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Reviews of Surf Ranch Hotel & Resort This rating is a reflection of how the property compares to the industry standard when it comes to price, facilities and services available. It's based on a self-evaluation by the property. Use this rating to help choose your stay!

Empalme de El Valle, 991.5 m al Este, 48600 San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

#28 of 32 hotels in San Juan del Sur

Guests' Choice

Review Score

Based on 134 hotel reviews

6.9

Score breakdown

  • Cleanliness

    7.4

  • Comfort

    7.4

  • Location

    6.1

  • Facilities

    7.1

  • Staff

    7.8

  • Value for money

    7.1

  • Free WiFi

    6.1

Verified guest reviews from real Bookers

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Showing 1 - 25

  • Reviewed: February 7, 2024

    7.0
    Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Standard Double Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    The receptionist was not friendly she was rude. There was not hot water in the bathroom. The water park was not working.

    The breakfast was really good.

    Stayed in February 2024

  • Reviewed: January 27, 2024

    6.0
    Ok place
    • Leisure trip
    • Solo traveler
    • Deluxe Double Room with Terrace
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    A/C was noisy, barely cooled room down. There were a few ants. Door wasn't sealed well, could see a.gap all the way around it. Not close to beach. Have to drive to it or take shuttle. For some reason they were blasting Air Supply music all day long.

    pools were pretty clean. Pizza was good.

    Stayed in December 2023

  • Reviewed: December 17, 2023

    7.0
    OK
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Standard Queen Room with Air-Conditioning
    • Stayed 2 nights

    THE LOCATION WAS NOT GOOD. WE DID NOT HAVE A CAR.

    THE POOL WAS VERY CLEAN AND MAINTAINED DAILY. THE BREAKFAST WAS VERY GOOD. EVERY MORNING THE CREW WAS WORKING TO CLEAN .

    Stayed in December 2023

  • Reviewed: December 16, 2023

    7.0
    Surf hote
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Deluxe Double Room with Terrace
    • Stayed 3 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    I didn't like that for 2 days we asked for towels in our room and toilet paper. We had to buy towels and toilet paper. Plus they did not clean our room until Sunday late afternoon. Plus when ordering off their menu for food they were out of alot of things. To be honest they should credit me for a 1 1/2 days.

    The staff over all was great. It was clean.

    Stayed in December 2023

  • Reviewed: December 1, 2023

    7.0
    Exceeded low expectations
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Bungalow
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    Opening the door was a learning process that I almost mastered after 2 days. The water in the shower didn't drain requiring a sea shower to avoid stagnant water.

    The pool and slide were entertaining for the kids. Most of staff was helpful. The breakfast was delicious and exceded expectations

    Stayed in November 2023

  • Reviewed: October 14, 2023

    7.0
    Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Standard Queen Room with Air-Conditioning
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    Dirt road

    Stayed in September 2023

  • Reviewed: October 11, 2023

    8.0
    Very Good
    • Business trip
    • Family with young children
    • Bungalow
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    Limited menu from the kitchen. Less than one towel per guest! Needs a little maintenance.

    Very nice staff. Fun family stay with the pool and water slide.

    Stayed in October 2023

  • Reviewed: August 14, 2023

    8.0
    Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Standard Double Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    Needs better maintenance

    Overall concept

    Stayed in June 2023

  • Reviewed: July 9, 2023

    7.0
    Decent experience - come in with tempered expectations and you won’t be disappointed.
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Deluxe Double Room with Terrace
    • Stayed 3 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    Even with the mediocre booking.com score and the price, we were a little let down by the level of maintenance of the rooms. Also the climbing wall had so many loose or broken holds that you could only do 5-10 minutes because so few holds were useable.

    Staff were absolutely tremendous. Just so helpful with weird requests and issues, working around missing ingredients and being generally so amable. Also the AC units worked great. Room temperature was great. In general, the whole concept was awesome for the family. We skated, we played volleyball, we road the water slide and relaxed in the splash of (when it was working). Also the free coffee was surprisingly better than expected. Not great at all but by hotel coffee standards very serviceable.

    Stayed in July 2023

  • Reviewed: July 1, 2023

    7.0
    Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Standard Queen Room with Air-Conditioning
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    Low maintenance, need to be keep up

    Nice entertainment area

    Stayed in June 2023

  • Reviewed: June 6, 2023

    7.0
    Jungle fever.
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Deluxe Double Room with Terrace
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    The AC wast working properly, the door was hard to unlock, the road to get to the hotel was horrible a 4x4 vehicle will be perfect for the road condition, the swimming pool was to shallow about 3ft deep, good enough for kids, one of the days in the hotel there was no water, everything was so expensive, the only currency they want is dollars.

    Is like being in the middle of a jungle, Breakfast was good.

    Stayed in June 2023

  • Reviewed: May 28, 2023

    6.0
    as a group with children this place is perfect and they will have the time of their lives!
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Bungalow
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    a little run down

    perfect for kids to run free

    Stayed in May 2023

  • Reviewed: May 15, 2023

    8.0
    Very Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Bungalow
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    The pool needs a water change or be cleaned more often. Also the water is pricy.

    It has great facilities such as the pool, restaurant, bar and the slide! It is surrounded by nature, we got the chance to see monkeys which was great! Some closer beaches that are better than San juan can be done walking, like between 3-5km. The Taxis are expensive to move around since it's a bit remote. Overall everything was great! Great breakfast!

    Stayed in May 2023

  • Reviewed: March 27, 2023

    6.0
    Overall, a decent, comfortable stay. The kids loved it.
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Standard Queen Room with Air-Conditioning
    • Stayed 3 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    The locking mechanisms on the doors were a bit weird- they lock from the inside as soon as you close them and they can be a bit tricky to open! On more than one occasion we had to slide a key through the door for someone to unlock it from the outside. The pillows had some weird plastic cover thing on them, which was a bit weird but not the end of the world. Overall the rooms were comfortable, the air con worked and there was hot water and a television as advertised. There's no housekeeping, but I don't think they claim to offer this. No this is not a 5 star resort, but it's great for the price and the location. We did have some complaints about the service (it was honestly quite atrocious aside from the ladies at the front desk), but my bf has messaged the owner privately and he seemed to be well aware and quite receptive towards the constructive criticism. Overall, you kind of just have to go into it without crazy high expectations. The service is not necessarily what you are going to be used to, but overall it's a pretty cool spot in the area. There's not too much that is family friendly right close to the beach anyways. It seemed like they were doing some construction work while we were there, so it definitely seems like they are working on things! :)

    Honestly, some of the reviews make this place sound awful, but overall this place has a ton of potential and we didn't have a bad time at all. The place is very kid friendly and the kids loved the waterslide and pool etc. It was cool to see their skateboard night on Friday. I won't lie, our first impression was kind of omg where are all the people, this place looks abandoned - but come the evening there were tons of people there having a good time! A lot of reviews mention the 'lake' you have to cross, but it was a complete non issue for us. It's a big puddle, and none of the taxis we took had an issue with it whatsoever. The location for us was good, a short taxi ride to the beach and the front desk was happy to arrange this service (I should mention the beach shuttle that is advertised is apparently not a thing). The food we had was good, the pizza was exceptionally yummy, however the service was quite poor. On one night we had asked what time food service was ending and we were told 10pm.. we tried to order food at around 9 pm and were told we could no longer order so that was a bit of a bummer as there's nothing super close.

    Stayed in March 2023

  • Reviewed: March 13, 2023

    8.0
    Very Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Standard Queen Room with Air-Conditioning
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    The location was a little tough to get to. Might be more difficult for smaller cars. The facilities were still under renovation when I arrived.

    The staff was very friendly and welcoming. They addressed all of my concerns and made my stay very enjoyable.

    Stayed in March 2023

  • Reviewed: March 6, 2023

    8.0
    Very Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Bungalow
    • Stayed 2 nights

    skatepark

    Stayed in March 2023

  • Reviewed: March 5, 2023

    8.0
    Very Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Standard Queen Room with Air-Conditioning
    • Stayed 2 nights

    Menu was limited, not everything was available. When in a Villa, there was no wifi in the bedrooms…mentioned this to staff, but ….

    The facilities were great..lots of activities available Food was good Howler monkeys close by, but not too close

    Stayed in March 2023

  • Reviewed: February 28, 2023

    8.0
    Great time for the price we paid !
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Standard Double Room
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    There is no pool towels . No extra pillows and the ones you have are not comfortable at all . The mattress are new and kind of hard for some people . Stnd rooms are really basic and the tv is smart but did not work at all and there is no cable tv . For the price you pay is good enough . With some exceptions like the missing hotel shampoo , conditioning or cream you normally found on any hotel . Walls are thin enough to hear the bathroom from your room. Water is not drinkable . you have to buy it there and is expensive than beer . Far from the beach

    great pool to cool down a calm town in the mountains, away from the noisy center . You would see stuff that are quite good for a hotel of this size . like the skate park or the voleibol yard . Good place to sleep . Chairs by the pool and mini ranchs are great for having an excellent afternoon. Food is good and beers have a good price . cocktails are more expensive but are made of real fruit.

    Stayed in February 2023

  • Reviewed: February 26, 2023

    8.0
    Very Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Travelers with friends
    • Standard Double Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    Someone moving furniture at 6:30am. Above my room

    Great place..going to bring my family

    Stayed in February 2023

  • Reviewed: January 9, 2023

    6.0
    the property was good but we had to get food for outside
    • Leisure trip
    • Group
    • Bungalow
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    The food was horrible, cold food, bad taste and raw food

    The rooms was very good and comfortable

    Stayed in January 2023

  • Reviewed: December 10, 2022

    8.0
    pretty good everything the services the staff no complaints
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Double Room with Terrace
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    the only thing I didn’t like was the location

    well I like everything

    Stayed in December 2022

  • Reviewed: August 23, 2022

    8.0
    Very Good
    • Leisure trip
    • Group
    • Standard Queen Room with Air-Conditioning
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    No party at night

    Breakfast

    Stayed in July 2022

  • Reviewed: July 31, 2022

    6.0
    I expected more after seeing the Prime movie. i wouldn’t stay again.
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Standard Double Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    Room #3 had a broken lock on the door. You can’t get out— very unnerving! Room 13 was normal. The pool area was left extremely messy overnight. Trash from dinner and glass beer bottles everywhere on and around pool deck. Scattered trash and chicken bones on ground. 0/10

    Great food. Great concept!

    Stayed in July 2022

  • Reviewed: July 25, 2022

    7.0
    perfect for a short holiday
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Deluxe Double Room with Terrace
    • Stayed 2 nights

    The bar and restaurant did not have the whole menu, the second day they only sold sodas and beers, the worst part is to get at the location you need to cross a river, so your car must be high enough and when their is to much rain fall you cannot cross the river.

    Fine hotel, nice location, but the bar and restaurant did not have the whole menu, the second day they only sold sodas and beers,

    Stayed in July 2022

  • Reviewed: July 25, 2022

    6.0
    Not nice enough for the price. Limited food.
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Bungalow
    • Stayed 4 nights
    • Submitted from a mobile device

    The menu has a lot of options but only a few were available. We stayed for five days and had to eat the same thing over and over. They had no fruit, no salad, no tacos, no fish. Fried chicken and burgers only. Breakfast was suppose to have Nica cheese, fruit, pancakes etc. None was available. Only eggs, toast and Gallo pinto. No hot water and no drinking water available to overnight guests unless we bought bottled water. We went on our roof top deck and there was trash all up there. The kids wanted to skate but the park was full of water and debris. We also got stuck on the other side of the river after a rain and couldn't return to the hotel. Taxis couldn't drive on the road and we had to carry everything to the taxi down the road when we checked out.

    Pool and skatepark make it fun for kids. Waiters are nice and AC and tv worked.

    Stayed in July 2022

Showing 1 - 25

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