Hotel El Sueño

Clean room, FANTASTIC staff, comfortable beds. I will come here everytime; the staff were so patient, friendly, knowledgeable and kind hearted plus our rooms were clean. There isn’t much fluff to the hotel, which helps keep the price low. I like that a lot. Breakfast is included downstairs at Spectacolur. For those new to Costa Rica this hotel does use the electric water heater for the shower so if you aren’t familiar you may have a cold shower the first day (or ask for assistance) Also, please don’t flush your tissue in the toilet. Don’t worry, the staff empties the waste baskets daily

Mixed feelings about staying here as it's a very affordable place to stay, if you are ok with forgoing some comforts... Pros: - Staff were very friendly - Carlos in particular (at the front desk) was very helpful and spoke excellent English, and helped arrange everything. - Accommodated my early check-in which was very nice. Room was very spacious. - Very central location - literally could not be better placed in Santa Elena. The main ***** of restaurants is just around the corner, and the public bus to the Monteverde Cloud Forest leaves directly across the street in front of the building. Cons: - One thing that nobody ever mentions about Santa Elena / Monteverde is how WINDY the area is! As a result, the wind literally howls through the town and you can hear it whistling through the room all day and night, sometimes so loudly it sounded like the building was going to be blown away. To be fair to the hotel, from what others have said, many other accommodations in the area also have this problem. - Cold showers - I shower in the evenings, and both times (6pm and 9pm) there was lukewarm water in the shower for the first 30 seconds, which then became cold and never warmed up again. Cold showers unfortunately exacerbate the feeling of cold and damp of the room. - No kettle in the room to heat up some water to warm myself up. Had to huddle under the blankets to keep warm (no heating either). To be honest, there is nothing else really in the room besides the beds, a bedside cabinet, and what could be a TV stand (but without a TV). - Room didn't have much natural light - the one big window looked out into the common area so it was fairly dim. - Wifi wasn't great, it kept disconnecting.