We absolutely loved this place. We’d looked at it many times but I’d always dismissed it as thought it didn’t have any air-conditioning and whilst I don’t mind the heat, I do like to be able to sleep in cool temps. We suddenly discovered the Matapalo Suites do have air con. There are just two of these to the right of reception. They have a flat board walk so are ideal for anyone not liking lots of steps or I’m sure they are designed for wheelchair access too.
We’ve driven all over Costa Rica but didn’t want to spend the time on the long drive down, as we’ve done half that busy highway before, so opted to catch the flight to the small airport at Puerto Jimenez. We booked ourselves and it was an easy transfer from San Jose. They do weigh you and your luggage (inbound and outbound flight). (We left some luggage at the Marriott in San Jose). The airport is literally a runway strip that pulls up next to a cemetery! The drivers meet you at the edge of the runway strip by a gate, so it was easy to find the driver wearing a LR shirt! They have a private building where you can get a drink and bathrooms before your drive to the resort. It’s quite a bumpy road. Not far as the crow flys, just bumpy with pot holes. I was told if you drove there, they’d provide detailed instructions about the bridges you can drive over and the ones where you cross through the river. I imagine after heavy rain this could be quite exciting. The drivers know every pot hole. It takes about an hour. It’s really not a long distance it’s just the road or lack of!
We arrived at the most wonderful place in the forest with birds flying around and monkeys in the trees. The property is really pretty and nicely designed. There are two main areas for dining, either the main restaurant or by the bar area just up from the pool. Both have amazing scenic views down to the sea. The food throughout our trip was fantastic and whilst the portions are not massive, there’s so much food with three courses we had more than we needed! It’s not only delicious but presented beautifully every time. It was a delight to eat every meal. Our favorite pudding was the passionfruit cheesecake. But we loved breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was such a relaxed experience and a pleasure to just sit and look at the view and the wildlife. The menu changed daily and there were lots of choices and a particularly thoughtful and exciting vegetarian menu. I’m not vegetarian but several times I chose this option as they were so creative and delicious. (We were also in the bar one day and the chef asked us to try a couple of dishes they were planning to add to the menu and asked for comments!). The service was great and the staff friendly and very attentive. They quickly learnt our names and our preferences. I was even brought a drink before I'd asked for it by one of the team who knew what I'd order! We had a great time talking to the team. You could order a bottle of wine and if you only drunk half they’d label it for you and you could then have it the next night. Why don’t all places do this? We enjoyed sitting in the bar. You can even have food by the lovely pool. They also serve coffee and cakes in the main lobby for anyone with early morning departures on trips.
We really liked our room and were very pleased with the choice. It looked brand new and really stylish. I did use the air con but I did not hear of any other guests during our stay saying they were hot or struggling to cool down. The massive bathroom didn’t have air con, but I was happy we had aircon In the main bedroom. Everything in our suite was thoughtfully chosen. We had plenty of cupboard space for clothes, a bed looking straight out at the wonderful view. Glass windows all round. The bathroom had an indoors and outdoors shower. (They provided shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion, along with bug spay). Our suite had a wooden door up the pathway so you were completely shielded from view. There were seats outside, a swing bed and lounger beds. There was a large overhanging verandah with a long bench so when you came back you could sit under this if it was raining, to take your shoes off and not get wet before entering the room. There was even a tap with hose to wash your shoes down and a drying wrack. (The walks are muddy!) Umbrellas in the doorway. They’d thought of everything.
In the morning they deliver coffee to your room and leave it outside in a thermos flask. This was great.
We did lots of trips on site. If you do any of the off site tours you will need to go back down to the main town so that adds an hour to trips like fishing, or whale watching (we’ve done that before and been to the nearby Osa peninsular NP, so decided not to go again as even from this hotel it takes so long to get there. In all honesty, the area around the hotel is teaming with wildlife, you almost don’t need to leave to see it. We went to see the birds and were not disappointed. You can do morning and evening bird watching tours and we did these a few times - each time we saw different birds and wildlife. We went on guided walks through the forest (The Ridge Trail) as well as a walk down to the beach (Matapalo Beach Walk) and the night walk. The hotel does have a private beach but it’s hard to find unless you know where to go as the entrance is not marked. It is walkable from the hotel but it’s a walk down a steep hill and it’s somehow much steeper on the way back! We did walk back once in the pouring rain and decided on the second occasion we’d use the walkie talkies, we’d found in the room and get the jeep service back. They pick you up at the small bus stop!! They provide Wellington Boots for walks - highly recommended as your feet would get soaked in normal boots as you wade through streams, and muddy pot holes. The hut where you meet was like a shoe shop for just waterproof boots so the right size for everyone. The walking sticks were very useful. They have guide books, torches and binoculars. We loved all the guided walks. We were even lucky enough to see a whole group of about 30 Peccaries - we smelt them before we heard them. Plus stumbled across Scarlet Macaws at the beach sitting in a tree. Didn’t need binoculars for that!
Our room was surrounded by wildlife we had the daily monkey parade and we were sure at times the howler monkeys were actually dancing on our roof. You can watch scarlet macaws fly by, toucans, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, capuchin monkeys lizards, frogs, snakes, Coatimundi’s …. Just so much wildlife just around the resort. The guides have also seen a tapir.
We loved everything about our stay at this hotel. The lovely staff were the icing on the cake and many have been with the hotel for 30 years. If I had to offer a negative to balance my review, it’s not cheap, but it truly was worth it. Happy to highly recommend this one! Loved every minute of it.
