Pura Vida Hostel — Hotel in Tamarindo

Terrible.0 star rating if we could. We are senior citizens and made a booking as a gift for a family. We did the reservation through hostelworld with a deposit of $68.00. We understood and according to the contract and the bill, the fee was for the first day of lodging. We believed the rest would be charged upon arrival . We confirmed the reservation but less than 24 hours prior the guest arrival, they demanded cash. My guests didn’t have $500.00 in their pocket, I offered to pay by credit card or a bank transfer. They canceled him and turned them away. A couple and a 12 year old child, no place to stay in the middle of a pandemic and a fully booked Christmas holiday. According to the guest, the place is a total dump at the end of a dirt road away from everything! We were able to secure a place one block from the beach and pay by credit card. This took place yesterday. While looking in the internet for lodging, we happened to see this dump advertising 1 room left! $240.00.!!!! We saw it in booking.com and Expedia. We took pictures. They canceled the family and kept the fee because they were trying to secure more money! Be aware, it can happen to you. We are arriving in Costa Rica Dec. 29, my husband is a retired attorney in USA with good relations in San Jose. We already have secured an appointment with the Attorney General to make sure this fraud doesn’t happen again not only to senior citizens but anybody else. Is call fraud and full intention of harm. It caused a lot of anxiety , suffering to this family that had travel from abroad not knowing where to go. It took 5 hours to secure a place, they sat with their luggage waiting for results. We will post this review in every social media available and our Twitter account....

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. Upon arrival, the owner asked for even MORE money than we had paid, so it ended up being even more than we had paid online. If you want somewhere cheap, definitely just find somewhere else because it was also so disgusting and not cleaned upon arrival. The owner appeared drunk and when we got there, he asked for the extra money and didn’t even have the room ready. We had to go to a different place to get cash and then when we gave it to him, the room had hair and dirt on the floor. The bathroom had bugs and mold and so did the air conditioner. The security was awful, and we had someone knock on our room door late at night, asking about someone who wasn’t staying there. My friend and I felt so unsafe and kept hearing footsteps outside of our door that would stop at our door entrance. We heard scratching on the walls and ceiling and couldn’t sleep because we felt unsafe, and he had no phone number posted online to contact. We told him about it in the morning because he said he locks the gate at 10, and he brushed it off by saying that a festival is happening and that people stumble in sometimes. The worst experience ever and I would never stay here again even if...

We had high hopes from this hostel based on the very outdated pictures on their website. I have stayed in dozens of hostels around the world, my preferred way to stay, and have never been in a place like this before. This place gives hostels a bad name. The sheets were dirty and ripped, the towels were blood stained, the couch had no leather left leaving only the cushion exposed. The employees were illegally smoking marijuana and were passed out at the desk even past noon the next day. I saw people wait over an hour for their "24 hour reception". I paid over 120 dollars for 3 beds for A NIGHT. It was so bad we left the second day because of how disgusting this was. If you don't believe me, just look how the owner responds to other poor reviews mentioning the terrible environment. This place never even took my passport information even after I offered. First time I have ever seen such a thing. No security at all. Stay away. Maybe go to the cleaner hostel next door or "Pura Vida MINI" the place the owner blames when people write bad reviews. In fact, I bet he will reply and still deny that I ever...