Hotel Laguna del Cocodrilo

WARNING: DO NOT EVER GO TO THIS HOTEL/LANDLADY IS STEALING We have been here for a couple nights and when we arrived we wondered why this hotel was that cheap because although the rooms were poorly cleaned and everything was old and mold we still thought we would have made a good deal. (The hotel is very near to the beach) We have been on a wedding at the last night of our stay and a shuttle picked us up so the hotel-owner knew that we will be away for a while. The next day we woke up and packed our stuff to leave. When I took my things (Passport, Watch, Wallet and other personal items) out of the safe, I counted the money in my wallet and noticed that there was money missing. 500€ where gone. We talked to our neighbours to ask if they saw anybody coming in or out of our room and told him about the incident. He replied that he was missing a couple hundred Canadian dollars from his safe, immediately investigating as well. I then tried to talked to the Lady at the reception (small room in the hotel complex) which apparently owns this place, and she told me that it would be impossible because she would be the only one who has the keys. She didn't even tried to understand my situation and just said that what I'm telling wouldn't be possible. The safe is only lockable by key not by entering a passcode. So everybody that has a copy of the key would have been able to open it as well. Afterwards we packed our stuff and went to another hotel (this was already planned before the incident) The Diría Hotel a very beautiful and nice resort. Here we told the Head of Security about this and he immediately helped us out. Andy saved our trip here! He took care of the communication with the local police who came to the hotel and wrote a report for the incident and started the investigation. We just hope this will help people and stop this Woman from robbing other tourists as well! Thanks for taking your time and reading this. Don't make the same mistake we did. You won't save any money here!!! Stay safe.

VERY BAD EXPERIENCE!!! After yet another trip to Costa Rica this time unfortunately I believe it was the last one due to the owner's fault as on the last day of our stay "strangely" someone snuck into our room and robbed us of our money and the owner, in fact, not seeming at all interested in what had happened, even denied us to view the surveillance cameras positioned along the corridors and right outside our room. Even by contacting the POLICE we were unable to obtain anything. And to think that these are places that live exclusively on the money of us travellers!!! It's a shame!!!! DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF TRUSTING THESE PEOPLE!!!! More than pura vida.

We arrived at Laguna del Cocodrilo to an empty reception desk. After five minutes of waiting and ringing the bell, a flustered and angry woman, Sandy, who was the owner came out and checked us in. She informed us that there would be a party in the hotel that evening and to expect disturbances. She apologised, saying that she wasn't aware that the party was taking place, and that if we made a complaint, we would be reimbursed (which never happened as she quickly changed her mind, saying that she never promised anything). She also mentioned that there was a safe in the room and that her cleaning staff were not to be trusted. Don’t be fooled by the safe as we had $30 taken. We were shown to our room on the first floor and were in shock. I would have walked out and booked another hotel, but we had already paid. The photos on the website are deceiving. Our room needed a complete revamp and a thorough deep clean. Bed sheets and towels need to be either cut up and used as cleaning materials to clean the room or thrown out. Sandy must have had the sheets for the last 20 years as you could see they were completely worn out. The towels were a faded blue, barely fit around the body and had holes. The fridge was not clean and should have be thrown out too. Floor not cleaned and room very dusty. There was a leaking pipe around the toilet, especially after flushing. The shower head was dirty and needed to be replaced. We initially had no water as the taps hadn’t been turned on by the cleaners (who Sandy blamed for everything that was wrong). You could also see all of the piping under the sink and around the toilet. There were no fire exits and the one electrical socket we had was hanging out of the wall. Going upstairs to the room in the evenings was unsafe as the lighting was intermittent and it was quite scary. We won’t be returning and I wouldn't refer to this accommodation as a hotel - but an overpriced hostel. It’s nice to be nice when you want someone's money, but when you are in the wrong, you should admit it. We tried to communicate with Sandy but received no response.

The room facing the street is very, very noisy and it has a bunk bed without a safety bar on the top bunk. My two adult boys had to share a twin bed. After suffering for a night, I asked to exchange to a room that has two double beds the next morning and we were given a better room without extra charge. If the story ended here, I would have given a good review. I was given three keys for the new room and there are no labels. So I had to try one by one. When two keys could not enter and the third key was fully inserted, I naturally thought it was the right one and started to turn. The key was broken right away. It turned out to be the safety box key that I inserted. I was not given a replacement key to use for the safety box. And the lady asked me to pay $40 to replace the key and showed me the contract I signed saying it cost $30 for losing safety box key. I did not lose the key and this is a rip off. And this hotel does not give drinking water or anything. No service at all. This hotel is to be avoided. My experience gave me an impression that people in Costa Rica are not friendly at all and all they want from tourists is money without giving any service. The lady deserves a one star review due to her rude face and her effort to rip me off.

Was told at check in that there was a private party on site and we would be refunded due to the inevitable noise disruptions. Since then, the owner has refused to refund us despite offering to in the first place and has ignored our attempts at communication (she was very welcoming and helpful prior to this). The room itself was basic, which was fine, but the small towels and thin bedding did not appear to be cleaned or they were just extremely old. The mattresses were thin and they sank when you sat on them. I also bruised myself on the wooded bed frame because it stuck out in the limited space. The piping in the bathroom was all out in the open and the toilet leaked on occasion after flushing. There were very few electrical sockets in the room, in fact there was one and it was sticking out of the wall. The room was never cleaned in the three nights that we stayed in, and the owner told us at check in that her cleaning staff may steal our money if we left it out. As such, we put money in the safe (which was key locked, not PIN locked) and $30 still went missing. Finally, the "city view" that was advertised with our room was merely just a view of the street outside. That said, the hotel is on the beach front, iguanas were frequently on site and there is an unaffiliated restaurant attached to the property.

This one was a little disappointing. Our first night there were mosquitos and stains on the bed sheet and the AC was barely working. There were also tiny aunts in the washroom. The next morning we complained and thankfully they changed the room for us. The location wasn’t bad, the beach is right behind the property but about a 15-20 min walk from the main area. The restaurant downstairs was amazing but I don’t think they are connected to the hotel. There is definitely potential but overall I would’ve paid a bit more and stayed at a cleaner location

The staff were awesome. I sprained my ankle pretty badly in town and they were so helpful. One of the staff is well educated in first aid and he completely assessed my ankle and helped with icing it and immobilizing it. The check in was smooth and very laid back feeling. Room was super clean and great size. They have an outdoor shower to rinse of the sand. The dining room has amazing food. The price was really inexpensive. I would stay there again

This place was right where I wanted to be and easy access to all! Away from all the fuss but close enough to walk to them if I had chosen to. My room was perfect as I can see the ocean in the morning and walk straight out to the river to cross to get to Playa Grande.

There was bat poop all over the door and roof. The staff refused to clean it. Then we had to leave in the middle of the night because a rat chewed through the wall right next to our bed.