Seis Playas Hotel

Most visitors to Tamarindo pass by the Seis Playas Hotel without giving the hotel a second look. Set behind a bright red privacy wall, just off the busy road, the hotel is well-suited to those who need an affordable home base to explore the beaches and sights of Costa Rica's vast Guanacaste region. Many guests use the hotel as a stopover, a place to regroup before heading to the Liberia airport or before journeying to other destinations along the coast, while others stay simply for the affordable prices and quiet vibe, away from the buzz and crowds of Tamarindo.

A tiki-style building serves as the hotel's lobby. The large space with polished concrete floors and a sprawling bamboo ceiling encompasses a front desk, a lounge area with bright red sofas and chairs, a coffee station, a small business desk, and a concierge desk. Open round-the-clock, the lobby serves as a buffer between the noise of the road and the oasis-like property it shields.

Radiating from the lobby, stone paths lead guests to the cottage-style rooms, a collection of yellow and soft-green one-story buildings with terraces and pergolas entangled with trailing vines of gorgeous pink bougainvillea. The buildings ring a huge blue pool with a small garden of tropical grasses at its center. Cushioned lounge chairs and rustic tree-trunk side tables are scattered around the pool's rim. While beautiful for swimming, the pool lacks adequate shade (there are no umbrellas) and the grassy area between the pool and terrace is overgrown and weedy, an indication of the hotel's need for proper maintenance.

At the far end of the pool is the hotel's restaurant and bar, a large tiki-style building similar to the one that houses the lobby. The cavernous, often deserted, area holds a long bar and a collection of ebony tables with bright white chairs arranged on a platform with wooden floors, allowing for unobstructed views of the pool. Canvases of artwork by a Costa Rican artist add local flair, but overall, it is an awkward space. On the other side of the glass wall that fronts the pool, submerged bar stools wait at the swim-up bar, but unfortunately, there is no bar to serve them.

Set behind a red privacy wall, off a busy paved road that leads to Tamarindo, the hotel is a short drive to the beaches of Tamarindo and Playa Flamingo.

• 10-minute drive to Tamarindo
• 15-minute drive to Playa Flamingo
• 20-minute drive to Playa Conchal
• 20-minute drive to Playa Grande
• One-hour drive to Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport, Liberia
• Two-hour drive to Palo Verde National Park
• Two-hour drive to Rincon de la Vieja National Park
• Four-hour drive to Juan Santamaria International Airport, San Jose
• Four-hour drive to Arenal Volcano National Park

The hotel's 25 rooms are set in one-story, yellow or light-green cottage-style buildings with red barrel-tile roofs. Small stone paths lined with flowering pink bougainvillea lead to private covered terraces that are screened by palms and white fencing. The spacious terraces, most which overlook the pool, are furnished with ceramic tiles and large rustic benches, painted bright white.

Inside, the rooms are small but airy, with vaulted ceilings, air conditioning, and ceiling fans. King rooms come with one king bed and two floating bedside tables while the Double rooms come with two double beds and share a bedside table. Furnishings in the rooms are rustic and simple with ebony colored slat headboards and long desks with one matching chair. Neutral ceramic tiles cover the floors while the walls are painted white. Most rooms are decorated with a painting, such as a large canvas with brightly colored flowers or a piece of contemporary art. Flat-screen TVs are mounted on the walls, safes are tucked away under the beside tables or in the closets, and phones connect guests to the front desk, but the rooms are lacking mini-fridges and coffeemakers. Beds are finished in basic white linens with foam pillows, cotton blankets, lime green accent throws, brown bed skirts and matching brown accent pillows.

The bathrooms are somewhat dingy, finished in drab tile and lacking natural light. They feature walk-in stall showers, glass vanities with glass bowl sinks, hairdryers, wall-mounted soap dispensers, and closets stocked with towels and extra blankets.

The hotel's lobby, set in a huge tiki-style building, serves as home base for guests. They can check email and print boarding passes at the small business desk, grab a cup of free coffee or tea, and leaf through local newspapers and magazines while lounging on the bright red cushioned chairs and sofas. The on-site concierge is eager to help guests with directions, plan excursions to the national parks, or schedule snorkeling trips or sunset sails on the Panache, the hotel's catamaran.

The restaurant is independently operated, and serves international cuisine. The free breakfast buffet held there typically includes scrambled eggs, rice and beans, sausages, pastries, good coffee, fresh fruit, meat and cheese, and cereals.