La Mariposa Hotel

Our stay at La Mariposa left us with very mixed feelings. The hotel boasts stunning natural surroundings and magnificent views, but disappoints in many areas when it comes to service and attention to detail. The rooms themselves are beautiful, very spacious, and offer breathtaking views of the sea and the sunrise. A definite highlight is the wildlife right on the hotel grounds: you regularly see monkeys, macaws, parrots, and many other animals. The bed was actually quite comfortable, however, the wooden wall paneling behind it had a drawback: it squeaked so loudly with every slight movement that I woke up every time my husband turned over in the night. Unfortunately, the service was a letdown from the very beginning. Even at check-in at reception, we were repeatedly and very emphatically told that check-out was at 11:00 a.m. sharp – this didn't exactly feel welcoming. Even after that, we found the reception staff to be less than customer-oriented: When we asked for bath towels, we were simply told they were in the room (which wasn't true). When we asked for filtered bottled water, we were met with a shrug and told to drink the tap water. If you don't tolerate tap water well, such a reaction is extremely disappointing. Even at breakfast, our simple request for a sharper knife to cut fruit was simply refused. Breakfast also left a mixed impression. A huge compliment goes to the service staff at breakfast. The employees were incredibly friendly and attentive; on the last day, they even knew without being asked that I wanted almond milk with my coffee. The egg station was delicious. However, the buffet itself was very meager by Costa Rican standards: hardly any fruit selection, only two juices, and no options for people with lactose or gluten intolerances (such as lactose-free yogurt). The transfer to the beach is convenient: There's a hotel shuttle that runs down to the sea four times a day. Alternatively, you can simply take the public bus, which only costs about $1, as the journey is quite short. Down at the beach, a small surf shop collaborates with the hotel. There you can rent lounge chairs – two chairs including a parasol cost $15, and four chairs with a tent cost $30 – it's a shame that this isn't included in the room price! There are also shortcomings in terms of maintenance and service at the hotel itself. Housekeeping was inconsistent – ​​sometimes the coffee was refilled, sometimes it was simply forgotten. The pool area is particularly disappointing and desperately needs a makeover: My son cut his feet on broken, sharp-edged tiles. Furthermore, there is absolutely no service at the pool. You have to walk up to the bar yourself for every drink, and used dishes and empty cans were left lying around on the tables from afternoon until dinner. In conclusion: The location, view, and natural surroundings are fantastic, but the service, reception, breakfast selection, and upkeep of the grounds unfortunately don't justify the price.

It is a big mystery how this hotel got this score! If you check my profile you see that I do not give bad reviews, out of 136 reviews now. But this one I cannot skip! 3 insects frozen in the ice of my child, very very worn out old dirty rooms. And the crew do not have a clue what hospitality is. You are just not welcome. It's ridiculous this place. We've been in a total of 12 hotels in this beautiful country and all were so nice with friendly staff. So be smart and just skip this one. Let the photos speak for itself

Just finished a wonderful 4 night stay. Excellent stunning views. Incredibly clean and modern rooms. Very attentive and polite and helpful staff. The location is very convenient and steps to several good restaurants, the public bus stop or market. Only area for suggestion is to have more food service at the poolside. But overall highly recommend staying here for a peaceful experience.

Very expensive but worth every penny! It was perfect for our special occassion. We stayed there in June 2026, off season so not crowded. It is the oldest hotel in MA so they got the best real estate, high on hill with beautiful ocean views! Old, but has lots of character and elegance! The entire property is beautifully landscaped. We had an ocean view room #36. An entire wall was sliding glass doors to balcony with georgous ocean view. There is a sloth that sleeps in their roof rafters, so incredible. Hotel was old but still very nice. We went fishing, caught tuna, the boat captain fileted for us, the hotel chef cooked it for us, we had a tunaFEST. We saw iguanas, monkeys and macaws on property. We rented a car, plenty of parking. The morning breakfast was great, huge spread with a live omelet station. The restaurant is completely open air, with beautiful ocean views. And amazingly no insects! They have 3 infinity pools, cool, normal and hot. The air bubbles didn't work in the hot. Some family stayed in a garden room. It was enormous, they had monkeys on their balcony! With a car we did not use the hotel shuttle. All of the staff were nice, warm, friendly and attentive. They have a sweet hotel cat, kept us from missing ours at home. We had a great guided tour at the MA National Park. Go parasailing at the beach! (Btw - you don't have to pay to park along the beach road, they are parking pirates!) All in all a terrific stay!!!

I really really wanted to LOVE this hotel - it was our last stop on our trip and I couldnt wait. I 10000% agree with the review a few before mine. This hotel was probably amazing 10-20 years ago but it has long expired from being a top resort. The location is outstanding. Best location in all of Manuel Antonio I am sure. The view of the ocean is incredible... however everything else left very little to be desired. We booked 2 rooms with the oceanview.... If you're going to stay here that is the only possible way to make it worth it. Both rooms had 2 queen beds which was a bummer. For that view and that price you would think one would be a King but not a big deal. The room was basic. TV's didnt work. The shared patio and view from there was great. But that is where it ended. There were a ton of bugs/critters/lizards in our room. Ok you are in CR, that is somewhat to be expected. But it didnt end. We would get two out and 3 more would appear. There had to be an issue with the room itself. The pool area was out dated. The pool bar closed. No staff anywhere to be found. We were told it was their "Slow season". No towels available by the pool. Lounge chairs out dated and cheap. "Jacuzzi" was not heated so it was just another "pool".... No staff on property after 10pm -- only person is the security guard. Food was terrible and expensive. Other than the view, the only other cool thing was there is a lot of animal sightings here. We saw many Squirrel monkeys all around as well as Howler monkeys. It was pretty cool to sit on the balcony and watch the sunrise and hear the howler monkeys in the valley. This hotel bc of location and wildlife alone could be a 5* property IF someone came and put some real money into it. Currently I would say its a 2.5* at best.We actually ended up changing hotels bc we had too many issues with critters in our room.

I loved it, my first time at the hotel. Great location, just 1km from Biesanz, which is my favorite beach. Don Alan was incredibly helpful and attentive. The breakfast was delicious. The pools had a great view. The room had a comfortable bed, and mine had a sea view. ❤️‍🔥

I have been booking Hotel La Mariposa for clients for many years as well as visiting myself on many occasions. I love this hotel and the staff is always delightful and willing to go the extra mile. Their customer service stands out as being consistently top-notch and their grounds and the VIEW are simply BEAUTIFUL! There are multiple pools to enjoy and La Mariposa is in great walking distance to shops, cafés, ice cream parlors and other restaurants. La Mariposa also provides some of the best sunset views in the world and I would certainly consider this the best hotel in Manuel Antonio and highly recommend it to others!

We stayed for two nights at La Mariposa and it was beautiful!!! The views from our room and the hotel were just stunning and jaw dropping!! The ambience was amazing and beautiful!! The staff were all so helpful and courteous!! The food was great!! I highly recommend La Mariposa for a family stayed or for a couple! Loved it!!!

Stunning view

Stayed here for the last 3 nights of our honeymoon. I truly believe this hotel relies solely on its amazing view to justify their prices and their advertisement as a world class hotel. The pros of staying here: incredible views, great breakfast included, and easy walk to downtown Manuel Antonio. The bad: rooms are incredibly outdated for what you are paying for. TV didn't work, appliances are old, and it just isn't a very pretty room. Our shower didn't drain on the first night, we told front desk staff about it the following morning, they said they'd fix it immediately - came back from the beach that day and it was not fixed. Another issue we ran into was with the free shuttle to and from the beach. Front desk staff told us there would be a marked vehicle with the hotel name picking us up from the beach at 4:40. At 4:50, a man in an unmarked sedan with blacked out windows told us he was there to pick us up from the La Mariposa - in an area full of scammers, how were we supposed to just trust that this was a person with the hotel? We called the hotel and they confirmed this was our ride, but it was unnerving to say the least. Finally, the dinner at Le Papillon was incredible for views, but the food was not that great for the egregious prices they charged (200$ for two people to eat without any alcohol or appetizers). After staying at cheaper resorts and hotels in La Fortuna and Monteverde, we expected this one to be the grand finale of our trip and we were let down. Next time we are in MA we will be staying somewhere else, hopefully a bit closer to the beach too!

Where do I begin? Let’s start with, DO NOT STAY HERE. We paid for two separate rooms to accommodate our party of 4. However, one of the rooms was completely uninhabitable (room 63) due to a severe, active pest infestation. As a direct result of this health and safety hazard, four adults were forced to crowd into a single room (room 62) for the entire three-night stay. The hotel management refused to issue a refund Upon arrival, we simply dropped off our suitcases and left the property for the day. We never used or slept in the room, and never opened the balcony doors. When we returned in the evening, the room was heavily infested with bugs. We tried calling front desk immediately that same night, no one answered. We even walked over to the front desk at night, no one was present. NO STAFF ON SITE at night is an immediate safety concern. Failed Remediation: The next morning the hotel staff acknowledged the issue and offered to "deep clean" the room. We agreed and waited. However, when we went back to inspect the room after this supposed “cleaning” bugs were still crawling everywhere. This proves a deep-seated, active infestation that the hotel can’t just “deep clean”. Inadequate Alternative Offered: The hotel acknowledged the room was unusable by offering to move us to a different room. However, this room was further away from our first room. We explicitly explained to management that we required adjacent rooms due to my mother’s health conditions, medication needs, and requirement for constant medical observation. No Other Accommodations Available: The hotel stated they were completely fully booked and had no other adjacent or nearby options. Because the hotel refused to issue a refund on-site, we couldn’t book a second room at an entirely new hotel last minute. Forced Overcrowding out of Necessity: Left with zero viable options, no refund, and a vulnerable parent to care for, we were forced out of absolute necessity to squeeze four adults into one single room for three nights. The hotel charged us full price for two rooms while delivering only one safe, habitable room. FALSE ACCUSATIONS BY STAFF: Front desk staff have falsely claimed that we left the balcony doors open. This is completely untrue. The infestation was present immediately upon our return, and the failure of their own deep-cleaning process proves the issue was structural, not environmental or caused by us. Because the hotel failed to provide the second habitable room that we paid for, and because there were no alternative accommodations available in the area, our trip was severely disrupted, stressful, and unsafe. Hotel staff was rude, condescending and totally unprofessional, people I’ve communicated with Hector and Manfried Arias. AVOID THIS HOTEL AT ALL COSTS.