On the beach, snorkelling, surfing, kayaking
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Reviews of Hotel Buddha San Juanillo

2.5 out of 5
Hotel Buddha San Juanillo
Frente de la Plaza Deportiva, Cuajiniquil

Reviews

6.2
Rating 10 - Excellent. 1 out of 13 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 6 out of 13 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 2 out of 13 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 1 out of 13 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 3 out of 13 reviews" "

7.4/10

Cleanliness

7.8/10

Staff & service

6.8/10

Amenities

6.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Angelina

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great Place to stay near the beach! Tasty food and good service! Definitely will be back!
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024

2/10 Terrible

Edgar

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023

4/10 Poor

Jorge

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Truly an experience not to repeat. I consider that it was not a real hotel, because there was no real reception, only a person in charge of giving you the keys and from there, you never have contact with anyone responsible again. The condition of the room is far from what is seen in the photos. - I booked a king bed room and got a regular double. - The a/c didn't cool enough, it made a lot of noise, as did the ceiling fan. - There were constant water and electricity cuts, even one of almost 3 hours that made us spend a terrible night. - The pool had a regulation of use until 10:00 p.m., however at midnight there were people in it who even played music with a very high volume and you could not sleep. In short, much to improve for this supposed hotel.
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2023

2/10 Terrible

Alice

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022
Response from Administration on 1 Apr 2022
Unfortunately we weren't able to collect a payment from you since the platform you use doesn't charge for accomodation you were to pay for it and you insist you have paid in advance. Our company doesn't have an agreement with this platform to colect money from customer. it would of be a pleasure to have you over but not with out paying.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Staff & service
Not quite there yet. Pros: beautiful modern quiet room JoseLyn is nice, smiling and helpful. Great communication Cons: We were charged once we had book through Expedia. Turned out out that it came up double the price. Says it’s on the beach, know that it is about a 5 minute walk. The hotel is in town. Wiffs of dumpster or garbage near wall in pool area... No big deal. I had to clean the pool twice, filter was off most of the time we were there. We had an awkward experience checking in -like we were unexpected. We concluded that San Juanillo is a developing town. The Buddha is trying to bring it upwards, but is charging you as if it were already there. Don’t get me wrong the room is great, but the whole experience is not worth the steep price. Included breakfast is a joke (1 or 2 toasts and 2 eggs) compared to what is offered everywhere in Costa Rica (fruits, eggs, rice beans, plantain...) You want a handful of beans? $4 extra! We ended up eating at Soda Las Brisas del Mar. Great food, Tico owned and great prices.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Travelled with family, Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Pros: location, restaurant on site, staff support, A/c, wireless, pool Cons: breakfast is included but is just one every day, rooms need more bed options for families
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The hotel was nice , rooms clean , area very well manicured with a pool . Has an attached restaurant and the food was very good , even vegan selection. 1 block from the beach . Was a pleasent stay
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018

8/10 Good

Klemen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2018

8/10 Good

Mike, Orlando, FL

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A very pleasant surprise!
We booked our trip to Costa Rica at the last minute and this was the only hotel with rooms available on the entire west coast. With no previous reviews, we were a bit concerned, but very pleasantly surprised! Hotel Buddha has been open for less than two months and is located in the delightful village of San Juanillo. The staff are very friendly, the rooms clean and comfortable (with both overhead fans and air conditioning), the pool inviting, and the restaurant quite reasonable with superb food. A beautiful beach is just a short walk away and appears to be very popular with local Costa Ricans. You can hire horses for riding on the beach, go fishing, or swim and snorkel. It is clearly off the beaten path with few tourists around. We stayed two nights, including New Year's Eve, and were treated to hometown fireworks. It is a dirt road most of the way down Route 160 with several streams to cross. A 4WD car is a must. The Ostional National Wildlife Refuge is 20 minutes south and well worth a nighttime visit! We saw 20-25 turtles laying eggs on the beach during a two hour walk. The guide's office in Ostional is clearly marked. Arrive around 6 PM to reserve a spot for the 8:30 PM walk ($10 per person). If you want elegant hotels, shops, and restaurants, head to Nosara, 45 minutes down the coast on Route 160 (this is the closest gas station by the way). Hotel Buddha is perfect if you want a true Costa Rican experience. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2017
Response from Buddha on 8 Jan 2018
Thank you for staying with us!

8/10 Good

patricia

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Hôtel très mignon où nous avons passés qu’une nuit. La chambre était confortable et la douche chaude. Nous avions accès à la piscine et il y avait un parking sécurisé aussi. La plage est à côté dans une petite baie où l’on peut admirer les petits poissons et se baigner tranquillement loin des surfeurs.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023

2/10 Terrible

Albert

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Expert in hospitality tries to scam
We arrived to the hotel to find that the owner had received a booking just for two people. I politely clarified that if that was the case, we would happily honour extra beds, but I would first check with hotels.com. The owner claimed he didn't work with hotels.com, showed very little empathy to figure out the issue while he clarified he was from California, and had traveled the world a lot, knew a lot about how the world works. I'm still trying to figure out why he thought this was relevant to me. He first attempted to charge us for the extra beds (+15% cost). After I proved him that our booking included free extra beds and breakfast, he literally told us to leave the hotel and figure out how to get a refund. He reacted emotionally claiming we had been disrespectful to him. While we were looking for a new hotel on 30/12 lunch time in the area, he decided to provide one extra bed (not two, as our booking made him). Again, claimed that he didn't work with Hotels.com, ONLY expedia, which is not true as I've seen his hotel in multiple platforms. This was a clear attempt to not honor his commitment. After this, everything else was trouble. Thousands of mosquitoes in our room, we ask for help: and he clarifies we are in the jungle. Thanks for the info. 5 cars parked behind ours and we couldn't move the car on time: he asks us to pay the dinner bill before he moves the cars. A real crook. Good luck building up a business, Californian expert.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2018

8/10 Good

Patricia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2018