I'm a business owner in Guanacaste and have lived here since 2003 and was compelled to advise people that this is by far the best getaway for everyone. Set on a palm covered cliff side over looking a open ocean reef, and Playa blanca, a small secluded white sand beach. The rooms are spacious, the restaurant was excellent, and service was outstanding! I recommend spending time here with family, friends, and definitely romantic interests...I will be back soon Donny Reid!More
My husband and I stayed at the Iquanazul hotel in February. We've stayed at this hotel off and on (mostly on) since 1998. I guess it's obvious that we love the place. It is under new ownership now and the new owner, Donny, is very personable and friendly. All the other reviews seemed to cover the new bedding etc. so I'll just say collaborate what they said and say the rooms are very comfortable and clean.
The food was excellent. We had the seared tuna one night which was fresh and approaching "briefcase" size. It was served with mashed potatoes and a ton of perfectly cooked vegetables. Love the breakfast here too. The eggs are always perfect no matter which way they're prepared.....and the coffee; drink it black to truly enjoy the robust, dark roast flavor!
The staff at the hotel are top notch. We were especially happy to see that some the original staff remain at the hotel. Roberto, Arturo and Adolfo are like family. I can't say enough good things about them. They are all super helpful and knowledgeable of the surrounding area and wildlife plus have good suggestions for places to visit around the country.
We will keep coming back as long as the Iquanazul is there to make our experience in Costa Rica complete!
We're so glad you love the NEW Hotel Iguanazul! You can always refer to the new website at hoteliguanazul.com and our Facebook and Twitter pages to find out what's going on at the hotel. Can't wait to see you back!
We started off by staying at the JW Marriott in Playa Manzita. The hotel was very nice and the staff was outstanding. After a few days we fell upon a small hotel on Playa Blanca beach. The hotel has 25 rooms and has the best beach in Costa Rica and view. The rooms are a little rustic but the bed is wonderful. The staff is extremely friendly and the food was good. All of the food and water is safe.
We found that we prefer a smaller boutique hotel over a large resort. This is truly a very hidden treasure and will be back next year.
In the local area we found great restaurants. If you're looking for pizza Kon Tiki Wood Over Pizza (GREAT)! A well hidden secret The Beach Box for breakfast or lunch.
Highly recommended
Thanks so much for your review Staci! We're delighted that you enjoyed our little paradise by the sea and we look forward to seeing you again on your next trip to Costa Rica! Pura Vide!
My brother and I had the pleasure of staying at the Hotel Iguanazul for one night during our one week trip to explore Costa Rica.
I was not expecting such a beautiful spot directly in the ocean. The pictures were deceiving on there website.
The beaches were beautiful and the local kids were out chasing schools of fish in the surf with a fishing line and a hook. Very cool!
The restaurant was five star! And sitting around watching the sunset and chatting with the other guests was so relaxing.
We spend hours snorkeling out in front of the hotel exploring sea life in the morning.
I would strongly recommend you visit here.
I will be coming back again soon.
Hi Ian,
Thanks so much for your review! We're delighted that you had a wonderful time at the Hotel Iguanazul and hope that you'll come back and visit us soon!
While I was on vacation in January, we stayed at Hotel Iguanazul. We woke one more to find that a large part of a tree had fallen on top of our car in the hotel parking lot. We didn't notice any damage at that time but on checkout we found two large dents. We promptly let front desk know and he said we had to contact the owner who, conveniently, wasn't there. We sent an email as well as images and didn't receive any response back, not even a message apologising for the terrible event that happened on the hotel property. Beware if you stay here.
Hi Catherine,
I am so sorry to hear that you had a negative experience at the Hotel Iguanazul.
I was not informed of your incident and only discovered it upon reading this review. Again, I sincerely apologize. We've just taken over the hotel and are training the staff. This is my fault for not having a process in place to deal with complaints yet. (there will be now though, I promise)
Can you please send me the details on what happened and when and I will respond via email? Thank you so much.
Jacquie
Director of Marketing and Communications
jacquie@hoteliguanazul.com
We would not return. Spiders and ants in room, terrible dinner, overpriced, pool dirty, BUT the sunset was beautiful.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#.
Hi Linda,
I'm so sorry to hear that you had a negative experience at the Hotel Iguanazul. I apologize. We're just in the process of re-training all of the staff and I suspect that the process of doing so is not yet complete.
Can you please email me with the details? I'd like to bring it to the attention of our management team who are on site and see if we can make sure this never happens again.
Thank you so much and, again, I am very sorry to hear that your stay was unsatisfactory.
Best,
Jacquie
<jacquie@hoteliguanazul.com>
