"Sonrisa" is Spanish for "smile".
This small (10 unit) hotel is owned and run by Rogér the person who runs Bonaire Windsurfing Place, where we go to windsurf. By booking both the hotel and windsurfing equipment at the same place, we got a slight additional discount. We knew that Rogérs girlfriend, Jaqueline, manages Sonrisa so we expected that we would get some very good, personal service. Sonrisa offers both hotel style units and one-bedroom units (and can combine them into a two-bedroom unit). We decided to ‘splurge’ and take a one bedroom unit, which turned out to be very comfortable. Sonrisa provides a nice “breakfast sandwich” with coffee, OJ, and other goodies that varied over time (yogurt, apples, cookies, etc.) and we always ate it sitting on our front patio overlooking the pool and courtyard. Sonrisa also provides twice a day shuttle service to the windsurfing area at no charge, although we had a rental car and didn’t use it. Hotel rooms had a mini-fridge and microwave while our apartment had a full size refrigerator, range, and microwave, although we made limited use of them. One advantage of the one bedroom unit is that it provided full “flow-through” ventilation from the prevailing winds. We never even turned on the AC units while there, since the wind and ceiling fans kept everything very comfortable.
The furniture and facilities were comfortable, including a very nice bed which at first seemed firm, but we found to be very comfortable. Our one bedroom unit had a king-sized bed and it was a true king bed, not two smaller beds pushed together as we frequently find.
There is a small food/general store a block away from Sonrisa, run by a Chinese couple, which has almost everything you might need during a short visit. We shopped there several times for various supplies, including wine and cheese and crackers. When we returned from windsurfing about 4:00 each day, we enjoyed a glass of wine and snack on our front porch. That always made for a restful and enjoyable end to the day.
Jaqueline and Rogér proved to be very pleasant hosts. For one evening, Jaqueline organized a “picnic” in the courtyard for all the guests who wanted to participate. We all chipped in about $15 each and she bought and prepared all the food and drinks and Rogér cooked the meats on the grill. It was a very pleasant evening and was representative of the hospitality at Sonrisa.
Certainly no place is perfect, and Sonrisa has its’ faults, but we felt they were minor and did not impact our enjoyment at all. For example, Sonrisa is away from the beach and in a slightly commercial area and there was some traffic and heavy equipment noise. But remember, we had all the windows open and AC off. If we had closed up, it probably would have seemed very quiet. It does appear that other resorts and hotels are building in the same area and I expect the neighborhood to become more resort oriented in the near future.
Perhaps the best summary of Sonrisa is that we intend to stay there the next time we visit Bonaire
For a full trip report on our stay in Bonaire, check my personal (no advertising) web page at
www.hammocktree.us/ms/trips.html

While all the reviews here are accurate, there are a few additional things you should know about Sonrisa. If you want to come to Bonaire and see the ocean, Sonrisa is not for you. The place is new and cute (the owners obviously put a lot of love into it) but the surroundings are not as appealing. The hotel is set back about three blocks from the ocean in a relatively underdeveloped area. When we arrived, it had rained, and we had to walk through an unavoidable strip of deep mud to get to Sonrisa's gate. It's lovely inside, if all you want to do is sit by the pool (which is very small, by the way) and read. We were disappointed to find only six pool chairs though, and little shade. If you dive, you will be better off staying at a place on the water, with a dive shop. The rooms at Sonrisa were very clean (always appreciated) but small. The back rooms (they call them the "windy-side rooms") look out on nothing more than a neighbor's backyard and a satellite dish. Overall, for the money, you may do a lot better at another Bonaire hotel, especially if you are willing to pay a little more. Sonrisa wasn't terrible -- as I said, it's new, clean and cute -- but it definitely wasn't for us.

We went to Bonaire to visit friends so, we were not looking for the 'resort experience', just a clean comfortable place to sleep. This hotel provided that and more. It's a very clean and well-maintained place. (I do however agree with the reviewer that said that the rooms are on the small side.) The owners take pride in this new establishment and it shows. The daily breakfast sandwich is very good and we enjoyed eating every morning looking out over the pool and the lovely grounds of the hotel. The owner can arrange almost anything that you might want to do, makes all reservations and provides great suggestions and directions to locations around Bonaire. The location close to the airport is great because the flight to Bonaire can be a little long and wearing, so it’s nice to be able to get settled right away. However, we were never bothered by the noise of planes taking off and landing. A grocery store is close by and the mini-fridge that they provided really came in handy, as did the free Internet access. (Calls from Bonaire are expensive so we kept in touch with emails.) Lots of television channels (Most in English, a few in Spanish, Dutch and German I think.) What more could you want? We recommend staying here; it's a quiet and relaxing spot in beautiful Bonaire.

My husband and I stayed with Jacqueline and Roger at the Sonrisa Apartments for 5 nights in June. Our room was beautiful, the grounds and pool area were gorgeous, and the service was fabulous! The breakfasts were quite tasty as well. It really was like a home away from home for us.

We were new to Bonaire with the idea of moving there permanently, and Jacqueline was tremendously helpful in helping us to navigate our way through finding housing, services etc, as English-only speakers. She booked cars for us, had cell phones available to rent for a very reasonable cost, and also booked tours of the island. She even helped us out with advice on shipping when we decided to move over to Curacao!

You could not ask for a friendlier, more comfortable, yet very elegant place to stay in Bonaire!