El Mangroove, Autograph Collection

We didn't love this property. It's nice but it doesn't have an authentic Costa Rican vibe...you could be in Cancun, Dominican, wherever. Beach (black sand) seemed clean and water looked nice but we never went in. We spent most of our time (we only stayed 2 nights at the tail end of our trip) at the pool. We had kids so the family pool was our option. Pool area needed a little TLC, some tiles need replacing and we were surprised how much sand didn't get cleaned up overnight. Rented a cabana one day but in hindsight not sure why we spent the money but the service was decent. Rooms were quiet but we had a decent hike from our room to the pool. Rooms were nice but could have been a little cleaner as we noticed a left behind hat under the bed checking if we'd left any of our own belongings and the corners of the rooms could use a little deeper cleaning as there was dustballs. Tried a yoga class and it was decent. I wish upon check-in they would have shared more info with us regarding avail shuttles they had to nearby restaurants and Playa Coco. We learned this from other guests. Also, wish they would have advised us to make reservations for dinner upon check-in as we had a wait for dinner that could have been averted. Ok selection of wine and the margaritas were terrible. We won't stay at this property again as we didn't love this area. We'd try someplace else if we were in the Liberia area again.

This was a frustrating visit for us. The property itself is very beautiful but after staying you can tell the hotel is just assuming people will stay there based on its location. We were given very little information about the hotel during check in. Apparently there is a QR code on the back of key envelope that takes you to an outdated website that provides information on the facilities / restaurants around the hotel. The room was nice but shows a few signs of dating and is hard to find outlets. The only shelf in the shower is completely taken up by the hotel's large shampoo bottles. We discovered that we had only been given decaf coffee in the room. When I called to ask if they could bring regular pods no one ever came. The dinner restaurants are all just pretending to be higher end and were frankly the most disappointing food we had on our trip to Costa Rica. Malu in particular was a laughably bad experience. The breakfast brunch was ok. The beach and property itself is very pretty. The main pool is rather dirty though and full of leaves and plant debris. Being able to check out kayaks was nice and pretty easy. There seemed to be genuine confusion between the staff at times as to some of the service. We were told the pool bar opened at 10am but didn't serve drinks until 11am and if we wanted drinks to go up to the breakfast restaurant. The breakfast restaurant then told us that if we wanted drinks we had to go back down to the pool bar. Overall just silly conversations to be having at a resort that is supposed to be on the high quality end. To finish it off, when we checked out we weren't even asked how the stay was, just given a bill to sign and sent on our way. Following up it seems we aren't even allowed to get Marriott stay credits for the room because we booked through a tour group (despite being Marriott Platinum members and the entire stay plus food and beverage charges not being cheap). Overall pretty disappointing stay for us and while the area is lovely, the next time we come back it won't be to this property.

The resort is average. The rooms are weird, half of the room is not air conditioned as it is essentially a screened in porch. The rest of the room is small. The staff at the resort is very nice but expect everything to move extremely slowly. None of the staff has a sense of urgency and expect very slow service. We wanted to go on one of the excursions but the staff was unable to schedule one for us. Be prepared, the excursions, like everything else at the resort, are exorbitantly expensive.

We stayed in Mangroove by the recommendation of some friends who have come to Costa Rica plenty of times and always choose this hotel, I understand the reason, this hotel is very complete, the beach in front was very quiet, and there were a large number of boats, we decided to ask for one of them and we ended up doing a Snorkeling tour with Costa Rica Issys Tours, it was 3 hours of excellent service, we went to several beaches of crystal clear water and a cavern, fresh fruits and snacks were included too!! We hope to return soon to Costa Rica, it is a beautiful country and we are delighted to have chosen it as our holiday destination!

My husband and my 16 year old stare at the El Mangroove for part of our family vacation. The grounds of the resort are very nice. The night time lighting was especially lovely. However, we did not enjoy our stay. The rooms have an open vanity design with a glass door in the water closet and more glass in the shower. The only privacy was gained by closing the closet door (which was also the entrance to the shower.) turning on a light in the water closet at night lit up the entire room. I get up very early and had to get dressed in the dark in order to not wake up my family. The room itself was fine and the beds were comfortable as long as you enjoy a very firm mattress. Be aware that the resort is very quiet and there is nothing to do in the evening. It looks like there are poolside bars but they weren’t open while we were there and the pools were empty after dark. Summer might offer more evening activities. There is a beach and you can rent jet skis or use the resort kayaks and sups but beware of biting bugs and bring bug spray. There is a pool table but no other games or activities for teenagers at night. We were, overall, disappointed in the food. We tried all three restaurants and didn’t finish our meal at any of them. I ordered the seafood paella and the seafood was so over cooked it looked like it was made the day before and reheated. We later learned there is a shuttle into town and we regretted not trying the local restaurants. This resort was not a good fit for our family but if you enjoy a quiet resort for lounging by the pool with pretty landscaping this might be perfect for you.