El Sano Banano Beachside Hotel

We spent 3 nights, Saturday-Tuesday at El Sano Banano in downtown Montezuma. The hotel was conveniently located steps to the beach and on the downtown *****, next to a market and many restaurants. We saw a few different lizards in the outdoor dining area. The in-house restaurant and bar served Tipico style Costa Rican cuisine. The included breakfast was a sit down service with tipico rice and beans, eggs, pancakes, toast, coffee. There was no availability of self serve coffee. We stayed in a room with a window overlooking the street vendors and park. There was one full size bed and one twin on the opposite side. The mattresses, linens and pillows were tolerable. There was an AC wall unit but no window or ventilation, or balcony. Our wet clothes never dried completely. There was a private bathroom with shower with hot water, toilet. The decor of the space was beachy, colorful and quirky, I liked it. Due to the proximity to the downtown area and thin walls we could hear the music and bass from the discotheque all of Saturday night. If you’re planning on staying throughout a weekend, I’d highly recommend bringing earplugs/noise cancellers. Overall it was a pretty good stay but we’d probably consider staying somewhere off of the main street when we visit Montezuma next time. Recommendations for the hotel: -self serve coffee station -more comfortable bedding/pillows -warning about street noise, sale/availability of earplugs -more friendly staff

The good: the hotel is located a short walk from the beach, right in the middle of the tiny town of Montezuma. Through their sister hotel Ylang Ylang, I booked a fantastic birding tour with eagle-eyed Eduardo. It was inexpensive and included breakfast and air conditioning. The not so good: the mattress was quite hard. I thought there might not be hot water, but it was just very slow. The layout is that there's a hallway with side by side rooms. The room had a window that looked out onto the hallway, but no exterior light. There were also noisy neighbors and there was no sound dampening. You have to ask for the wifi password. I tried to walk down the beach to Ylang Ylang for the pool, and maybe it was just me, but it was much more than a 10 minute walk! There is a shady dirt road, but nobody seemed to know how I could get to it.

Really nice budget option. rooms were comfortable (though our room did not have a window to the outside, just to a hall way). the hotel is in the center of the small town, so you can walk anywhere. Plus they are owned by resort nearby which gives you access privilege to their pool and beach views. I would recommend this place.

Room have no windows. Front desk are helpful.

Centrally located, interesting decor excellent breakfast except for the picayuneishness of charging for a second cup of coffee. Most hotels of this nature have free refills, and often have 24-hour free coffee.

Right in the center of Montezuma ... close to the beach., all the restaurants and attractions.

Loved all the murals & wall paintings. Very clean. Muy rico patacones. Helpful staff. A little noisy but we like the younger crowds.

This hotel is overpriced. It is not awful, but $75 per night for what is offered is absurd. The good points are the comfortable beds and the efficient air conditioning. The restaurant also does pretty good food and some of the servers are excellent. In fact the place is rather better as a restaurant than it is a hotel. Our double-double room was much too small for the two beds that occupied it. The room felt like a cave: cornflake-coloured, textured walls with a window that only looked out on to the corridor. The curtains have to be permanently closed for privacy, meaning that the only option is harsh lighting. There is no wardrobe, only some very high hooks; and the shelves double as bedside tables. This furniture is also between the beds, making everything feel even more enclosed. The safe keypad was broken, so we were given the master key with our room key, which meant we had to anxiously take care of both. There is nowhere for luggage except the floor. There is no shelf in the shower. The toilet was tiny and the cheap, flimsy seat did not stay up properly. We were only given one hand soap for a four day stay. Towels were blue, which is always less appealing than fresh, clean white ones. On some days the facecloths were not replaced. There is no television or fridge. There is no free tea or coffee. To top it off the rooms meant phone reception is non-existent and the WiFi was unreliable. All in all it felt more like a good quality hostel at a ridiculous price.

Great that Super Bowl was made such a big thing. Got me and buddies there for a stay. Well done!