Arenas del Mar is the newest hotel to come to Manuel Antonio.  I believe it will prove to be one of the very best options in the area once the construction is complete and the staff is trained. 

The hotel sits on 11 acres of transitional rainforest boarding the beautiful beaches of Manuel Antonio. It’s fantastic location not only allows guests incredible veiws of the ocean, coast line, and Manuel Antonion National Park, it also provides habitat for monkeys, birds, sloths, and reptiles. I watched white face capuchin monkeys in the trees just off my balcony and again all over the property. I logged 50 species of birds in two mornings, again from my balcony and directly on the hotel grounds.

The hotel itself has 38 rooms. 32 are 2-bedroom apartments which can be reserved as apartments or split into 1 suite and 1 superior rooms. They all have oceanviews and king size beds. The Suites also have a pull out sleeper sofa. There are also 4 additional suites and 2 jungle view suites.

All of the rooms have lovely amenities including balconies on the second and third floors, and patios on the first floor (suites also have jacuzzis on the balcony or patio), luxury linens, super comfortable beds, flat screen tv’s, in-room phones, and high speed wireless internet.

Some of those amenities were not installed yet but hotel management assures everything will be up and running by December 1. You will also find coffee maker, mini-fridge, irons and ironing boards and complimentary in-room safes in every room. The furniture on the balcony is comfortable too, a nice step up from many other hotels.

The hotel grounds are also lovely, although the planting of flowers and plants is in the beginning stages. Six months will make a big difference in the overall look of the hotel.

There are two swimming pools onsite, one at the top of the property near the main restaurant and reception and one on the lower level near the beach. This pool was not completed during our stay but from what we saw it looks like it will be quite beautiful.  They are building a rancho at this pool for lunch time snacks and drinks. It will also act as the beach club at one of the hotel’s two beaches.

Guests are really going to love having a great option in Manuel Antonio with easy beach access. Arenas del Mar provides this. You can access Playa Espadilla from the main reception with a 3 minute walk down a paved path (the hotel provides a shuttle if wanted or needed every 15 minutes or upon demand) from the Rancho and the lower rooms guests can access the smaller beach practically out their front doors. Both beaches are clean, beautiful and nice for swimming. 

The dining experience at Arenas del Mar was excellent in my opinion. The food was fresh, very tasty, unique and the menu quite varied. The breakfast (included with your stay) was delicous every morning. The restaurant staff was being trained while we were there so it is hard to comment on service but the persons in charge seemed to be doing a good job teaching everyone the proper procedures for everything. The restaurant itself is open air with comfortable seating, casually elegant, and classy design. Breakfast is served 7:00 – 10:00 am (early continental is available for guests leaving early). The restaurant is then open for the rest of the day 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.  The hotel offers room service from 6:00 am – 10:00 p.m. 

The hotel also has a complimentary business center with computers, fax, and phone. They will have a small spa opening on Dec. 1 and a gift shop for souveniers and personal items.

Overall, I think Arenas Del Mar will be one of the top 3 offerings in Manuel Antonio. I think it would be best to wait until January to plan your stay there, construction has been moving very, very slow and it is hard to imagine having been there on November 10th, that EVERYTHING could be completed by Dec. 1.

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Filed under: Hotel & Restaurant Reviews on November 12th, 2007