Selina Manuel Antonio

Great activities included in Stay, me and my partner participated in the HIIT, the painting and the yoga session or the fitness hut is also great for doing own stretching routine. Location is central with nice places to eat around and the restaurant at Selina also has great options, the place is amazing for spotting wildlife such as toucans and sloths. We saw more wildlife here than at the national park. Easy bus ride to the beach. Amenities are ok, wifi not the best from the room but I had an eSIM for a few days so not an issue. Only thing was I wished we had a mini fridge for room to keep items such as water and milk. Really appreciated the daily housekeeping and upkeep of cleanliness. Overall really enjoyed stay.

I hate to leave a bad review but unfortunately this place calls for one as I wouldn’t want anyone else to have a similar experience here. Firstly, the room was nothing like the pictures on the website (see attached). It was just a dark box room and the windows were next to a busy footpath so you’d have no privacy if you left the curtains open. The bathroom also became infested with ants whenever it rained. Secondly, we had an early flight on Sunday and had to wake up very early, but the night prior they had a party with incredibly loud music. I had ear buds in my ears and huge noise cancelling headphones on top of these, through which I was playing white noise, and I could still hear it loudly. I ended up getting a headache from the noise and getting on my flight the next day on 0 hours sleep. If you have any early flights or trips planned, be warned. Thirdly, the security at the hotel was not great at all - If you’re a solo traveller I’d strongly advise going elsewhere. The only plus to this place is the location - there’s a fantastic restaurant opposite and plenty more nearby. If you’re planning on using your room just for sleeping and not spending much time at the hotel/hostel, then you might be ok staying here. I read another review on here that mentioned staying elsewhere and coming to Selina just for parties - I’d also recommend this, or not coming to Selina at all. There’s plenty of places to stay nearby that I’m sure you could find something better.

I booked a 3 nights Standard room via Agoda (a popular travel website) in early May 2024. I fully paid the room on early June 2024. A week before my stay starts at Selena Manuel Antonio, I received a mail from Agoda that there was an error in the booking caused by the property and they will give me 10 USD if I agree to switch from Standard room to Dorm. No one in their right mind would agree to this so I've asked Agoda to honour the original booking. After a few days of back and forth, I just asked them to give me a full refund since they cannot fix the issue. Agoda have been saying in the last 2 weeks that they have been in touch with the booking partner and the hostel owner (Harold) about the refund and they just told me today that they have stopped getting responses from them. Because of this mess, I ended up not going to Manuel Antonio and left me with a bad impression of Costa Rica. If you do not want to spoil your trip in Costa Rica, stay away from this hostel or you will end up getting scammed. I will file a complaint against Agoda and this hotel at the Consumer council. Not sure how many tourist have been duped by this modus operandi.