Hotel and Restaurant Villa del Sueno

If you didn’t know you were in Costa Rica, walking around the property of Villa del Sueno might make you think you were somewhere in Tuscany instead. At the entrance, wrought-iron gates lead to a stone pathway, which winds through a well-manicured garden to a Spanish-style stucco mansion with an orange clay-tile roof. Once inside the small reception room, the Mediterranean feel continues with red terra-cotta tile floors, rich wood furniture, wrought-iron detailing, and stone finishes. Throughout the hotel, the scene is generally quiet. Not much goes on during the day, and the crowd tends to skew a bit older. Children are welcome, but we didn’t spot a single one during our visit.  

Located in Playa Hermosa, a tiny, quiet beach town in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste Province, Villa del Sueno’s tranquil atmosphere fits in with its surroundings. The general area has a few restaurants, a small grocery store, and a handful of local shops, but otherwise the place can sometimes feel like a ghost town. There’s really not much to do but hit the beach, which is about a five-minute downhill walk from the hotel. Playa Hermosa is recognized as a Blue Flag beach, meaning it has achieved the highest standards of beauty, cleanliness, and accessibility in Costa Rica. It is without a doubt more beautiful than nearby Playas del Coco or Playa Panama, but some people may find the town itself to be a bit boring. Playas del Coco, which has more shops, restaurants, and touristy attractions, is about a 15-minute drive from the hotel. Liberia Airport is about a 35-minute drive. Major roads and highways in this part of Guanacaste are generally well paved, but side streets like the one the Villa del Sueno is located on are typically unpaved and riddled with potholes. 

There are two types of hotel rooms at Villa del Sueno: Standard and Superior. Standard Rooms have vaulted, wood-beam ceilings and rustic terra-cotta tile floors. Standard Rooms are quite small, and pretty cramped for space, even without occupants or luggage. Each is equipped with a queen-size bed, a tiny flat-screen TV, and wicker chair. Bathrooms are also teensy, with hardly enough room for a shower stall, sink, and toilet. Superior Rooms are well worth the upgrade. They offer much more square footage, along with bigger beds and bathrooms.  

Oasis, the complex containing Villa del Sueno’s apartment-style accommodations, is across a small dirt road from the hotel. Because of the road, the two sides of the hotel feel pretty separate, but guests are welcome to use amenities on both side of the property. Oasis has the same well-manicured Mediterranean feel as the main hotel, but units are privately owned and individually decorated. Some guests may find upgrading from a Superior Room to a Junior Suite worth the small nightly price increase. Junior Suites have more space, kitchenettes, and huge balconies. Apartments are ideal for families or groups, and are available in one- and two-bedroom floor plans. Each apartment has an open-concept layout with a spacious living/dining/kitchen area, and one large bathroom. The apartments’ nicest feature has to be the huge private patios with dining tables and hammocks.  

Villa del Sueno has two freshwater pools, one on the hotel side of the property and one on the Oasis side of the property. The small hotel pool is square in shape and surrounded by a few lounge chairs. There’s a thatched-roof bar in one corner, and a lovely secret garden-like seating area covered by palms. The Oasis pool is larger and nicer than the hotel pool but doesn’t have many lounge chairs for guests to sit on. It’s rectangular in shape and has a concrete island at its center with a tall palm in the middle. The pool is surrounded by a large, Grecian-style patio with waist-high white columns. Beyond the patio, lush gardens lead to the property’s villa-style apartment units. Both pools remain fairly quiet during the day, and guests from either side of the property have access to both. 

The open-air restaurant at Villa del Sueno feels like a cavernous (in a good way) Italian dining room. Stone walls and floors give the room a stately feel, but the thatched roof and open-air concept remind diners that they are indeed in Costa Rica. The restaurant serves breakfast and dinner, and breakfast is free for hotel guests. Breakfast menu items include dishes such as Desayuno Tipico (typical Costa Rican breakfast), toast and fruit, and freshly made crepes. Dinner features local ingredients prepared with a Mediterranean flair. The restaurant hosts live entertainment three to four nights a week during the high season, but is completely closed from May through November. 

The hotel offers free parking and Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi signal tends to be stronger in the common areas than in the rooms, but is generally fast and reliable.