If you are looking for basic clean accommodation isolated from any noise and people, you found it for a good price! It was super clean, everything was working well, surrounded by so many animals, butterflies, birds, and insects lol can't escape those! This was a cook my own food and be alone week, would be perfect for a couple too, you can make all the noise you want! lol It is not a luxurious hotel, far from that, it is basic, good value and clean.
However it is far from the beach, 30min walk, personally i was hitchhiking to the beach all the time or finding rides here and there, in one week only once i had to walk the 30mins, in the end it's only a nice walk ;) Having a rented motorbike would be perfect.

If you are looking for quiet and secluded, Rancho Cecilia is for you! Their cabanas are simple but clean and comfortable. The solar power was pretty finnicky for us: our power cut out several times on our first day, leaving us without a fan for 15 minutes at a time, which we did not particularly enjoy. But it seemed to sort itself out and worked just fine that night and on our second day.

Liz and Scott were welcoming and helpful. They supplied us with aloe vera and bandages when we got a bit too sunburned for our own good, which we appreciated.

However, we felt pretty misled about how far the property was from the beach. We rented a motorcycle and would have been totally stranded without it. You are a solid 10 minutes driving from the beach-- and with all the hills, I can't see how you could walk there in less than 40. Make no mistake: this is not a beach property. You can't see, hear or smell the ocean here. It's not a bad option if you have private transportation: it's quite, clean, comfortable and cheap(er). But it was a different experience than what we were expecting for sure.

We decided to go with Rancho Cecilia because their prices were about half of those of the beachfront hotels, but by the time we paid for our motorcycle rental, it was almost awash for us. In the end, although Rancho Cecilia and its people were lovely, we found ourselves wishing we had sprung for something that felt like we were actually staying at the beach.

Rancho Cecilia was definitely not for us. My friend and I were originally looking at staying 3 nights, but left after the first.
The place is VERY secluded. They neither serve breakfast nor any other meal or drinks (when reading these reviews, I'm getting the impression they might have done so in the past), so you'll have to head out for everything (or cook yourself).

They say on their website (and when you ask them directly) that the beach is a 20min walk away - I'd say it's rather 40 mins if you walk fast. Calculate more than an hour if you're a family with kids.

They do not provide a shuttle from the Rancho to the beach (unlike many other accomodations in the area do), nor will you get free bikes or scooters. You can rent bikes or scooters for 5 or 20 $ a day. The bikes we got were completely unusable though: no brakes, no gear, no light. One of them actually broke down in a pretty dangerous way and left us hitchhiking back from the beach. Also, when renting a bike (or walking to the beach, for that matter) keep in mind that there's a very steep hill in between which you'll definitely not be able to master on a bike without gear.

What disappointed us most, though, besides the inaccurate information as to how far away the beach was, is the far too promising list of activities on their website: from yoga, to surfing, to horseback-riding. They do not offer any of these activities nor do they provide a shuttle service for you to actually take part in these activities. The list they provide is just things that other hotels and surf shops in the area provide, but you'll have to organise booking the activity, getting to and from these places etc. yourself.

We also had more ants, spiders and other insects in our bedroom than we've seen in any of the cheapest dorms we stayed at (including places in the jungle).

Regarding prices: If you see the price of 55$ per night, keep in mind this doesn't include VAT (17%), so you'll actually end up with a far higher rate. In our opinion, there are many other places in the area that offer better value for less money.
To be fair: Liz did pay us back the third night (we had to pay the second though, even if we left after the first, as minimum stay was 2 nights). She claimed she'd had to turn other guests down for us, which didn't really make sense to us as one of the 3 cabañas was empty at the time.

So, I'd say if you want the beach and some things going on (even if just a restaurant or bar), I recommend you do not book Rancho Cecilia.