Jardin Del Eden Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Tamarindo

This is one of those hotels that yes it was a beautiful hotel and the staff was super friendly and helpful. However there is nothing that gives it that WOW factor to make it equal too or stand above other places we've stayed at. Then there were just some things that just didn't seem right that left us asking ourselves, Why?

The cons or perhaps the Why’s:

1. We only stayed 3 nights. Each night as a guest you have a choice of two entrees for dinner. One of them was always a fish, which I don't eat fish. So basically I had just the other choice. I was disappointed to see that they had back to back pasta dishes, lasagna one night and the next night was fettuccine alfredo. Why would you go Italian two days in a row? Well needless to say we went out to dinner the second night.

2. Wasn't thrilled that the bar at the beach area did not open till 11am, which seemed to be closer to 11:40 before someone arrived. This just shocked the wife and I as the beach chair/area was packed when we arrived at 9am. In my opinion 11am is far too late to start your beach bar staff for a vacation resort. Why is there not an attendant behind the bar for waters, bloody mary’s, or any other beverage when the guests are soaking up the morning sun? We did make the long trek back up to the hotel bar one to gather round one of drinks to take down to the beach bar. But once our hotel bar drinks were gone well we found a store two buildings down from the hotel beach bar to purchase drinks and locals selling pina colada made in fresh coconuts on the beach.

3. Other thing that bothered me that I would not expect from a vacation style hotel. Is that as a guest you’ll need to get out of the pool or up from your beach chair/daybed to go to the bar to request a drink. Why did this hotel not have servers/attendants walking around taking drink orders and picking up empty glasses/bottles? Sure once you go to the bar and request a drink, well the staff will bring the drink to you. However isn’t the purpose of a vacation hotel is to be relaxed and to have things taken care off for you? We just found it odd that my wife and I took turns as to who was going to disrupt there relaxation in the sun/pool to go get another round of drinks. Then when we were done using our beach/chair area we were left with our empty glasses/bottles that we didn’t want to leave to make it seem to the next hotel guest that the area was being used. So again we found ourselves taking our empty’s back to the bar and/or garbage. Just something that we felt should be the job of the hotel to provide staff especially for the price your spending to walk around and not only take drink orders but clean up the empty’s too and we never seen that once happen during our stay.

The pros:

1. The staff is super friendly and always willing to help. The check in process was excellent and they had someone available to help my wife with the luggage as I parked the car. The staff remembered your name and we remembered them which created a little bit of a bond when it came to dinning or getting a drink, similar to that of your favorite local bar when your home where they know your name and drink.

2. We did not sleep well the first night as for us the bed was super uncomfortable and I would describe It as a solid rock. We did request at the desk before breakfast if they could add a pillow top and it was taken care of promptly. I give them credit for having such a solution as not all hotels do. I was able to sleep fine the remaining nights, however my wife still had some difficulty.

3. I’m pretty sure the hotel only had 44 rooms which made this a hotel with plenty of space to enjoy yourself. There was always a beach chair or daybed to sit in and we never felt you had to be up extremely early to get a spot. This made the hotel enjoyable, especially being adult only it stay very peaceful and quiet.

Overall we wouldn't stay in this hotel again the next time we visit Tamarindo, u have to have servers...

This is a "semi-inclusive" resort with free breakfast, mimosa & bloody Mary bar, dinnerd, and yoga, salsa dance lessons, and lots more all included. My wife and I stayed in Feb 2023 and it was a truly wonderful experience. I can’t believe they don’t promote their free breakfasts and dinners and yoga classes as one of the best things at the resort. This felt like an all inclusive resort minus the lunch and all day alcohol. When we booked, we didn’t even realize that all of that was included! The complimentary breakfasts with made to order eggs and waffles and FREE mimosa and bloody Mary bar was a fantastic way to start each day. In the evenings, we were consistently impressed by the gourmet dinners too. This food is seriously restaurant quality. They even said that we could get a $40 voucher to go dine at the Diria resort restaurants, but the food was too good here to take them up on that offer.

Beyond the exceptional food, the hotel staff – especially Leonardo - provided great service and solved any issue that came up. There were a wealth of free activities to keep us engaged. The daily yoga classes were a great way to unwind and stretch, while the salsa classes offered a fun and social experience. The property itself was meticulously maintained, with sparkling clean grounds and a beautify pool area that had someone cleaning it constantly. We’re in a jungle setting so there are leaves and plants falling in all the time, but they stayed on top of it.

The beachfront lounge garden provided a tranquil oasis, and the cute pathway down there had fun music pumped in and felt very posh. We felt safe on the hotel property and the locked gates and staff made sure that only guests were on the grounds. The beachfront infinity plunge pool was the perfect spot to soak up the stunning ocean views and our belongings were safe on the lounge chairs there while we walked the beach. Huge plus! There are lots of vendors walking the beach and approaching the lounge area but there’s a wall of short plants and a gate to keep the vendors from getting too close.

Their activities desk did a nice job of booking us on an estuary boat tour complete with transportation for $50 a person. That was a highlight of the trip.

Other details we really enjoyed are: Tap water is safe to drink for Americans, the water pressure is great and the hot water gets hot quickly, there is a mini fridge and safe in the room, the balcony in room 9 was huge, the activities desk was friendly and helpful, the grounds are well maintained, the air conditioner was very cold, the staff and yoga and salsa teachers and wait staff are so, so friendly and helpful, you are treated wonderfully and feel cared for while you are there. The food is wonderful! The restaurant atmosphere is wonderful too!

Our only area of suggestion for improvement is with the bed. The mattress was quite hard, there was no box spring, and the pillows were too thick and too firm. Leonardo was able to get us a mattress topper and a different set of pillows however, so that did help quite a bit. Additionally, the bed linens and towels weren’t exactly the best quality. For $469 per night we’d expect better bedding and linens. We had an AC malfunction while we were there but they had it fixed within a day. We would certainly consider returning in the future if the mattresses and bedding are updated for a more comfortable...

READ TO THE BOTTOM -

GOOD: The grounds are amazing. Lush and manicured. The rooms are adequate and generally clean, but see below The food is magnificent at breakfast. The staff at the pool, restaurant and bar are EXCEPTIONAL. Nancy, Edny and Kevin stand out as TOP NOTCH. This is our third or fourth stay here - several of the staff recognize us and greet us warmly by name.

BAD: The staff at check - in The staff at housekeeping Insect Control We arrived this trip with me experiencing food poisoning. We arrived early - because the food poisoning hit the “physically ill” phase and I could not be walking, on the beach, in the car, etc. -Even though I was green and sweating profusely, the check in staff seemed to not care one bit. During check in I had to excuse myself to the lobby bathroom twice. We asked if they could prepare our room with priority due to my situation - they seemed painfully indifferent - but eventually said they’d try. Two hours later my sickness got worse and I had been in the restroom by the pool 8 times. I felt awful for me - but more so for poor young man that had to empty the bucket (I was sick from both ends). The “not sick” one of us went to check on the room. He was told again 3:00 - and again explained the situation. At 3:00 we both went to the front desk and they were so happy to tell us our room had been ready….???? WTH - have some compassion and make priority for folks that are physically sick, etc. Plus how about a CALL when the room is ready.

housekeeping / after first night they finally did our room rather late afternoon. They gave us one towel. ONE. NO bath mat. NO hand towels. NO wash cloths. We asked about the ants all over the walls and floors of the bedroom (not an exaggeration / 100’s) - nothing we done housekeeping / after night two / did a nice job. Still ants :( now they are on the bed housekeeping third night - no wash cloths or hand towels. No fresh soap. Floors clearly not mopped, ants still out of control.

The food at dinner has gone down hill. On the first night my partner ordered the seafood pesto risotto with shrimp and lobster - it smelled rancid. Not just to me (food poisoning person) but to him as well. I asked for plain rice and a banana - which they gladly obliged (thank you Edny).

Dinner on the second night they served beef tips in a mushroom sauce - way more mushrooms than beef. I ha d a nibble of the salmon over rice - it was cooked nicely - partner ate it as I could not eat still.

On our third night they offered a variation of the first night meal (another round of green risotto with shrimp and lobster). We went off property.

Fourth night - again off property, though the menu looked nice, we were over it.

We have been coming to Tamarindo often and have tried to stay at Jardin Del Eden when we can. we truly enjoy most of the staff, and the grounds. We will will second guess another stay at Jardin Del Eden based on the check in staffs lack of compassion, and lack of effort to accommodate a need outside of their “policy”. Plus the housekeeping staff they just doesn’t seem to care to do the complete job, and the dinners being meh...