Hotel Plinio

We arrived at Hotel Plinio in the afternoon. Hungry, tired, and hot we could not wait to see our room...but what room should we get?

Choosing between the standard A/C rooms and upgrade was easier said then done. The photos of the upgraded rooms looked amazing, but the idea of being in a room with no windows (just screens) and no A/C when I was boiling in the office was not exactly appealing. The owner suggested we inspect the upgraded room.

There are 2 rooms in this category that are next to each other and share covered patio area with bar stools.


On the ground level of the room there were 2 couches and a coffee table in a living area and the bathroom with a huge shower that could fit a very large number of people.




The stairs, while very steep and only wide enough for one person were very sturdy.





Upstairs, a huge king(?) size bed took-up most of the room and across from it there were two wicker chairs and a coffee table.


The windows were covered by white sheers for privacy and the breeze coming in was very pleasant, not hot at all...that was it, we decided to stay in that room.

After checking in and taking a nice cold shower our bodies decided to remind us that a bag of chips and some chocolate was not an actual meal....so we headed out to the restaurant.

The award winning restaurant was offering an interesting mix of german, japanese and costa rican dishes. I have to admit that as much as I enjoyed the traditional Gallo Pinto (rice and beans) in the first few days after having it with every meal I just wanted something that did not have it as a side dish....so mashed potatoes with frankfurters and sauerkraut (pickled cabbage) was what I ordered. And accept the fact that for some reason the sauerkraut was heated up (I still think my mashed potatoes were microwaved) the food was not bad. We had ice cream for desert and finished with a nice cup of costa rican coffee.

Since the bar was not at all busy, and the owner was behind the bar we ended up chatting up a storm with him. We learned about the observation area that the hotel has, were we can view some wildlife (if patient) and that the public bus can take us to the Manuel Antonio public beach or the National Park for about $1 (2 people). He also warned us that it rains every day for about 30min-1 hour at about 5p.m. after which the rain stops and the roads dry up in about 5min.


We decided to find the observation area and try our luck with the wildlife...unfortunately we must have made a wrong turn because we ended up above the roof of the owners residence (uphill from the hotel) and the only wildlife we found was a poison dart frog...and a beautiful view of a dock far below the property.

There was not too much to do at the end of the day so we decided to call it a day and go to sleep early....Good Night!

Until next time
happy travels

*Note: The hotel is currently under new ownership and is called +Hostel Plinio ...when we return to Costa Rica we will probably check it out.