Excellent place! Friendly staff, very good breakfast buffet and superb swimming pool. The rooms were clean and comfy with decent airconditioning. Supermarket and restaurants at walking distance, the national park would take a bit longer (25 minutes) but still walkable.

Location was great, many supermarkets, bakeries, banks and restaurants around. Marino Ballena NP was about 5 mins away. The facade of the building looks like a small little place but you are happily surprised when you walk past the front desk and the how modern the apartments look and how green and inviting the gardens are. Many butterflies and birds in the garden, just beautiful. The staff was fabulous. The owner was very welcoming and accommodating. He gave us restaurant recommendations, and even booked tours for us. The other ladies on the staff were very sweet as well.

The power went out a couple of times but it quickly came back, this happens throughout Costa Rica though. The rooms were comfortable but the place needs new linen.

We loved staying here! The staff was exceptional and we have rarely met such lovely, friendly people. Gilbert, the owner, could not have been more helpful and he organised our transport for a day trip to Manuel Antonio (which was outstanding). The breakfasts were the best we have had in Costa Rica and there was a great value happy hour every afternoon (except Sundays). The room was very clean and comfortable with an outside seating area and kitchen facilities. There are some good restaurants nearby and a great little supermarket very close. The walk to the whale tail beach is about 20-25 minutes but well worth it.

It was quite big, with good AC and nice terrace. They prepared all the laundry rags for clothes to dry, and had enough space to unpack and organize your luggage. Breakfast was nice - a buffet. The sitting area was great to every observe many birds (e.g., hummingbirds, Tucans, etc.) and butterflies.

The mattress was too soft. The bathroom is not really designed to be ventilated. Few nights we experienced (which is not depending on the hotel) the loud (very loud) music coming from the neighboring house (locals) close to the hotel, and our windows were facing it. So recommended to take an earplugs ;)

Exceptionally good value-for-money. Small (about 14 rooms), modern, hotel in a good location for visiting various places e.g. Catarata Uvita, Nauyaca Waterfalls, Parque Nacional Marino Ballena, Hacienda Baru Wildlife Refuge. Many evening dining out options in the local vicinity, although the hotel owner told us there are plans to offer an evening meal option at Ballena Rey very soon. We had room 12: good balcony space, with 2 armchairs, small table top and 2 stalls, cacti at each end of the balcony, ceiling fan; the open plan kitchen and living room area was spacious, with air-conditioning and ceiling fan, 2 armchairs, TV, table and 2 chairs and sufficiently equipped kitchen (though 2 rings for cooking would be preferable to the one ring provided) and good-sized fridge/freezer; spacious shower room with hot water (some of the places we stayed at during our 31 night trip didn't have hot water); bedroom - reasonably comfortable bed, hanging and shelf storage space, air-conditioning and ceiling fan, one bedside table. Very good buffet breakfast - the breakfast ladies did a great job and it was lovely to be able to choose what you wanted, how much you wanted, in what order etc. Very good cleaning service provided in the room and in the hotel grounds. Lovely pool, which we made good use of. And the staff were all very friendly! We really enjoyed our stay at Ballena Rey and were sorry to leave.

Just a small suggestion (I'm being picky!) ... as mentioned above, there was one bedside table. On the other side the space was perhaps too narrow for another. However, perhaps a small shelf could be fitted to provide space for night-time essentials, rather than having to put them on the floor.

We loved our stay at Ballena Rey, had a wonderful time...great value for money...our room was cosy and spotless, beds very very comfy, fab shower, kitchenette and living area with netflix 😀...breakfast was very good and the pool was just lovely. Great location, 20 minutes from national park, 5 minutes walk to a little supermarket and a great restaurant! I was sitting by the pool on the last day watching scarlett macaws and toucans flying by, lots of humming birds and colourful butterfly's on the property also but the best thing of all was the amazing staff, so kind and helpful, helped us with taxis, booking excursions, laundry and anything else we requested so a big thank you BALLENA REY for making our stay incredible, we had the best time and will be back! 👌

Nothing

It was in a good location, about a 20 min walk from Marino Ballena NP and plenty of parking. It was clean, offered breakfast in the morning and a good price. Our door/key broke but it was fixed immediately and the staff were great, nothing was too much trouble. The amount of greenery was lovely! We saw lots of hummingbirds here

Unfortunately we didn’t have a balcony (seemed to be the only room that didn’t!) so we were quite jealous of others being able to sit out in the evening. Without the A/C on it was ridiculously hot, especially with all the wood inside the room - it was like a sauna. The breakfast was ok - it did the job but it was very cramped next to the pool.

Our stay at this hotel was fantastic! Although there was a power outage in the city for about 2 hours during our stay, the staff handled the situation incredibly well, reassuring us that it was a common occurrence. The team was extremely friendly and helpful throughout our visit. The rooms were well-equipped, including a small kitchenette, and very spacious. The pool was a perfect way to cool down, and there’s parking conveniently located right in front of the hotel. The beach is just a 10-minute drive away, making it an ideal location for a relaxing stay. The breakfast was excellent, and we also had the option to purchase dinner, which was a great addition. Highly recommended!

I had an amazing stay at this hotel! I actually stayed at this hotel earlier in my travels and loved it so much that I decided to book it again. The room and facilities are great (including a full kitchen and free coffee etc), but probably the best part of our stay was the staff. Not only did they allow us to check in early, but they helped me with so many questions and assisted with booking taxis etc. Another added bonus was the free laundry service, where we dropped off our laundry at the front desk and collected it a few hours later all clean, dry, and nicely folded. Would 100% recommend this hotel and would stay again.

Very comfortable apartment with basic cooking facilities. Clean throughout and had TV in main area and in the bedroom. Aircon in main area and in the bedroom. Lovely pool and breakfast area - the breakfast was great. Plenty of it and good quality. Lovely to sit on the balcony and watch the birds

There was no bar - it would have been good to be able to sit and have a beer by the pool maybe but we just brought our own from the shop so not a big deal.