Playa Tamarindo, Tamarindo, Costa Rica | (888) 616-5829
On-site owner is attentive the needs of guests
Meticulously landscaped grounds with flowering shrubs and
vines
Made-to-order breakfast included in the room rate
Attractive, rectangular pool with ample umbrellas and lounge chairs
Spacious rooms with local influences; all have terraces, some with hammocks
Easy walk to Tamarindo and the beach
Free parking
Free Wi-Fi
Noise from the restaurant can be bothersome during dinner hours
Iguanas crossing the paths may startle some guests
Not right on the beach, and no ocean views
The pool is very close to the restaurant, meaning diners may watch you swim
The Deluxe Rooms are close together with no privacy on the
terraces
No spa or gym
Hotel Arco Iris is an immaculate, mid-range, 13-room boutique hotel with a sparkling pool, a restaurant run by a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and perfectly manicured gardens. Located just outside the noise of Tamarindo, yet still within walking distance to the nightlife and beach, Hotel Arco Iris offers rustic-chic private bungalows with hammocks and Deluxe Rooms with terraces that overlook the gardens. If ocean views are a must, The Best Western Tamarindo Vista Villas has ocean views and lower rates, but its pool gets noisy and its rooms are drab.
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Scene
An intimate boutique hotel with a top-rated restaurant and a sparkling pool that's just out of ear shot of Tamarindo's buzz
Perched on Tamarindo's periphery, Hotel Arco
Iris caters to guests, mostly couples and friends traveling together, who want
to be close to the town's buzz without having to deal with the noise and
congestion. The hotel is set neatly into a gentle hillside, sheltered by palms
and flowering greenery and bordered by stone retaining walls, giving guests the
feeling of being tucked away. Narrow stone paths, often dotted with lounging
iguanas, meander through the property, leading guests to their bungalows and to
a gate that opens to a gravel path that rambles to Tamarindo. The hotel's owner (or another staff member) is a constant fixture,
available to assist guests and answer questions. Guests begin their mornings
with made-to-order breakfasts by the pool before heading out for adventures to
the national parks or the beach. Afternoons are ideal for climbing into
hammocks with a book or lounging poolside where a tidy row of lounge chairs and
umbrellas are aligned beneath a wall of cascading blue-flowering vines. In the
evenings the restaurant comes to life with guests and visitors lingering over
chef Schlomy's artfully presented Mediterranean fare which includes a gorgeous
lobster and leek terrine and seared tuna in a honey-chili marinade.
Location
On a small, infrequently traveled gravel road, in a neighborhood just outside of Tamarindo that holds several other small hotels, about a seven-minute walk to downtown Tamarindo and the beach
Hotel Arco Iris is set into a slope below a little-trafficked gravel
road, across the street from The Beach Bungalows, a small eco-minded hotel.
From the parking lot and street, guests walk through swinging gates and follow
the stairs down to enter the property and the small open-air lobby. A similar
gate at the backside of the property leads to a maintained gravel path that
heads to Tamarindo.- Seven-minute walk to Tamarindo
Rooms
A collection of 13 rustically chic rooms and bungalows with clean-lined style and breezy terraces, some with hammocks
The hotel has five bungalow-style rooms set in rustically
stylish one-story buildings with thick tree-trunk columns and terra cotta tile roofs, and eight Deluxe Rooms set in a similar two-story building. The smaller
(225 to 275 square feet) Bungalows come equipped with double beds and have
vaulted ceilings, and colorful rope hammocks off their private stone terraces
covered by bamboo-lined roofs. The Deluxe Rooms (375 square feet) feature
either two double beds or one double and two twin beds. The rooms on the second
floor have tree-house appeal, with breezy honey-colored wood terraces with
matching wood chairs and benches. All of the rooms follow the same clean-lined style with
cream-colored tile floors, dark wood furniture, bamboo and dark wood entry
doors, and arched doorways that lead from the bedrooms to small hallways with
double-door shuttered closets stocked with fluffy white towels, toiletries, extra
blankets, and safes. Also accessible from the small hallways are the bathrooms.
Small, but spotless, they feature earth-toned tile work, glass-walled showers,
and single vanities with raised bowl sinks.Beds are finished with bamboo and dark wood headboards,
white linens, and cream-colored coverlets. Costa Rican art, pottery, and
colorful paintings complete the look of the rooms. Other particulars
include mini-refrigerators stocked with beer and soda, Cuisinart coffeemakers
with packages of Britt (Costa Rica's most popular brand) coffee, flat-screen TVs,
and minibar selections that include small bottles of Chilean wine and snacks.
Features
A private pool, personal service, and a touted restaurant
Israeli-born and Le Cordon Bleu-trained owner/chef of Season's restaurant delivers beautifully presented dishes at the rustic, poolside setting. Guests can choose to sit under the billowy canopy next to the pool or under the more sturdy structure that serves as part of the hotel's lobby. The menu is heavy with locally caught fish infused with Mediterranean flavor such as the Mahi Mahi with a ginger-raisin crust and a pan-seared snapper with grilled eggplant and red pepper coulis. The chef also makes his own ice creams and sorbets.
