Shawandha Lodge

Given the worst room in the hotel. Unhelpful staff small room single beds nowhere to put bags charged for breaking a glass trying to find the only plug socket! Lighting dim noisy as near road and reception was supposed to stay 3 nights had to move after suffering just one night. Pizza was like cardboard. Cuts in blew on head all night just to top it off.

Really lovely stay, great location with a real jungle lodge feel, yes there are parts that need a little updating but this does not effect the experience. Booked the superior plus ac lodge which was perfect and very clean. What makes this place amazing is the staff who can’t do enough for you! Kevin was our particular favourite!

What a fabulous place. Beautiful lodge in the jungle. Individual cabins set amongst the jungle, just close enough to hear the scream from the neighbouring lodge when whatever bug got in. The bathroom you see is open to the jungle, I mean properly open. Just a small wall for shower fittings, then jungle. My wife's first scream was when the local cat decided to jump over the wall while she was showering. Not sure who was most scared, as it left sharpish. The following night, the biggest member of the cockroach family Megaloblattis Longipennis, the non pest kind, managed to limbo under the bathroom door into the bedroom. It just fitted under a pint glass. After my heroic trapping and removal safely back to the wild, calm was restored. I was very proud of my wife sticking it out for 3 nights, but she enjoyed the place and the wildlife wandering and flying about. Don't let any of that put you off. This is a great spot to be in. The staff were excellent. Special mention to Daniella, who was bubbly, informative, spoke excellent English and generally a pleasure to deal with. Nothing was too much trouble. A mine of local information on anything needed for your day out, or evening meal. This would be 5 stars, but the breakfast was a bit lame. There was a bit of fresh fruit, a toaster that eventually toasted and a chef making omelettes or fried eggs, but it all felt like a very limited choice. You also get to share your breakfast with some adorable little bees. A honey or jam pot placed at the edge of the table kept them away from everything else, so we all got along trouble free. If we go back to Puerto Viejo, this is where we're staying.

We were sadly very disappointed by our stay at Shawandha. We were sold by the great overall reviews and photos - however, we ignored some of the more recent reviews which outlined similar issues that we ultimately went through. So if you're like me and put a lot of thought and care into planning trips, I would not recommend staying here. The hotel has seen better days and is overpriced for what it offers. The photos look bright and lovely but sadly, in reality, our bungalow (#15) was dark, dusty and not very clean with dozens of mold spots on the walls in the bathrooms. The bed and pillows are old, sagging and uncomfortable and they don't seem to have been changed or updated in years (and in the heat of the jungle with no A/C, these things need it). The whole bungalow felt like it needed a lot more care and attention - especially considering the price. It is significantly more expensive than other (and better) hotels/B&Bs in the area, some of which we have stayed in before. The bungalows also don't provide a mini fridge, which again considering the price feels like a small and common courtesy for guests to keep snacks, breakfast items, drinks (again, in the heat of the jungle you can't keep much food out). The hotel was also routinely doing various construction projects during the day, which was incredibly noisy and unpleasant. The area surrounding the hotel is also not very quiet - you can hear cars and motorcycles on the street, other guests, and neighbors who play loud music. Do not think that it will be an immersive experience in nature. Breakfast is extremely disappointing and not even worth getting up to eat for, which was a big reason we chose this hotel and were ok paying a bit more for it. The food is mediocre and left out in the heat. The hotel also has an infestation of carpenter bees in the breakfast area, which they say is because of the time of year, but no where else in the area has the same issue and no other place we've ever stayed in has them. The bees are harmless but there are dozens if not more surrounding the food and tables. There were some brighter spots - the staff are lovely and welcoming. The lobby is clean and feels much closer to the photos. We didn't try the pool but it looked nice - and feels like a great plus for families. The beach is a short walk away. Also, our bungalow (#15) had a much more private balcony than most of the others, which was a nice plus. However, I would never return to this hotel nor recommend it to anyone. We planned this trip with care and detail - it's costly and time consuming to get to this part of Costa Rica but we love it here. It's our second time returning to Puerto Viejo. So it was extremely disappointing to spend as much money as we did on a hotel that doesn't properly care about its guests or the experience of staying there.

The place was good, surrounded by nature. However at the Check-out I was told to wait a minute for the maid to check the room to make sure everything inside was okay. I have been in many hotels before, worldwide and I have never been told something like that. Even when they already had my card information in their files. I felt discriminated by this spanish accent receptionist. And the breakfast, was acceptable not a big deal. Overall I would give a 3 out of 5 starts.

Unfortunately, we were seduced by the beautiful pictures on the net, which must be a „little older “. Our bungalow did not correspond to the description - so the windows had no panes, but only nets. With it you can live well in the jungle, after all you can follow the outside noises perfectly. But the nets were badly damaged. The mattresses were through and under the sheets you should also better not look. When a heavy rain fell, the power initially went out for a long time - even if you are surprised that there is no generator or the garden apparently not well kept in a hotel of this category, also okay. However, we had to find that a huge tree in the parking lot had fallen on several cars and motorcycle rental cars. Our car was also affected-total damage. Not to imagine if we had arrived at the hotel a few minutes later. No one can do anything for that, but for the subsequent handling. We were virtually expelled from the hotel. Communication with police, car rental etc. were not possible. However, the promise to reimburse our accommodation costs - we had just moved into the room - was not respected in retrospect: ******* as our travel portal referred to the rejection by the hotel. The Shawandha Lodge, in turn, referred to the cancellation policy. Multiple emails and phone calls with employees of the facility could not result in a refund.