To preface our trip report let us provide you with some background. We have been to several similar resorts in the past, including Hedonism II & III both in Jamaica, Desire in Cancun, Mexico, and Caliente Caribe in the Dominican Republic.
Arrival:
We arrived at the airport and we met up with the resort’s driver. Note: if you stay 7 nights or more, transportation to and from the resort are free. He stopped at a little store along the way if we needed to buy anything. The trip was about 90 minutes from the airport to the resort. The mountain views are amazing. The temp was no hotter nor more humid than the Baltimore/DC area. Mosquitos were no worse either.
Jaco:
It is a straight up beach/surf town with tons of restaurants, clubs, bars and stores, with the main strip just a block up from the beach and hotel. So everything is right there; beach, hotels and town. The mountains and jungle are very close by as well.
Beach:
The beach consists of darker sand with small rocks in parts all as a result of the local volcanic activity. The waves are huge (compared to the Atlantic) with lots of good surfers taking advantage of them. The water was also very warm. The beach is public and bathing suits are required.
Hotel:
From what we know, Copacabana Desire (CD) is the only Lifestyle friendly resort in the entire country. We were greeted by an accommodating staff that was also extremely friendly. The hotel is not large and could use some updating, but it has a cozy feel. That combined with the staff, makes for an enjoyable stay.
Things that could improve the hotel:
-Outdoor ceiling fans under dining/bar areas
-Our shower’s hot water control knob (Rm26) needed some work
-Lighting along walkways/balcony outside some rooms
-General updating of various trim/paint
-Have existing staff or a dedicated energetic Entertainment Coordinator (EC) that could organize some activities (some kinky) throughout the day/night
-Hot tub thermostat needs some tweeking
-Could use a small gym for workouts.
-WiFi would go out occasionally
Things that made the stay memorable:
-Staff: Manager Katia was amazing! She made sure the hotel ran smoothly and also took the time to get to know us (We asked her for mint for mojitos and softer pillows and she came through on both!)
Resident Asst Manager David: Worked his butt off taking care of the guests’ needs, giving us advice, as well as setting up for various events throughout the day.
Bar Tender/Waiter Fernando: Was so pleasant and made great drinks. He would even put sugar on the rim of his mojitos.
-Food: We cannot talk enough about this. ALL the food was nothing short of amazing. The cooks worked their butts off and many times we only saw one cook in the simple/primitive kitchen at time. And the food that came out of there was stunning! No need to leave the hotel for anything to eat. We were all-inclusive so we ate well! The menu was also very large with differing nightly themes for dinners. No luke warm/stale buffets here! Yes, Americans, believe it or not, food is actually better without preservatives, hormones, MSG, nitrates, & pesticides. We’ve been missing out for sure. And their low end coffee easily beats many high end coffees in the U.S.
-Recycling: recycling bins were available throughout the resort. You can’t recycle even if you wanted at most 5 star hotels within the U.S. I actually enjoyed taking items out to the recycle bins as opposed to throwing everything away for the landfill. This is therapy in itself.
-Dual flush toilets to conserve water. Again most U.S. hotels won’t offer this.
-CFL and LED lighting
-Nice nude pool, hot tub and cabanas.
-Swim-up bar
-Nice massage at the spa.
-Nice to have a Jacuzzi tub right in the room
-Stocked fridge (water, beer, soda)
-Good regulation of the working girls who would visit (Yes, many countries are not as up tight as the U.S. and actually have legal/regulated prostitution which ends up being safer for all parties and less costly than our failed war on the world’s oldest profession)
-Got our laundry done for free by hotel staff
-Hotel staff (Keike) also provided surf lessons
Excursions:
Ocean Ranch Park--Horseback riding/Waterfall repelling/Ziplining with dinner…for $99 and only 20 minutes from the hotel. Great deal!
Villa Caleta’s—a huge high end resort on a mountain to watch the sunset. The hotel (CD) staff (David) took us here.
Conclusion:
Don’t expect a 5 star resort, but the positives really outweigh the negatives and we felt welcomed and relaxed during our stay. Even though it is smaller than the other Lifestyle friendly resorts we’ve stayed at, size isn’t everything because we’d go back to CD before any of the others. And don’t forget to tip before you leave (especially the cooks)!
