La Mariposa Hotel

We had such a lovely meal while in town! We were not staying here but the appeal was too hard not to resist and we are so glad we walked in the door! It was early afternoon and we needed a break from the heat and as soon as you walk in you are greeted warmly and the breeze from the ocean is magnificent. The staff was attentive and smiling. Margaly was our waitress and she was friendly, efficient and even took a picture for us. The food was perfect, both amount and taste. Wonderful drinks to sip while taking in the views. Highly recommend!

The property itself is beautiful, the views overlook the cliffs and ocean. But the rooms are very outdated, our bathroom mirror light didn’t work, and our balcony door didn’t close fully, which let bugs in. What disappointed me the most was the service here. There was one staff member who was wonderful, he went out of his way to point out animals nearby, like sloths in the trees. Unfortunately, almost everyone else gave off very unwelcoming energy. I’ve traveled to many countries and usually hotel staff are welcoming and want you there, but here I felt like I was bothering them by asking for anything. It started the second we arrived with guy at the entrance gate. He was extremely rude as I was confused how to enter the hotel. He should probably get a different job since he’s so miserable. The free breakfast only went until 9:30 a.m., which already feels unusually early, and every day we came at around 9:15–9:20, we were rushed and given annoyed looks along with rude little comments about the time. It made us feel uncomfortable. In addition we had dinner here one night and our waiter literally rolled his eyes when he recommended 200$ bottles of wine only and we chose a $70 bottle. Overall, the vibe from the staff came across as passive-aggressive and focused on money rather than hospitality. Beautiful hotel but would never stay here again or recommend. No one should feel uncomfortable on their vacation when paying for a “luxury hotel”.

As others have said, the views from La Mariposa can’t be topped. The staff at the front desk was absolutely lovely to speak to and they answered all my questions. They also did not judge me on my very basic Spanish (and even taught my more fluent spouse a bit of “Costa Rican Spanish” when he was using slightly different words for things like towels). When it was raining, we could ask the front desk workers for umbrellas and they provided them for us. One day we accidentally brought back much more sand from the beach than we realized, and it was all over our floor and shower after taking off sandals and bathing suits and rinsing off. Just a quick stop at the front desk and housekeeping was at our room to clean it up quickly. ||The location of the hotel was great. We were able to walk to several restaurants for dinner during our stay (Emilio’s was our favorite and just down the street). The shuttle to the beach was very convenient and the driver dropped us off at the public beach and introduced us to Angelina who we could pay for chairs and umbrellas. Her prices were very reasonable and my son even took a surf lesson from one of her guys. ||We had a premiere ocean view room, which was next to the main building. We barely heard our neighbors on the other side of the shared wall. The only complaint we had about the hotel (which honestly can be said for many places) is that the style of roof does nothing to mask the sound of the rain. We were all kept awake one night as a major thunderstorm rolled through. And one afternoon it poured for several hours (of course when we had no plans except to go to the pool!) and you could hear every rain drop echoing throughout our room. ||We really enjoyed our stay at La Mariposa and are very happy that we chose this hotel.

We rented a casita and thoroughly enjoyed this lovely place. The pools were clean and the bartender Gerald was wonderful. The restaurant was consistently delicious and we always had great service. We wished the shuttle ran more often as driving around town was just too stressful. Other than that we had a perfect stay. The gardens are stunning and multiple kinds of monkeys visited every day. It was so beautiful.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Hotel Mariposa. We loved the view especially from our room and the restaurant! It's breathtaking. We fell in love with the staff as well!! Everyone was so friendly and kind. The restaurant La Papillion is delicious!! Try the octopus appetizer! Next time we are coming back for 2 weeks!!

Simply put, this is a beautiful hotel in a beautiful setting. We booked a corner sunset ocean view room. With two walls of glass and a balcony, the views overlooking Manuel Antonio National Park and the Central Pacific are spectacular. You can also enjoy these views from the patio and restaurant. The staff is exceptional, so friendly and eager to help in any way. Other restaurants (Emilio's), shops and a small grocery store are an easy walk. Manuel Antonio National Park (pay close attention to the entrance requirements) and its beaches are within a short drive or shuttle. We highly recommend La Mariposa and would love to return.||Some travel tips: Don't be bummed by the forecast. The days are mostly clear with storms arriving in the evening. Also, the roads in Costa Rica are poorly marked if at all. If you drive, it is absolutely essential that you have a navigational app like Waze on your smart phone.

I'll be honest that the 3 star rating made me think twice about booking here, but after our visit I'd argue the hotel should be rated 4 stars. Our experience was positive in so many ways - the views are spectacular, room was spacious and very clean, pool area is lovely, and food was good. The hotel has a cat that hangs out in the open reception area and was just such a sweet bonus. We saw a sloth, white-faced monkeys, and many birds while staying. The staff was very pleasant and happy to help with whatever was needed, and the gift shop for the hotel was cute with some fun souvenirs. There are numerous shops and restaurants within a very short walk, and while the beach is walkable they also offer a shuttle; we had rented a car and it was a short drive to the beach. We'd arranged our own tours/activities in the area, but the hotel offers coordination of numerous options as well. We're glad we stayed at La Mariposa!

I never usually write reviews but I think it is worth sharing my experience at La Mariposa. The positives are stunning views and extremely spacious, clean and comfortable rooms. The pool and common spaces are incredible and I even saw lots of monkeys, macaws and other wildlife. But, I experienced several communication and customer service issues. The customer service is very unprofessional and not accommodating. Due to unexpected flight cancelations, my family could not make it to meet me in Costa Rica. When I tried canceling over the phone, they told me it was non-refundable and no exceptions. Ok, fine. I understand the policy. However, I asked instead to simply change the dates of my reservation to the upcoming weekend or anytime in throughout the month even and they refused and were SO rude to me and even making snarky comments. He told me no changes can be made less than 48 hours prior. However, I DID call 48 hours prior and was told over the phone the night before that the "reservations" department was closed and no one could help me modify my reservation. I find this to be completely false....So, to not let $400 go to waste, I had to try and find a friend to come with me last minute so I didn't lose out on this money.. Also, the rooms are SO clean, that unfortunately we were smelling an extremely overwhelming chemical smell of either paint, bleach or cleaning solutions in our room the entire time.. Additionally, I made a VIP dinner reservation online through WhatsApp 2 weeks in advance and never got a confirmation message reply. So, I sent another WhatsApp message to confirm a few days later, but no reply. A few days before my reservation, I called to confirm and it seems they had no record of my request so I made a new reservation over the phone. The day of my reservation, I called to notify the staff I was running a few minutes late due to traffic, but was unfortunately told there was no way to connect my call to the restaurant host and there was no way to let staff know I was running late....I found this super rude and confusing considering the restaurant is connected to the hotel? When I arrived to the restaurant after checking into the hotel, they told me they had no record of a dinner reservation!?Additionally, the check out time online says 12:00pm, but it is actually 11:00am, therefore I was rushed out of my room at 11:25am and needed to explain to the front desk that there is a mistake on their website and even show them their website info on my phone for them to believe me.. Drinks are super overpriced, the food is good but I was expecting better presentations as advertised in photos. The common spaces, pool and restaurant are absolutely stunning and it is a great space for family and friends to hangout. Breakfast is good and there is open seating to enjoy the ocean views. However, the communication issues I experienced left me feeling pretty dissatisfied. With minor management and organizational changes, this place has the potential to be fantastic.