Where to Stay in Manuel Antonio — Best Hotels & Areas
Curated by Our Guild Explorers · Updated August 2026
Manuel Antonio packs a national park, a rainforest and a beautiful beach into four miles of coast — and one detail decides how much you enjoy it. The road from Quepos up to the park entrance climbs a steep ridge, and the hotels with those famous ocean panoramas are terraced into that slope: wonderful views, a great many outdoor stairs, and no realistic walk to the sand. The genuinely level, walk-to-the-beach properties are clustered at the bottom of the hill near Playa Espadilla and the park gate. A public bus runs the road every half-hour until early evening; after that it is taxis. Below are the honest picks by style, each with a Book Me link straight to Trip.com.
Luxury
The two properties that actually own a piece of shoreline — the rarest thing in Manuel Antonio.
Arenas del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort
The rarest thing in Manuel Antonio is a luxury hotel that actually touches the sand, and this is it — two private beaches you can reach without hailing anything. The forty rooms are spread over a hillside above the shore, so there is real elevation on the property, but staff run golf carts continuously and will simply drive you down. Rates include a full breakfast; the resort states plainly on its own site that it is not all-inclusive, which is worth knowing before you compare it with Caribbean pricing.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Tulemar Resort
Tulemar owns its own crescent of protected sand, and that private cove is the whole argument for staying here — calm, uncrowded and yours. The property is steeply forested and spread across a hillside, so guests move around it by on-property shuttle rather than on foot; this works well for slower walkers, but you are dependent on it. Accommodation is villas and bungalows rather than hotel rooms, which suits travellers who want a kitchen and room to spread out.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Boutique
Two hillside hotels with the views this coast is famous for — and the stairs that come with them.
Hotel La Mariposa
La Mariposa holds what is widely considered the finest vantage point on the entire coast, a sweep of headlands and open Pacific that guests talk about for years afterwards. It is also the clearest illustration of the local trade-off: the hotel is built down the face of the hill in tiers, there are a great many steps, and the beach is a bus ride or a taxi away rather than a stroll. Ask specifically for a room on the upper levels near reception and the infinity pool if stairs are a concern.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Shana by the Beach Manuel Antonio
Despite the name Shana is not on a beach — it sits on the quiet Punta Quepos side road, with the Playa Biesanz trailhead about ten minutes downhill and the return climb rather less charming. The rooms are the most modern and uncluttered in this price band, with generous bathrooms and proper air conditioning, which matters more than it sounds in February. It is also one of the few upper-tier properties here that genuinely accepts dogs.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Budget & Value
Two honest, well-kept small hotels at the gentler Quepos end of the hill.
Hotel Plaza Yara
Plaza Yara occupies the lower, gentler end of the hill road, where the gradient is manageable and Quepos town is a short hop for groceries and the fish market. Rooms are simple apartment-style units with kitchenettes and terraces where sloths and toucans genuinely turn up at breakfast. You will need the bus or a taxi to reach the beach and the park, but at this price the arithmetic is comfortably in your favour.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Tres Banderas Hotel
A small owner-operated hotel with tidy tiled rooms, a decent pool and a garden that attracts far more wildlife than its rate suggests. It is set back off the main road, so it is quiet at night — a real consideration on a road where several hotels sit close to traffic and late music. There are stairs and a short uphill approach and the beach needs transport, so treat it as a comfortable, well-kept base rather than a resort.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Family-friendly
One classic multi-generation favourite, and the one large resort here with lifts and step-free ground.
Si Como No Resort & Wildlife Refuge
Sí Como No has been the reliable multi-generation choice here for decades: a pool with a waterslide and a swim-up bar for the grandchildren, a separate quiet adults’ pool for you, and its own small wildlife refuge and butterfly garden on site. It is a serious sustainability pioneer and the service is unusually settled and long-tenured. Be clear-eyed about the layout — it is built down a steep hillside in terraces with many steps, and a shuttle takes guests to the beach.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Parador Nature Resort & Spa
Parador spreads across 130 private acres at the tip of the peninsula, and it is the most mobility-friendly of the large resorts: much of the property is step-free and there are lifts between levels, which is genuinely uncommon in this town. Families get a large fountain pool, a shaded toddler pool, mini-golf and a games room, while adults get two separate adults-only pools. A free shuttle runs to the main beach, with the last return in the early evening, and Playa Biesanz is about fifteen minutes away on foot.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Adults-only
Two of the most romantic addresses on the Pacific coast — both hillside, both requiring transport.
Makanda by The Sea Hotel
Makanda is the quietest expensive room in Manuel Antonio — a dozen villas scattered across twelve wooded acres, two ocean-view infinity pools and an atmosphere of complete privacy. It is emphatically not a walking property: the grounds are hilly and the path down to Playa Biesanz is a strenuous twenty minutes each way, though the hotel runs complimentary golf carts. Book it for the seclusion and the sunsets, not for convenience, and plan on taxis for dinner elsewhere.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Gaia Hotel & Reserve
Gaia is a small twenty-two-room hotel wrapped in its own private nature reserve, with a personal-concierge model that suits travellers who would rather someone else arranged the guide, the car and the dinner table. It consistently earns the highest guest ratings in the area, largely on the strength of that attentiveness. It sits on the hillside with an infinity pool over the treetops; there is no beach access on foot, and the hotel arranges transport.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Pet-friendly
Both of these solve the terrain problem as well as the dog problem — they sit on flat ground near the beach.
Hotel Villabosque Eco Boutique
Villabosque is the pet-friendly option that solves the terrain problem: it sits on flat ground in the Espadilla flats, so the beach and the park entrance are an easy level walk with the dog rather than a hill climb. The grounds are lush and shaded, with a small pool and a resident population of monkeys and iguanas. Dogs of any size are accepted for a modest nightly fee; cats are not.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Igloo Beach Lodge
A relaxed, unpretentious beachfront lodge directly on Playa Espadilla, which makes it the easiest address in town for anyone travelling with a dog and unenthusiastic about stairs. Everything is at sea level — the sand is a few steps from the rooms and the park entrance is a short flat walk. Expect a simple, friendly beach hotel rather than a resort; the location is doing the heavy lifting.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Beachfront
If you want to walk to the sand rather than be driven to it, these are the two to book.
Hotel Verde Mar
Verde Mar has one of the only genuinely direct beach accesses in Manuel Antonio — a short private path from the rooms onto Playa Espadilla, with no hill and no shuttle involved. Rooms are plain and comfortable with kitchenettes, and the pool is kept warm, a small kindness that older travellers tend to appreciate. A dozen restaurants and the national park entrance are within a flat ten-minute walk.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hotel Playa Espadilla y Gardens
Set on generous grounds a short, entirely level stroll from both the beach and the park gate, this is the practical choice for anyone who wants to walk to everything. The property is unusually spacious for the area, with two pools, tennis courts and enough garden to feel separate from the road. It is dated in places rather than stylish, but for step-free access to Manuel Antonio’s two main attractions there are few equals.
Book Me on Trip.com ›All-inclusive
We could not verify a single genuine all-inclusive hotel in Manuel Antonio, so we are not going to name one. Booking sites do apply an ‘all-inclusive’ filter to several hotels here, but that tag reflects breakfast-inclusive or optional meal-package rates rather than an unlimited food-and-drink resort — Arenas del Mar states on its own rates page that it is not all-inclusive. Manuel Antonio’s model is breakfast included and everything else ordered from a menu. If a true all-inclusive is what you want in Costa Rica, look to Guanacaste instead. The live listings below are the honest way to check current inventory for yourself.
Browse all all-inclusive listings in Manuel Antonio ›Spa & Pool
Two hotels with proper spas — and, unusually for this hillside, lifts.
Los Altos Resort
Los Altos is a small all-suite resort perched at the crest of the hill, where a cliff-edge infinity pool and a full spa look out over the ocean and the forest canopy. The suites are enormous, condominium-style with full kitchens and laundry, which makes it a good choice for a longer stay or for two couples travelling together. There is a lift within the building — a genuine advantage here — but the resort is at the very top of the ridge, so the beach means the shuttle or a taxi.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hotel San Bada Resort & Spa
San Bada sits directly across from the national park entrance, so you can be through the gate before the tour buses arrive and back for a swim by mid-morning. It has a rooftop pool with ocean views, a proper spa and — importantly — a lift and level ground floor, making it the most comfortable spa-and-pool option for anyone who would rather not negotiate the hillside. The beach is a flat few minutes away; the trade-off is a busy roadside setting rather than a secluded one.
Book Me on Trip.com ›The hill, the bus and the honest advice
Before you book
If you take one thing from this page, take this: Manuel Antonio’s views and Manuel Antonio’s walkability are on opposite ends of a very steep road. The hilltop hotels — La Mariposa, Sí Como No, Los Altos, Makanda, Gaia — are magnificent and involve real outdoor stair runs and a shuttle or taxi to the sand. The level, walk-to-the-beach hotels are down at Playa Espadilla by the park gate: Verde Mar, Playa Espadilla y Gardens, Villabosque, Igloo Beach Lodge and San Bada. Parador and Arenas del Mar are the two large properties that bridge the gap with lifts and constant golf carts. A cheap public bus runs the road roughly every half-hour until early evening, and taxis are plentiful after that. One last honest note: the beaches here have real rip currents, the monkeys will open an unattended bag, and the park is closed one day a week — check before you plan your only morning around it.
When to go — the Guild’s month-by-month guide ›Frequently Asked Questions
The questions travellers ask most about staying in Manuel Antonio.
Which Manuel Antonio hotels can you walk to the beach from?
The level, genuinely walkable ones are all down at Playa Espadilla near the park entrance: Hotel Verde Mar, Hotel Playa Espadilla y Gardens, Hotel Villabosque, Igloo Beach Lodge and Hotel San Bada. Arenas del Mar and Tulemar have their own private beaches but reach them by golf cart down a hillside. Everything on the ridge — La Mariposa, Sí Como No, Los Altos, Makanda, Gaia — needs the bus, a shuttle or a taxi.
Is Manuel Antonio hard going if you have knee or hip trouble?
It can be, and it is worth choosing carefully. The hillside hotels are terraced with long outdoor stair runs and no lifts at the smaller ones. If stairs are a problem, book at Playa Espadilla on the flat, or choose Parador Nature Resort or Hotel San Bada, which have lifts and step-free ground, or Arenas del Mar, where the golf carts run continuously.
Are there all-inclusive resorts in Manuel Antonio?
Not genuinely. Some booking sites tag hotels here as all-inclusive, but that reflects breakfast-inclusive or optional meal plans rather than unlimited food and drink; Arenas del Mar says outright on its own site that it is not all-inclusive. For real all-inclusive resorts in Costa Rica, look to the Guanacaste coast in the north-west.
Should I stay in Quepos or Manuel Antonio?
Manuel Antonio for the park, the beach and the views — it is why you came. Quepos, four miles down the hill, is the working town: cheaper rooms, the fish market, the marina and everyday restaurants, but no beach worth the name. Most visitors stay on the Manuel Antonio side and drive into Quepos for dinner once.
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