Hotel Amapola

The hotel is about 3 blocks from the beach, they offer an all inclusive option, wich I didn't take, the breakfast is very good, the rooms are cozy, the swiming pool is very nice and the restaurant is very good.

“Lovely Hotel”

Hotel Amapola

The hotel is about 3 blocks from the beach, they offer an all inclusive option, wich I didn't take, the breakfast is very good, the rooms are cozy, the swiming pool is very nice and the restaurant is very good.

“Jim and Friends 'We'll be back'”

Hotel Amapola

MAY June 2006, I spent 6 weeks in Costa Rica between the city of San Jose and Jaco (Pacific coast), lodging at eight different hotels. Jaco was beautiful and was the best place I stayed and Hotel Amapola was amazing, the food was great, the rooms were comfortable, with AC, TV, Internet in the lobby, and the walk to town was close. The buffet food was excellent and prepared and served very well. While staying at Hotel Amapola, I learned that a TIME SHARE program was being offered. The price was right and I became a first time Timeshare holder, because I plan to return next year, and stay again at the hotel and to allow friends and family an opportunity to stay in Jaco too. I most definitely recommend this hotel to others.

I stayed two nights at the Amapola Hotel in Jaco, Costa Rica, on a Caravan Tour in January, 2007. I think that the architect of this facility should be congratulated for the very attractive design and layout of the various buildings, pools and gardens. The landscaping is very beautiful, and representative of the glorious landscape of the country. Some of our tour members told me their bathroom was not properly cleaned, lights did not work, and the shower enclosure door did not slide, but I did not have any problem with my room (Now I understand better why it is that on this site you will see negative and positive reviews on the same hotel and one writer wonders if the other stayed in the same hotel—clearly it can make a difference who actually cleaned your room versus who cleaned the other room, and how hard each room has been used). As to the room itself, I thought it was quite attractive, roomy and nicely laid out, with beautiful tropical hardwood cabinetry and a nice, quiet location with lovely garden view. I did notice, however, that someone had put up some very rough, unfinished ceiling moulding, with nail heads showing. This is not the way to maintain a building which was built to a four-star standard.

Our tour company selected this hotel for its outstanding pool facilities and grounds, as a base from which to travel to the lovely Manuel Antonio National Park a couple of hours away. Those who chose not to take the tour could just enjoy the all-inclusive facilities for the day. It was a summer holiday weekend and many Costa Ricans were enjoying the facility with their families. Dining is in the open air, and, as we found everywhere we went, there were no flies or mosquitoes, although cats and dogs sometimes drop in for a visit.

Be warned, however, that this hotel is in a very poor location, surrounded by vacant lots and derelict buildings. It is a winding four block journey without sidewalks or signs, down potholed streets, past cinder block and rusty corrugated metal buildings, surrounded by coils of “concertina” razor wire, to the beach. On the beach there is a half-built condo complex, with skeletal rusting rebar and weathered wood obviously exposed to the elements for quite some time. I cannot fathom why the hotel puts its name on the Amapola Beach Club—a 4-D facility—dirty, dark, dilapidated and dingy. It was also devoid of any business, and should be discontinued and demolished. The beach itself was muddy and covered with horse manure and garbage—very unattractive.

Should you come all the way to Costa Rica for an all-inclusive beach holiday, keep looking—this isn’t the place—and whatever you do, don’t follow the suggestion that you watch the sunset. In the tropics it gets dark really quickly and walking back in the dark is very definitely not a great idea.

Having said that, I still recommend this hotel for a stopping place if you don’t need to be on the beach, as it is truly a very nice facility.

“Nice Resort”

Hotel Amapola

We stayed here as part of a Caravan tour and quite liked it. It is a big resort with a great pool and for our tour was an all inclusive. The staff was friendly and the bartender efficient. It is about 2 blocks from Jaco and the beach. We didn't care mach for Jaco (best described as a dirty surfer town), but we liked the resort just fine. Would stay there again.