Hotel La Laguna del cocodrilo

Hotel La Laguna del cocodrilo offers excellent value for guests seeking clean, affordable accommodations in Tamarindo. While far from luxurious, the hotel’s guest rooms are nonetheless tidy and practical. Guests can grab coffee and snacks at the bakery, and eat dinner or enjoy happy hour-priced cocktails at the bistro in the evening. Otherwise there’s not much of anything to do on the property, but the entertainment of downtown Tamarindo is only a few minutes’ walk away. Guests are mainly couples, along with a few families. The owners are French expats, and the hotel tends to draw a lot of French-speaking guests (although staff speak adequate Spanish and English as well). The property is usually empty during the day, with most guests returning here only to sleep at night.

La Laguna’s setting is ideal for guests who want to be close to the conveniences of Tamarindo, without staying directly on the town’s busy main strip. Situated at Tamarindo’s northern entry point, the hotel’s location is peaceful, yet the town’s main hub of shops, restaurants, and bars is only about a 10-minute walk down the road. La Laguna offers direct access to Playa Tamarindo, plus the uncrowded beaches of Playa Langosta and Playa Avellanas are 10-, and 30-minute drives away, respectively. Rincón de la Vieja National Park can be reached in two and a half hours by car, and it’s a little over an hour’s drive to Liberia’s airport. 

Guest rooms at La Laguna del cocodrilo are simple and tidy, with terra-cotta tiled floors and thin, white bed linens. Bright pillows and bed runners add pops of color, and some rooms also have interesting pieces of art like tribal-inspired sculptures or batik wall hangings. All rooms have wooden shelving units that hold personal safes, with some featuring full closets. Flat-screen TVs and free Wi-Fi are standard. No-frills bathrooms have round sinks and showers only. Off-brand bars of soap and packets of shampoo are presented in small baskets. Note that some bathrooms have saloon-style doors that offer minimal privacy. Hot water is advertised, but we were only able to get cold water during our stay. Ocean View Rooms add lovely stone terraces overlooking the ocean and estuary. Pretty latticed wooden dividers separate each guest room’s terrace. Junior Suites include roomy balconies with dining tables and chairs, along with comfy floor pillows or sofas. Junior Suites also add mini-fridges and coffeemakers, and some have four-poster beds as well as larger bathrooms with magnifying mirrors. Studios and Apartments feature kitchenettes with hot plates, full-size fridges, and microwaves.

La Laguna's features are a short list, but the amenities it does offer add to its charm. The hotel’s cute French bakery opens early. It serves coffee, pastries, empanadas, croissants, and tasty quiches, among other items. The bakery’s tiny interior only has one table, but guests are free to eat bakery items at the tables in the adjacent restaurant as well. Open for dinner most nights, the hotel’s restaurant is a charming, open-air bistro with a beautiful white bar. It has some good happy hour cocktail deals. Expect to pay for all meals here (breakfast isn’t included in the room rate).The property's rocky sundeck, facing toward the lagoon and beach, offers a few loungers, and a couple of hammocks are looped between palm trees. A tree-lined trail leads from the sundeck down to gorgeous Playa Tamarindo, a wide, white-sand beach popular with surfers. The trail sometimes floods during the rainy season, making it difficult to navigate. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout, and there’s a small parking lot at the front of the hotel.