Villa El Carmen Vacations from $608

The beach, facilites and overall the staff.

Fantastic Eco Lodge with excellent food, many options for activities, and top of the line service. Highly recommend, especially for couples and romantic getaways.

Pros: beautiful property in the middle of the jungle, private beach, and delicious food at the restaurant. They were very kind to upgrade our room close to the beach. It was a beautiful 2-story villa with a kitchen, private pool, a balcony, and AC in the bedroom. Cons: lack of honesty and services Leading up to the trip, we received a few emails telling us about all the activities and services available in the resort. They offered complementary hiking and snorkeling, and we could pay for yoga classes, spa treatments, romantic packages, and activities such as surfing, hikes on Mombacho and Omepete island, etc. None of that was available once we got there. We asked the reception to book activities and they said they would call amd organize them. They never did. After a few days, we decided to book them ourselves through tour websites. We even asked them to call a nearby golfing course and they said they would. After 3 days, they said the golf course hadn't answered yet. My partner emailed the golf course and we got a response within 5 minutes. The staff at the reception were very kind, but not helpful and the lack of honestly from the management really disappointed us. The restaurant staff were always great and the service was excellent. The reception even gave us the wrong opening hours for the restaurant so we showed up late one evening. The staff were still there and were so extremely kind to prepare us a meal even after closing.

The location of this hotel is stunning. The view from our room was breathtaking and the room itself was amazing. However, during our stay the hotel was experiencing plumbing issues and there was no running water in the room and no other open rooms had functioning plumbing. Staff brought up water to flush toilets and wash our hands. A shower would have been welcomed after the long hot day. I was disappointed no discount was provided as we were unable to fully use the facilities in the room. I would still return again (as long as the water is functional).