Socialtel Jaco

First of all; our room had no bed bugs so don’t let that deter you from staying here. Second, if you are interested in staying here IT’S A HOSTEL, be realistic with your expectations. Again, knowing this is a hostel / 2 star hotel we were surprised with how much we enjoyed our time here. In our experience the front desk staff were kind, friendly and helpful. The pool was great & clean! I can’t speak to the bar or restaurant on-site as we didn’t eat here but the hostel is in a 10/10 location so I would recommend going into town to eat / drink at local establishments. I can’t praise the location enough, if you want to be right on the beach and in the middle of town this is an ideal place to stay! My only complaint is that we booked a room with a private bathroom and our room didn’t have any towels but thankfully we had packed our own.

Ok stay. Rooms are very very small (we had private room shared bathroom) toilets are very far away from the room and there’s no lights in the toilet only showers so you can’t see anything… very odd. Location is fine, it’s right on the beach so it’s nice for sunset but there’s no vibe or atmosphere here. Pool is nice enough to sit by on a sunny day and staff were fine. Food here was decent. There is no kitchen or fridge though so you also can’t even keep anything cold, not great! Overall it was just fine.

This hostel is only alright, rooms are decent and it’s right on the beach but didn’t seem like the most social vibe and they put me in a dorm room all by myself for multiple days. Also apparently there’s no kitchen?? That’s a deal breaker for me and I wouldn’t have stayed here if I knew, sounds like the use to have a kitchen before the rebrand. With that being said the food wasn’t that great and also a bit pricey. Thinking about just checking out early and exploring a different hostel

Stayed here two nights and an alarm system was going off ALL NIGHT LONG for TWO NIGHTS. I could hardly sleep how loud it was. Thought it was a car alarm but never could figure out where the sound was coming from. Aside from that can’t really complain for the price. Rooms, amenities, and location were great!

It probably doesn’t matter anymore, since this hotel has shut down and apparently didn’t pay its employees, electricity bills, or anything else — but I’ll write this anyway. The hotel had no problem charging me $150 for a month of coworking, only to close the very next day. It's been impossible to reach anyone since. They charged a full month’s fee even though they knew they were about to shut down completely the next day. That’s the kind of company Socialtel is.

Used to be Selina... Since the change... It's seems pretty downhill, they want to PAY you to use the BATHROOM. What a joke. Very petty. Drinks are more and more expensive and yeah they don't allow dogs anymore. Been going here for 4 years... This will be my last time spending any money there or using any of their facilities

If location is more important than anything, this is the place for you. However, the staff lacked attention to detail that I expect from a hotel this expensive; and furthermore, some of the facilities were in disrepair. Many small disappointments added up. PROS: Beautiful views of the ocean and Jaco Beach, actual steps away from the sand and water. It’s at the end of a quiet, dead end street so feels very safe. Tall fence surrounding property, and single entry point in gate. Lots of security cameras. Felt very safe entire time. Many delicious sodas and restaurants in walking distance, as well as pharmacies, grocery stores, and shops. Amenities are also nice to have: pool, lounges, surf rental inside facility, restaurant and bar inside facility, small swim shop too… but the restaurant itself is nothing special. I enjoyed bar cocktails the most. Their drink of the day deal is great for only $7 USD. Only ate there twice (lunch upon arriving, breakfast a few days into stay). Food wasn’t worth the prices. CONS: Hotel service is quite lacking. Reception staff was less communicative than they should have been. For example, we arrived early and asked if we could check in despite this; and they said yes, no problem, gave us keys, etc. But then we were not shown to our room, and it took a long time to figure out we were meant to wait until normal checkin time to actually access our room. Not a problem to wait, but it was a very confusing few minutes of standing there and prompting for information. Had they simply said, “yes you can check in, but you need to wait for your room to be ready” it would have made a big difference. Another example: one of the receptionists - without asking - assumed we were checking out when we asked for the key to the car gate, then disabled our room keys. When we returned 30 minutes later to be locked out of our room, we were quite confused and frustrated. Later on in the stay, we asked reception for replacement room towels; they told us to bring our old ones, and housekeeping would replace them. We delivered a bunch of towels, and they said they’d take care of it (which I assumed meant they would communicate to housekeeping. Except housekeeping never actually gave us replacement towels… I concede I should have asked again, but the reality is I should not have to! Otherwise, housekeepers did a good job cleaning the room, but again— never noticed towels. Pool lounge chairs were breaking apart in some places; pool/restaurant area bathrooms were poorly maintained and dirty, some areas had graffiti. Maintenance staff left dog poop in the grassy area for an entire day at one point. If I had been staying in the dorms/ hostel proper, these small things may not have mattered to me. But I shelled out a good chunk of money for a private room. Perhaps the property owners should consider lowering the cost if they do not want to provide adequate facilities and ensure quality service to guests.

Walking into this hostel we were pleasantly surprised with the location. Steps to the beach and steps to downtown. Location is definitely a 5 star! But unfortunately everything else didn't match expectations. The hostel changed ownership so we're not sure if that had anything to do with our sub par stay. The rooms were ok- the bedding was nice and beds were pretty comfortable and A/C worked well. No mini fridge in our room - and no community kitchen. We had no where to keep our drinks cold during 35 degree weather or anywhere to store food from grocery store which isn't ideal if you aren't looking to pay $30 plus American for each meal if you're eating out. Each floor has 2 shared showers and 2 toilets. One of the shower handles was broken and you could only use it if you wanted scalding hot water - and the other shower only had cold water. The front desk service wasn't great as they didn't give us any information about anything upon arrival. Apparently you aren't even aloud to have food / alcohol in your room! The hostel has its own restaurant with an okay menu - but again , you are almost forced to buy food there for all your meals - the new owners shut down the communal kitchen. Bartenders were great though! The place also wasn't very clean. There was a butter knife that someone dropped on the stairs that was there the entirety of our stay, and under the beds was filled with garbage and things people left behind. Overall - not exactly a place I'd ever stay again , unless they make some changes. There are definitely better places to stay for cheaper - 100% over priced for the amount of amenities we didn't have.