 4 days and nights and it has been exhausting. I am sleep deprived and my vacation is just 3 more days and I can’t wait to get out of this hotel.||You could not PAY ME to...