Hotel Banana Azul - Adults Only

Restaurants and bar were excellent the staff was wonderful no complaints

I’d love for this to be a solid five star review for a lovely, peaceful place on a gorgeous stretch of Caribbean beach… but it’s not quite that. This is NOT AN ADULTS-ONLY hotel. Despite that claim all over their website and and Expedia, during our four days there, there were lots of kids of all ages. We were looking forward to a quiet getaway and booked this place for a lot more than other places… and quickly realized that children *are* allowed in the restaurant, the pool, and the beach. Apparently, just no one under 16 (actually ~15) can stay in the rooms. OK, except these areas were central to the hotel – most of the rooms are built around the restaurant. We give serious thanks, though, as they did move us to a private bungalow area near the beach, which was great. It was nothing but the ROAR of the surf and amazing bird calls, all while we lay in hammocks and sipped cocktails! Overall, the place is so lovely! The food and drinks are fantastic, the rooms (even without a/c) are a little rustic but lovely. We saw so much wildlife – sloths, poison frogs, lizards, beach crabs, etc.– and the site is right next to this perfect stretch of dark sand beach with some *serious* surf. It was a slice of heaven, and we’d even consider going back, though there are other great places in the area. We especially want to thank the staff who were superb – especially Diana, who is THE BEST and set the stage for the best of this place. Our last few days at Banana Azul were simply EXCELLENT.

The Howler Room is so nice with an ocean/beach view and large deck. Unfortunately, the beautiful experience was tempered by the non-working TV, non-working Fan and finding someone else’s dirty socks and underware beside the apartment refrigerator. Not what I expect at this price point!

Wow - what a fantastic experience we had!! This hotel is so gorgeous and lovely - each room is a joy. We had an upper floor room with an open air balcony overlooking the ocean, and a ground floor room with a massive bath tub! We ate many meals at the wonderful hotel restaurant. The black sand beach was amazing - the water clear warm and gentle. A great experience!!

Staff in this hotel was very kind, great beach location. We had a great time. Breakfast was included and it was very good. Tree house is a great experience. Thank you

The staff, the food, the grounds & the private villa we stayed in. I will be returning!

The hotel was conveniently located close to a beautiful, private beach. The staff was friendly but dining staff was very very slow. Wifi is very weak here. Nice rooms but without air conditioning. Make sure to bring earplugs for the road noise and birds.

I have already given feedback to the Operations Manager about this property. I would only reiterate that where the property is situated is not good for a Solo, Elderly, Disabled traveler. The property needs to be refurbished in and out.

Beautiful location with great staff, good food, and comfortable accommodations

Great place to stay

The location on playa negra is amazing, but it was the staff that really made Banana Azul shine! Genesis, Laura, and Oscar, and the rest of the crew were always happy to help us, and the deep tissue beach massage from Michelle was perfect! We would certainly return to Banana Azul!

Amazing stay. I traveled with 2 other young women (ages 21,21,20) and we felt incredibly safe the entire time. We ended up staying in the banana house, which is actually a seperate villa across a little road from the main part of the hotel, however it was gated, and this gate could be locked. The apartment itself was also gorgeous. The property is one of the few at this price range with a connecting beach, being on playa negra. It is around a 5 minute ride (15 minute walk) from puerto viejo city center. There is a market at the hotel that sells groceries and cheaper lunch meals. Furthermore down the street there is a soda (which is a “hometown” restaurant in costa rica) which offers cheaper food as puerto viejo and costa rica is a bit expensive. Included breakfast is AMAZING. You have multiple options plus included coffee and a daily juice. We will be back!! Not to mention the staff is amazing, particularly Diana was very helpful. This place is truly a gem and I would recommend it 10x over.

I’ve debated whether to review this property but decided it might help others. I booked it because it is right on the beach and those places are scarce in CR. And that was great. Steps to a beach with chairs and loungers and service from the hotel for drinks and food. The restaurant was good and the people were generally nice. I got a massage and it was great. But the room was awful. I was in red frog. It was dank and dark and smelled musty, towels sometimes smelled mildewy. I chose an air conditioned room on purpose thinking it would mean a well-sealed room without mosquitos - and AC. But there were gaps under doors so mosquitos could get in. There was a hole in a window pane that they covered after i asked them to - they hadn’t noticed it. There was a mosquito net but it was open down one side so sorta useless. The bathroom was not included in the a/c. The room was right next to road with very noisy truck traffic. There was apparently a sewer issue because there was sometimes a terrible smell. I spent the first evening looking for other places to stay but sucked it up because I was so happy about the beach and would spend little time in the room anyway. Just be aware that the place isn’t as nice as the photos imply - it’s like a musty lake cabin.

We booked for 1 week, ended up leaving after 1 nite! It was that bad. Dirty, dingy, worn down, small, out dated, bugs everywhere, no screens on windows, holes in mosquito net. Avoid at all costs!

Proximity to the water.

Location

Lovely relaxing stay. We saw sloths in the trees and poison dart frogs on the ground! The walks along the beach were beautiful. The food was very good especially the tuna steaks and it was not too expensive. Excellent cocktails!

The hotel was definitely not what I expected. The room was very small with a king bed and a twin close by. This made it very difficult to navigate the room. I booked for 3 people. There is no closet space in the room which means our bags also had to be on the floor next to the beds. Due to the rain, the room was very moist and that made our towels smell like mildew. I asked to switch the towels and the house keeper only switched out one. Lastly, the staff in the breakfast area was really friendly and the food was pretty good. Oh and I forgot to mention, this hotel is not adult only. There were children on the resort, eating in the breakfast area, etc. They were well behaved, but one of the reasons why I chose this hotel was because it was advertised as Adult only.

Great place and location, very friendly staff.

Very good option in the location