Shana By The Beach

07/21/2023

Definitely tico time. Had to go ask for menus and waiters multiple times after being seated in restaurant and pool. Had to check on our food multiple times after 30 min of none delivered to the table. Breakfast time was good though.

07/17/2023

The hotel itself is ok, but we booked a standard room which in itself was fine, but because it had connecting doors to other rooms on both sides of the room you can hear every single conversation, tv etc. The first night there was loud music until 11, but fortunately they left the next morning. Highly recommend spending a bit more and upgrading.
The hotel is down a steep road from the main road, so you either eat at the hotel or you pay $10 to get a taxi up the road. The hotel food is expensive, ok but limited. Service is very slow.
The big advantage of the hotel is access to the beach, which is a little walk down a gravel path. Ok if you have some level of fitness. There are sun loungers you can rent, we didn’t. And there are kayaks and paddle boards, we got a kayak for an hour for $25, not cheap but good to get out. The sea was fine for swimming but not really a snorkeling spot.

07/09/2023

Good location and staff. Would recommend. Would love to have "Tea" Keurig's in the room. Room only had coffee

07/03/2023

The hotel beds are very uncomfortable and hard. It is not easy to get to local restaurants from this locations. The walk to the beach is arduous. The hotel restaurant was expensive and the food was mediocre. The breakfast did not have a lot of options, especially for dietary issues.

06/03/2023

The staff was fantastic!

05/30/2023

Beautiful hotel, great staff. Restaurant service at dinner was not good….very slow due to insuffient staff. Breakfast buffet was good.

05/24/2023

Excellent would definitely stay here again. No complaints and exceeded expectations

05/02/2023

Mobility was a daily issue but Kevin and Japro (Sp?) were outstanding in getting me where I wanted to go.The
food was delicious.

04/20/2023

Room was great, most staff were great, restaurant service was very slow to non existent, very long up and down climb to get to the beach, very very steep roads / paths between buildings on the property. We used the golf cart service frequently. Overall a decent place though.

04/01/2023

loved seeing all the animals/birds around the grounds!

03/29/2023

We had a good experience at this hotel but if I went again I would only stay for two nights. It is on a very windy road and you cannot walk to other restaurants safely so you have to eat at the hotel for all meals unless you get a cab into Quepos (about 10$). The trail down to the private beach, however, makes it worth the visit. We discovered several days in that you can get hamburgers and drinks at this beach which makes it possible to stay down there all day. Snorkeling isn't real possible here due to the murkiness of the water but the temp is perfect and you can rent paddleboards and kayaks here. The hotel itself was gorgeous and the restaurant was very good. At times it took hours for a meal to take place because the staff is very relaxed about waiting on tables and would often disappear for long amounts of time. In general though, this is appropriate for the setting, which overlooks the ocean. You can get in the pool and watch monkeys scamper over the hotel balconies every night at dusk. Really fun. The bar staff is hard working and often seem overwhelmed.

03/26/2023

The facility is on an incredible incline, so everything we did was up or down the awful slope. The walk to the beach was also a sharp incline and much harder and farther to walk than indicated in the reviews. The facility is not close to any thing else - no market or other restaurant within walking distance. The restaurant food was mediocre and expensive with fair service.

03/07/2023

We loved the Shana! The staff are the best - thanks to our friends Elieth, Javier, Javier, Lilian, Jose, Sebastian, and Andrea. The manager, Hayette, was so kind and attentive, and made our stay very special. The food was great, really great. The service and staff are fantastic. The pool areas were very nice and clean. We always had a nice place to sit. From the pool area and the room we could see all the animals - we saw capuchins, toucans, sloths, all sorts of birds. We would definitely come back. This was really great.

03/03/2023

Accommodating staff; nice room and patio; nice pool again with very accommodating staff.

02/12/2023

Beautiful hotel. Our room was great. Did not have a plug in in the bathroom to use the hair when we got there but while we were out a day later they put one in.

01/15/2023

We had a terrific stay here. It was a rocky start because the room was not ready on time and our wait was 40 minutes in the hot sun so kids were miserable not being able to swim...they kept saying 10 minutes more so we didn't change into bathing suits because we wanted to get to our rooms and unpack. Be upfront about how long the wait will be so we can decide what to do for ourselves. Our stay after that was still terrific and staff were polite, helpful and approachable. We thought it was a great location.

01/06/2023

Unfortunately our room was in a noisy spot. The grounds of the hotel was nice but this wasn't our favorite hotel. Staff and service was amazing. We enjoyed being able to walk ot the beaches.

01/04/2023

Excellent resort with amazing service, even though understaffed. Restaurant was excellent!

01/03/2023

The Shana was wonderful. The only thing we would have liked was to be able to walk to town, but the safety of the roads did not allow that. So we had to eat all of our meals at the hotel, and that got a bit expensive.

12/16/2022

The location is fantastic, with its access to the private beach. The only comment I have about it is that the food is mediocre.

12/06/2022

A lot of hills and beach was a long hike. Food at the restaurant was excellent.

12/05/2022

Very nice hotel, the front desk staff was exceptionally helpful and friendly.

11/22/2022

The Shana is in a stunning location and the staff were friendly and engaged.

11/02/2022

AMAZING!!! Beautiful rooms with all the amenities. Extremely polite and helpful staff members everywhere. Monkeys and sloths in the trees! The perfect Costa Rican hotel. (As long as you are capable of climbing a very steep hill from your room daily.) Although the restaurant seemed a little pricey, the portions were huge and everything was delicious. It was well worth the money. They also had live music nightly while we dined.

08/02/2022

Shades were broken when we got there and soaps were not in bathroom but they fixed these items when requested. I recommend they have more electric plugs in the rooms or USB ports for charging cell phones.

07/23/2022

If you are driving, be prepared for extremely narrow, windy and steep driving to this hotel! Luckily there are golf carts to take you up and down the hill within the property itself. The private beach is lovely - a small cove with small waves. While the hotel is not overly close to Manuel Antonio, our family of 5 walked back to the hotel from there with not too much issue. The pool was busy and we weren't sure what to think about the DJ dance pool party on Saturday afternoon (it was a holiday weekend)! We saw a sloth and many white faced monkeys from the comfortable patio.

06/04/2022

Shana was beautiful! Great pools to relax, outstanding views of the ocean and just a great place overall. Staff was super friendly and helpful. Walking distance to town if you don't mind a bit of a hilly walk.

05/28/2022

This was a beautiful place as well. Loved the pool and the beach being so close. The staff were so friendly you felt like friends. Wait times at the restaurant were always long but the food was so tasty!!!

05/21/2022

Great location. Ten minute drive from Manuel Antonio National Park, a path to a perfect beach Biesanz Beach (read about in travel book) that locals visit because it’s this beautiful, intimate, easy to swim, rent chairs/umbrella, loved this beach. Manuel Antonio doesn’t have a “downtown” or “center square”. It’s not a walking friendly area so location is less of an issue since many things will require a taxi to get to anyway. The hotel is simple and stylish and clean. The ocean view was the way to go. A gorgeous experience on our balcony. Would recommend stocking up on beverages along the way before getting to the higher priced touristy area of Manuel Antonio and even Quepos. The hotel beverage and food prices were high. Food is bland but they pulled off a great puttanesca sauce, pizza was pretty good, and chicken fingers. Breakfast is abundant but not great. A nice thing was happy hour that started at 3pm and offered a two for one deal on cocktails. The infinity pool is beautiful. The music is loud but ends at 9pm. Didn’t mind too much but was sometimes annoying because they start it early in the day. Not much time to enjoy listening to the birds and ocean waves.

04/19/2022

The Shana was a nice hotel, but it did not compare to the service and cleanliness of Arenal Springs. I think we had higher expectations for a hotel supposedly of this caliber.

04/14/2022

Beautiful hotel with friendly staff. It was a busy weekend and their pool/pool area were small so it was always very crowded and we never got to use the pool because there were so many people and all seating was always full. We wished there had been more dining options nearby (their restaurant was good but expensive and limited). Also wished there were spaces our large party (8) could congregate outside our rooms. Great little trail to the beach was a lot of fun, loved watching the monkeys play outside on our balconies!

02/25/2022

The only reason I rated a 9 for expectations because our other stays really had everything. This one was a little more bare bones inside the room. Everything about the hotel was wonderful though and we appreciated the adult pool. The private beach was wonderful! We rented a double kayak from one of the vendors and saw tons of fish! After fishing on a charter we brought our filets back to the hotel and the restaurant and chef created an stunning display of our different kinds of fish. Really went above and beyond and I believe pictures of it will eventually be on their website.

02/24/2022

only 1 of our rooms had an ocean view for the same price.

12/29/2021

Our room had a musty odor. I was disappointed in the beach as it was a long walk and very crowded.

12/26/2021

Due to traffic we arrived later than expected Sunday night. But the Shana staff still welcomed us and showed us around Sunday evening. We felt very comfortable.

12/25/2021

The cold hot tub, lack of bath mats, and squeaky roll-away were the main complaints. The highlight was the customer service mgr tracking down our lost credit card from the cab from the prior night.

12/20/2021

This hotel was definitely older, the room had a moldy smell, and it was hard not to compare it to the amazing Arenal Resort. The best part was being close to the beach and getting to see a monkey up close by the pool. Really nice views too.

12/19/2021

Not an overly kid friendly hotel; most of the staff were great though!

12/07/2021

There was a bright blue light on the ceiling in the bedroom, not great for sleeping but I otherwise enjoyed the hotel and our first stop in Costa Rica!

12/06/2021

The Shana was awesome. I went to CR to see monkeys, and I was not disappointed. 6:30 am the first day, they climbed down to our balcony for a quick visit.............the fun never stopped. The hotel is exquisite and never disappointed. We met and made friends from New Jersey. The staff was top notch from beginning to end. Warner, Mario, Gregory, we love and miss you all....

12/05/2021

I had some issues upon checking into our room. The room did not appear to have been cleaned thoroughly. The remote was dirty, one of the beds was as hard as cement, and the table on the patio was severly uneven and rocking back and forth when used. I called PTW to ask about moving to a different hotel, but within 30 minutes of calling PTW, Andrey from the Shana came to my room and looked around and offered my husband and I an upgraded room while the maintenance staff thouroughly cleaned the original room. andrey went above and beyond to satisfy us and he succeeded! We had a great stay as the hotel sits on the montain overlooking the pacific ocean. There is a path from the hotel that leads right down to the water! You cannot really walk to the local shopping area, but it is a short drive. The hotel pools were beautiful and the food at the restaurant was very good. I would have rated the hotel a 10, but the older rooms do need upgrades.

12/02/2021

We did not like The Shana Hotel. Everything felt sub-standard. We were asked for tokens for towels for use at the pool. The towels themselves were of low quality. The dinner which we ordered room service was not up-to-the-mark. Tasted stale and there was a strange blue decor that was neither pretty nor appetizing. Then the breakfast was insufficient and the request for a second plate of fruit was met with a little disdain. I hope we were not reading too much into the staff expression. Instead of butter we were served margarine with bread. The food itself was of low quality and there was no breakfast buffet.

There were issues with toilet flush. This experience felt different compared to the other places we stayed at. We were glad to check out!

11/30/2021

The hotel had a lot of wonderful things about it. One thing that was really disappointing is there was not a hot Jacuzzi. There was a jacuzzi, but it was the same temperature as the pool. After a day at the beach, we were really craving a soak in a hot tub, but this property wasn't able to offer that and the pool was quite cold, which made the pool experience en not as enjoyable.

11/29/2021

The hotel was fine, not centrally located so that was a problem, the room was somewhat dirty

11/25/2021

Set us up in terrible room.

11/11/2021

The location of the hotel was great, as we're all of the animals that frequently visited the balcony and hotel grounds. The hotel did look a bit in need of maintenance, as several fixtures in the room were loose or not functioning. Breakfast at the facility was fresh, but a bit redundant with the options offered. The bell boys were very polite and helpful, however it did take quite a few attempts for front staff to actually request taxis, room service, etc as most requests we made arrived late.

08/08/2021

We had horrible neighbors which made the first day/night difficult - that was really my only complaint. There needs to be more soundproofing between rooms. Otherwise we were happy here! Loved the quick access to Playa Biesanz, and my kids enjoyed the pool. Enjoyed having monkeys come to our balcony. The restaurant was good here too.

07/30/2021

Very nice staff, Beutiful location. Hotel was not as well kept up as the other two, but the staff was very nice and accomodating

07/21/2021

Such an amazing resort! Great ocean view! Great private trail to the beach area! Saw monkeys, sloths, toucans! This place was awesome!

03/09/2020

Beautiful hotel, an amazing view and experiencing the monkeys. It was our first time in Costs Rica and we enjoyed the wild life - howler monkeys in the morning were unforgettable. We will be back for sure !

03/06/2020

Wonderful and so many monkeys!!!

02/04/2020

All was perfect, big professional hotel with family feeling

01/28/2020

Again another luxurious resort. Wow! I can’t say enough good things about the Shana and all the staff. We loved staying there

01/16/2020

Great hotel. Short walk to the beach, nice pool with good food available poolside!

01/03/2020

Excellent! Beautiful! Especially enjoyed the restaurant staff (Javier) & receptionists were extremely welcoming.

01/01/2020

Although not convenient to get to shops/restaurants on foot, the hotel’s proximity to Biesanz Beach more than makes up for it and we loved our stay here. Every single person in staff was incredibly helpful and friendly, particularly Elmer. During our stay there was a sloth hanging out in a tree right next to the restaurant and pool deck and we LOVED getting to see him poke around. Biesanz is a great beach, small (in a nice way) with warm water and beautiful surroundings.

12/28/2019

Carla was so kind in the restaurant and Mike was a big help at the front desk. There was some confusion about New Years dinner and we were not told to set a dinning time at check in even though we asked this question directly. The ability to walk to the beach is worth its weight in gold! The pool happy hour was a great value. We loved all the monkeys and the sloths around the property.

12/26/2019

Not my favorite hotel. I could tell they were not used to catering to solo travelers. I expected much more from this particular hotel.

12/24/2019

Fantastic experience in Shana. Exceeded expectations. Very friendly staff and very enthusiastic to help us and make us feel comfortable.

12/23/2019

The Shana Hotel was excellent! There were sloths in the trees near the pool area! Absolutely beautiful flowered grounds and a short pathway to the beach. Breakfast was ordered off the menu along with a buffet. Such a great place!

12/21/2019

It was the best hotel we stayed in and I would highly recommend it. We particularly appreciated beach access, the balcony with sea view and the kitchen in the studio. There was some sewage issues in the suite next door and the hallway was dug up for two days, but it didn't bother us too much. The only problem with the room was the lack of closet or storage space for clothes (no wardrobe, or even chairs to place the clothing on).

12/18/2019

The food wasn’t amazing but everything else was great.

11/27/2019

The restaurant seemed way too pricey but the food was really good.

11/13/2019

Friendly staff and beautiful hotel. A few small issues with the bathrooms including a tough time getting hot water but overall it was fantastic. Large rooms and comfortable beds made for a very relaxing stay.

08/05/2019

This one was our overall favorite, and should be a 10+. The dining and hotel staff were more than accommodating in every way.. Our only disappointment was that they didn't seem to share the country's concern for conservation of energy and offer a way for us to use linens a second or third day.

08/03/2019

Were we expecting more ocean views from the pool/restaurant area, but loved the resident sloths and monikers everywhere. The private beach was lovely. The cab rides to and from the top of the hill to town was ridiculously expensive -$10 each way.

07/27/2019

Beautiful hotel with great food, great staff, and loved the beach access! Only negative of the hotel is difficulty in getting to town, but we had no problem getting taxis once we figured out a system.

07/12/2019

This was a contrast to the other places in which we stayed. We were upgraded to a penthouse which was nice, but also felt unnecessarily extravagant. There were a lot more individually wrapped items -- toiletries but also cutlery, sauce sachets, etc. and no concessions to be being eco friendly. However, the beds were very comfortable, and the view was very good. We enjoyed seeing monkeys, sloths, butterflies and birds from one of the three balconies of our suite.

07/07/2019

Upgraded to presidential suite which was amazing

07/04/2019

Michelle at the front office was excellent always polite smiling and always helpful. She was excellent. Their best employee by far. She deserves to be recognized. We enjoyed the music at the restaurant as we ate our dinner on 7-4-19. After a long tiring trip from Arenal it definitely perked me up. They could add some more items for breakfast.

06/06/2019

Loved this resort and Ismael the owner went above and beyond for us!!
Great choice

05/31/2019

great staff, attentive. while room was special in it design and extras, it was below the restaurant and thus noisy early in morning and evenings. Restaurant was uneven in service and food quality; some had great food, others not so much.

05/13/2019

I think because it was overly touristy, it just did not have the same vibe as the other two areas. Not horrible, just not my thing.

05/04/2019

The hotel, it’s premises, and especially staff was just great! The only minor problem we had was the food offered in the hotel. We tried it a couple of times and found it a bit bland and overpriced, so we ended up taking a taxi and eating elsewhere most of the time. However, we understand that everyone has a different taste and the overall prices in Manuel Antonio are pretty high, so we would not hold it against the hotel.

04/15/2019

The bathroom was huge and nice but needed more hooks. The breakfast was delicious and the staff everywhere was wonderful.We loved the surrounding nature.

04/13/2019

We loved it! The staff was warm and wonderful, especially the wait staff and bar tender. . So many close ups with the monkeys and sloths, even a toucan and 3 scarlet macaws. Food was fantastic. So good that we ate there every night and we’re happy. We were sad to leave.

02/07/2019

Room was great. Breakfast staff could be slow but menu was great. Pool staff was friendly but sometimes got busy / not very responsive. Office staff was ok - did what was asked but didn't seem very excited about it. They did make sure we knew about The Mansion, and that was great - we went there for dinner (which was ok, service was very poor) and to the pool one day (which was stunning). Loved the beach and went down there several times.

02/06/2019

I like the balcony and the big windows to the trees and hearing the mo keys at night and at dawn.

02/02/2019

Did expensive, also a food truck hit my husband at hotel, while staff were kind the hotel did not offer any additional support

01/27/2019

This is a lovely hotel, but out of the way from the main area. Walking to and from the hotel was difficult due to the hotel's location. Taxis were expensive to go a short distance. The restaurant at the hotel was very expensive so we didn;t eat there. The Biesanz beach was lovely. Staff were very accommodating.

01/24/2019

Upon our arrival, there was a strong septic smell on the resort and in the room. We inquired at reception and was told that they were aware of the situation and had the septic tank pumped and that there was nothing else they could do. Keeping the patio doors closed kept the smell out of the room. Would have preferred to keep the doors open and the A/C off. The smell made it difficult to enjoy the patio, restaurant and pool. Since the smell not only continued but got worse, we emailed PTW, mostly so that they could warn upcoming guests. Within 30 minutes, reception called us and requested that we meet with the manager the next day. The manager told us that a broken pipe was finally located and was repaired.

01/15/2019

Beautiful setting and good location to take advantage of the beach. Great service with the golf carts!

01/14/2019

awesome accommodations, awesome staff, awesome breakfast, loved the private beach, loved Fabian the pool bartender and the entire restaurant staff.

01/04/2019

Dirty tile by pool. Smelled like moth balls. Terrible artwork. Staff very kind.

01/02/2019

we had a beautiful room; it was super spacious ; which i loved so i could thoroughly unpack all my stuff and feel at home; the restaurant was super expensive; the pizza and breakfast were excellent; and the staff really nice; loved the pool and the beach ; really liked the hotel;

12/25/2018

The hotel and staff were wonderful. I especially want to single out three people: Vidal, Diego, and Linda. Vidal helped us with our bags and was really friendly and kind to my family. Whenever we ran into him, he asked about how we were doing and was genuinely lnterested. Diego was our dinner waiter most of the time. He was helpful, courteous and a generally wonderful person. I and the family really liked him. He made the dinners very enjoyable. Linda was a morning, breakfast person. She was also nice to my family and a very nice person.

12/23/2018

The first room was no bathtub. So ask a receiption desk to see if they can change room with bathtub. They fund a room with bathtub but it only 2days and we need change room for last day. I said okay. The new room was bigger and nice view. The third day we move the room with private pool and kitchen. It was 3 bedroom. The room is very nice but it looks like not using often. There was mosquito and we got mosquito bit. But it was okay. The building are located hillside and golf cart need anytime to move. However, service was great. There were lots of two king monckeies . We are lucky to see them. I saw blue morpho. Pizza was great. We are very much satisfied.

12/12/2018

We saw squirrel and capuchin monkeys right at hotel while having breakfast this was the most fun hotel michelle the hostess was super nice as well as the other staff it was more personal that other larger hotels

11/29/2018

Perfect. Expensive food and transports like taxi. Should improve and advise existing uber service.

11/27/2018

Staff was very nice. Internet did not work in our room. We asked to see if it could be improved but got no results. Room was not as clean as other places. Had to get refrigerator hocked up ourselves.

12/06/2017

This was another great hotel with a very friendly and helpful staff. The food was excellent and the views were amazing.

07/27/2017

Nice hotel on a very steep hill. Golf charts were always available to take you to your room. It's a short walk to a nice beach. Watch out for the monkeys that invade the patios - don't leave anything out for them to take.

07/02/2017

I would have like easier access to the beach. I didn't feel sate taking the path that we were shown. Therefore we weren't able to go watch the sunsets or get up early and go to the beach.

02/18/2017

Not having a car made it difficult to easily access other restaurants for meals. The breakfast at the Shana was mediocre. The lunch and dinner menu were good, but very expensive. The cocktails were weak. Otherwise the Shana was wonderful.

01/03/2015

Rebecca was absolutely wonderful. Other staff was great. We usually use the hotel to get recommendations of other restaurants, etc but for some reason the staff seemed extremely hesitant to recommend anything outside the hotel.