Rancho Estero — Hotel in Hicaco

Value: definitely good on value. Some places in the area charge almost as much as Rancho Estero and yet they don't have a view, individual huts (read: privacy). Rancho Estero is right on the beach, so when it's beachtime or surftime you just walk down some stairs and voila. You have arrived.||||Location: Lovely view. Perched on a tiny hill right next to the beach. Felt great just being there and relaxing. It's difficult to explain "location" in a place where things are spread out from each other, but they aren't great distances. Just 2-"lane" dirt roads. So you take a dirt road to get to Rancho Estero, and there are other restaurants and B&B right next door so you aren't exactly alienated. The mini supermarket is about a 20min walk. Take your flashlight. Roads are not lit.||||Extras: if you are interested in surf or already surf, I think you've got all you need right there. Take your surf lessons with Zigo (spelling?). He is a cool guy!! Surfers like that beach - I saw an international surf champion walking around the town! Yet the beach doesn't seem too crowded during the week. Rancho Estero rents some surfboards, but they tend to keep some on reserver for their students it seems so don't make renting there your only plan. Have plan B especially during high season.||||Cleanliness: Every day there is someone cleaning every bungalow, the two bathrooms and showers and overall for a very Eco/outdoorsy cabanas place it's clean. The sheets smell nice :) Plus!||||Rooms/Cabanas: Mosquito nets. Super smart idea. Most bungalows do not have a private bathroom but one or two DO. I saw 5 or 6 major cabanas, maybe there are more and I didn't notice. Probably the best one has an ample terrace with the best view and hammocks that guests are allowed to use within reason, but are told to stay away from in the late evening/night out of courtesy to the official renter. Another cabana is just a one queen bed. There is one by the common area with two queens, and another 2 or 3 closer to the bathrooms. One of those sleeps 6! So you can bring friends, or do something cozy with two queen beds or one queen bed: they have options.||||Service:||Everyone was chill, nice, talkative, helpful, could tell you the "how to" get around, where to get what you need. Interesting, down-to-earth, warm people. Great!||||Payment:||It's a bit tricky getting payment to them if you have your money stuck in your bank account or credit card. Easiest way is simply BRING IT IN CASH. I got chased around by one of the staff because of that. It's understandable I'm sure they've been stood up often enough.||||Other:||- Hot showers! YAY!||- Refrigerators.||- Gas stove/oven||- Toaster oven||- Sometimes low water pressure, other times water pressure is great.||- Free Wifi. Note: it's decent considering how far out Sta Catalina is. I was able to work there fine when it came to attaching small documents, but do not expect to run a Skype call and upload or download big documents. Just won't happen.||- They have washers/dryers on premises but I'm not 100% sure if they have laundry service.||||The...

Value: definitely good on value. Some places in the area charge almost as much as Rancho Estero and yet they don't have a view, individual huts (read: privacy). Rancho Estero is right on the beach, so when it's beachtime or surftime you just walk down some stairs and voila. You have arrived.||||Location: Lovely view. Perched on a tiny hill right next to the beach. Felt great just being there and relaxing. It's difficult to explain "location" in a place where things are spread out from each other, but they aren't great distances. Just 2-"lane" dirt roads. So you take a dirt road to get to Rancho Estero, and there are other restaurants and B&B right next door so you aren't exactly alienated. The mini supermarket is about a 20min walk. Take your flashlight. Roads are not lit.||||Extras: if you are interested in surf or already surf, I think you've got all you need right there. Take your surf lessons with Zigo (spelling?). He is a cool guy!! Surfers like that beach - I saw an international surf champion walking around the town! Yet the beach doesn't seem too crowded during the week. Rancho Estero rents some surfboards, but they tend to keep some on reserver for their students it seems so don't make renting there your only plan. Have plan B especially during high season.||||Cleanliness: Every day there is someone cleaning every bungalow, the two bathrooms and showers and overall for a very Eco/outdoorsy cabanas place it's clean. The sheets smell nice :) Plus!||||Rooms/Cabanas: Mosquito nets. Super smart idea. Most bungalows do not have a private bathroom but one or two DO. I saw 5 or 6 major cabanas, maybe there are more and I didn't notice. Probably the best one has an ample terrace with the best view and hammocks that guests are allowed to use within reason, but are told to stay away from in the late evening/night out of courtesy to the official renter. Another cabana is just a one queen bed. There is one by the common area with two queens, and another 2 or 3 closer to the bathrooms. One of those sleeps 6! So you can bring friends, or do something cozy with two queen beds or one queen bed: they have options.||||Service:||Everyone was chill, nice, talkative, helpful, could tell you the "how to" get around, where to get what you need. Interesting, down-to-earth, warm people. Great!||||Payment:||It's a bit tricky getting payment to them if you have your money stuck in your bank account or credit card. Easiest way is simply BRING IT IN CASH. I got chased around by one of the staff because of that. It's understandable I'm sure they've been stood up often enough.||||Other:||- Hot showers! YAY!||- Refrigerators.||- Gas stove/oven||- Toaster oven||- Sometimes low water pressure, other times water pressure is great.||- Free Wifi. Note: it's decent considering how far out Sta Catalina is. I was able to work there fine when it came to attaching small documents, but do not expect to run a Skype call and upload or download big documents. Just won't happen.||- They have washers/dryers on premises but I'm not 100% sure if they have laundry service.||||The...

My partner and I stayed here for 2 weeks in paradise. The vibe is extremely chill and the hosts Elli and Zigor were great. The main bonus, other than the great views, is the fact that you share a kitchen with the other guests. There are fridges in which you can put your food, and everything that you need to make yourself a meal. This is a huge plus for travelling on a budget, and from what we saw around, is a unique feature for the location).The resort has its own water filtration system so you can drink the water right from the tap with zero issues (as opposed to needing to buy water like the other places around). You are steps from the beach, but can also chill in the many hammocks available throughout the resort. The whole place is small, with 7 or 8 bamboo huts and cabins, so you get to know the travellers that come and go. A walk to town (Santa Catalina) will take you 20min. There are 2 small mercados there to buy essentials. There are restaurants along the way too. So no need to stray far for a meal. Try the Argentinean Restaurant called Los Pibes. On the road towards Santa Catalina on the left.||||To get there from Panama City is easy, but takes almost an entire day. Take the bus from Albrook station to Sona (milk run of about 5 hrs), and then a smaller bus from Sona to Santa Catalina (local bus that takes about 1.5 -2 hrs). When you get to Santa Catalina, ask the driver to drop you off at Rancho Estero, sometimes if you're nice, they will :).||As for surfing, my partner is a beginner-intermediate surfer and had no problems there. And for me, a non surfer, the beach is simply amazing. At high season, we counted 20 people total on the beach on a week day. It's quiet and peaceful. Weekends are busy, and the locals provide ample music from their vehicles below on the beach to keep you entertained. But by 11pm, all was done. ||We walked to other hostels around Playa Estero and none compare to Rancho Estero's vibe. ||Oh, and another bonus, the wifi is sketchy...so leave your phone in your bag and enjoy the beach, read a book while sitting in a hammock, or spend some time chatting with the other guests...it will do you wonders.||||Hoping one day to go back. Or at least to send friends and...