Coco Cabañas Tela — Hotel in Atlántida

If you want to be away from Tela and stay in a quiet little hostel off the beaten path then this is the place. It's located in the heart of a Garifuna village just outside of Tela. It's not fancy, wifi is spotty and yes there will be the occasional beetle as well as iguanas on the roof, goats / cows / chickens / puppies / mules / sheep that come out of nowhere and walk by, children that might stop in and hang out.... This is the kind of place where you never really know what might happen and that's what made it so great! ||||When we read the guidebook it sounds like some of parks are hard to get to from Tela but from here all of the hikes and tours of the parks are just a few minutes away. Miguel is a great host and very helpful, especially when trying to organize taxis and trips (he picked us up from the bus station himself when we arrived). He tries to employ local villagers as much as possible but that also means you may not have English guides if you want to do tours (that didn't matter to us). Because of this, all of the locals seemed to know Miguel and his hostel so we never had any safety concerns walking through the village or along the beach (which is right in front on the hostel and very clean!). The problems about safety that we read and heard about Tela didn't seem to be as much as an issue here. The locals were very welcoming and friendly, often stopping to talk to us on the streets, kids walked up and hugged us just to say hello, and we joined a local party where we were invited to dance, drink "Gifiti" (you'll learn quickly what this is) and take pictures if we wanted. ||||Food is available at the hostel but don't be fooled by the small menu - the portions are mighty and Elysia's (spelling?) cooking is pretty amazing. Water is available and there are a couple of little stores nearby if you need to purchase anything as well as a family a 5 min walk away that makes coconut bread daily in an outdoor stone oven. We loved that we had a fridge in our room as well. ||||As far as it being an eco resort, that's a bit of a stretch. But they are trying to be creative with waste and think outside the box as evident in the decor and a test roof made of discarded plastic bottles. ||||This is definitely a cool place to stay if you want a quiet place on the beach and be alongside the locals in...

It takes a special kind of bad for me to use the word terrible. I lived in Honduras for two years and was used to the differences between customer service here and more developed places.The Hostel itself was ok. The rooms were relatively clean although the place was under major constructions which began at 6:30 every morning with power tools and hammers. The owners were not present and we were left with the asst manager. He was overbearing and rude from the start, trying to sell us on every tour they offered even though we stated very clearly that we only wanted to relax and enjoy the beach. Finally we relented and decided to go on the canoe tour through the jungle. We were driven to a remote river by truck with 4 other tourists and made to wait for 1 and a half hours while he went to "look for the boat". He said the boat was taken by a friend and not returned to the normal docking spot. He eventually came back in a tiny hand carved canoe that was meant to hold 3 people. We were a group of 6 plus two guides. I though the was joking when he said ok here is the boat lets climb aboard. The other 4 guest flat out refused to go on the tour is this tiny boat and demanded a refund, which they were denied. I don't blame them because there is no way all 8 of us would have fit. My wife and I decided to go ahead and go because if they were unwilling to give a refund we might as well get what we had already paid for. (35$ a piece ) We squeezed into this dingy and headed upriver. At one point the two guides got tired and asked us to take over rowing. I laughed in his face and told him to get back to work. We eventually made it back to the hostel and were treated to a dinner of beans and rice at a cost of 5$ a person. Meals were not included in our "package". At the end of our 3 day stay our host had the Gaul to ask us for a good review on tripadvisor. I told him I would be happy to leave a review. The whole stay left a bad taste in my mouth. I felt like we were squeezed for every penny and given the bare minimum of service. It seemed like we were intruding on our hosts party time. It could have been a wonderful experience at a decent hostel but was ruined by one person and his terrible...

Coco Cabañas is located some 10 minutes away from Tela, but that is nothing compared with your freedom at this hotel. A perfect place for young travelers, like backpackers or a friend group as this hotel is basically a home for you to live in. We stayed for 4 nights with a group of 6 friends from Thursday until Monday.||||Miguel, Alejandra, and Margarita were very nice since the beginning and I enjoyed talking and spending time with them. They were very helpful for every question or need we had.||||This is an ecohotel, so don't expect it to be all luxurious. Miguel himself helped in the building and these are made from plastic bottles with adobe. We had a couple of problems with electricity and the kitchenette faucet, but the staff was always available to help out. You can take all the food you want to cook it over there, you'll have a fridge and a small gas stove. Any utensils you might need are available if you ask (we were able to get a blender!)||I loved that the beach was a few steps away from the main door, and it is a very quiet and private place. There are numerous "pulperias" (small convenience stores) located near the hotel to buy anything you forget in the supermarket. There are also two local restaurants nearby to try out, and at night there is a small terrace bar where locals dance and drink on weekends.||I would totally recommend Miguel's Coco Cabañas to anyone who looks for an alternative to Tela hotels. Be advised, you will have to endure some problems but if you're willing to ask for help then you'll be ok.||For families with kids and/or elderly people: these cabins are great but for some people, they can be somewhat uncomfortable. Take this into consideration when looking for your...