Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort Member of the Cayuga Collection

Beautiful location and for the most part the service was great. First the pluses ....beach is super and the staff down by the beach was friendly and welcoming and they do a great job of creating safety (lots of lifeguard drills it appeared!) and overall the sense of a lovely vacation feel. There are golf carts to take you everywhere on the property, which is pretty necessary as the property is steep and quite spread out. You just give a call and someone shows up in minutes. Many of the drivers have a great personality, just made it surprising when a few of them seemed not friendly--and for us there was no need to speak English--I was always happy to try my Spanish! Ditto for the staff in the main restaurant--some were friendly and welcoming and a few others were all business and not very welcoming or patient. On with the plus items...the beds are very comfortable, rooms are private and quiet, and the policy of free mini bar snacks (with free restocking) is wonderful! The monkeys and iguanas --and sloths--on the property are terrific. There is a dinner in the beach restaurant on Wednesdays, Sats and Suns and since we were only there for the Wed dinner, I wish that the staff at breakfast had reminded us of it and also, there could be a small guide in the room that would include the beach dinner evening schedule as well as a map of the nature trail --with distances. We wanted to walk it ourselves, without their guide, but didn't have a good sense of the overall length of the trail. There was a little sense that they wanted to encourage us to sign up for their guided (for a fee) walk. The food in the main restaurant was good, but not exceptional and the dinners are quite expensive. The breakfast has many choices and again, it's good but not exceptional--but nice that it's included in the room price. Overall, however, it's a lovely place, clearly the nicest place to stay in Manuel Antonio, but also quite pricey, which you know if you're reading this! Trip.com had the best price by far, at least for November.

Besides being a beautiful rainforest resort on the beach, the staff is welcoming and accommodating. From ensuring we had a room on the 1st floor for my mother, to inviting and engaging conversations, my mother and I felt like we were home. Unfortunately, I endured a severe accident on an excursion off the property. I called the resort, and the concierge team quickly jumped into action, connecting me with an urgent care clinic the resort had a relationship with and knew would provide me the best care. Similarly, they had staff continuously checking on my 71-year-old mother, who was at the resort during the time of the accident. They also ensured food was sent to my room when I returned from the clinic. And, yes, even the food is good at the resort. It's fresh and healthy! I wanted to give a very special thank you to Derian Jimenez and his team, specifically Krishne, who orchestrated my care and supported my mother during a nightmare event. Thank you to Brian Lopez, who always took time to check on me and my mother. I definitely will be returning soon. God bless you guys, and thank you again.