Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Our small beach-front hotel is right on the ocean. We are not an all-inclusive hotel, more like your own one-bedroom apartment on the beach. Amenities include: pool, fully-equipped kitchens, daily maid service, and laundry service. A/C in all bedrooms, and both the Casa and the Deluxe Room have A/C throughout and full-sized appliances. The completely remodeled house has a large gathering area and upscale furnishings. Please call us to rent out the entire hotel for retreats or family gatherings.
C. Santo Domingo Samara de Nicoya, Playa Samara 50205 Costa Rica
Fenix Hotel - On The Beach
4.8 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
It is hard to put the unique beauty of the Fenix into a review but I am going to try.
We stayed for 5 nights in unit 3. Travelled with school age children.
Arrival:
The Fenix is just a couple of kms outside of Samara. You pull off the main road down a short gravel road, passing a small convenience store. When you pull into the Fenix our first thought was hot beautiful the greenery of the hotel was. Check in was so smooth, they send a form in advance with a lot of information so we didn’t have many questions.
The grounds:
the pictures do not to do the Fenix justice. The beach area with a variety of trees, hammocks, and loungers give you great ocean access and shade. Even with the hotel at max capacity it does not feel busy.
The pool:
Calm, surprisingly deeper than I thought and was nice and cool.
The rooms:
We stayed in unit 3. This room had the trundle bed which was great as a family of 4. One thing to note is that some units have full ac and some only have ac in the bedrooms. Unit 3 is the bedrooms only but I cannot speak to its efficacy as we did not turn it on. The cool ocean breeze kept us comfortable all night. The kitchens have all the basics. The only thing I would bring next time is cutting board, this is just a personal preference and didn’t affect our stay.
My daughter loved the hammock chair outside our room. (As did I).
Not what I cannot put into words is the vibe of the Fenix. It is so low key, relaxed , and you really can just “be”.
The staff is lovely. Lorena the manager answered all our questions. The housekeeping staff is so friendly and the maintenance gentleman was always working hard. You can really feel the sense of family st the Fenix amongst the staff.
The is night time security (arrival around 8 pm give or take) The gentleman who does security, performs his rounds diligently as I would always see his light in the distance if I got up in the night.
We will definitely be back!
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Date of stay: January 2025Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:There is parking available at the Fenix.
It is an easy 10-15 minute walk along the beach to...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My family and I have been coming to the Fenix repeatedly. It is a most beautiful small hotel right on the beach. The rooms are perfect for our family of four- everyone gets a bed , AND… there is a kitchen. We are steps to the shallow and wonderful beach. Palm trees and hammocks and lounging chairs are there for shade and reading and napping. And , because this hotel only has 6 units, there are very few people on the property. A cool clear pool is in the center of these units and is just perfect to jump in and cool down after a walk along the beach to to Samara ( only 10 min away). Jay is the owner and keeps everything looking so beautiful and also facilitates grilling freshly caught fish, coordinating tours and also just introducing guests to each other. We have made friends there that feel like family, Jay himself feels like family. This is a wonderful place and it is in my heart forever.
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Date of stay: February 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent almost two weeks at Fenix. We really enjoyed the proximity to the beach (20 meters?) and the site. It is well organized, well managed and it has everything you need. The small pool is perfect for the kids and the small appartement was well equipped. You can cook, use the BBQ and ask for laundry service (laundry as a small fee). The place is a short distance of walk to the town (10 min) by the beach, and there is a small grocery at 2 min, of walk where you can find all the basic you need. There is a fisherman close that can sell you fresh fish, we used it couple of times and it was great. Jay, the host, is a hard working man, spending most of its time maintain and improving the place and he was always there to assist us when needed. We recommand this place, a little hidden paradise.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our family had the best time at the Fenix hotel and in the town of Samara Beach. The owner of the hotel (Jay) went above and beyond from the first interaction to the very last during our 4 night stay. The property is perfectly situated on the beach and you’re only steps away from the warm Costa Rican ocean and about a 10 minute walk on the beach to downtown.
The rooms were quite big, with a kitchenette, refrigerator, fully stocked plates/utensils and enough room for our family of 4. The grounds are very well maintained with your choice of 4 hammocks, benches to admire the views & sunsets and even a brand new gas grill. We spent our last dinner eating fresh Mahi-Mahi that Jay sourced from a local fisherman and graciously BBQ’d for us.
We will definitely be back to stay at the Fenix hotel, thank you for such a great time Jay!
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Date of stay: December 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We cannot recommend the Fenix Hotel enough, if you are considering Samara Beach this is an absolute must stay.
The property is steps away from the ocean, 8-10 minute walk to downtown, super clean & well maintained and the owner (Jay) demonstrates top notch hospitality to all guests.
There are only 6 rooms, so the experience is much more mellow/unique than staying at a larger property. The sunset views, proximity to restaurants and warm ocean water make this the perfect spot whether you’re traveling with family or friends. We are already planning our return visit!
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Date of stay: November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was the perfect spot for our multi-family trip. We had 6 adults in our group and 6 kids under 6. They played endlessly the pool and had a blast running from the pool to the beach and chasing the hermit crabs at night. Though the temperature was warm, the fans kept us mostly cool in the evenings. Jay, the owner, was really funny with our 4-year old and let her help him bring in the couch cushions at night and made her feel like she was a "really important helper". The one draw back is the number of bug bites we got but hey that's expected. Highly recommend for your next family trip!
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Date of stay: March 2023
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This place is spectacular. We were a group of 12 that filled all six rooms in the main hotel area. It was our own little paradise.
Roll out of bed, make coffee in the room, wander down to the sandy beach a few hundred feet away, maybe jump in the pool 'cause it's between you and the beach. Lay in a hammock, wander up the beach for a foray into town or around the corner to a well stocked corner store.
Jay made booking excursions easy, but the place was so nice you might not want to leave it for a day!
Kitchen allowed for in-house cooking if that's your jam, or many cheap delicious restaurants all around.
Waves roll and crash all day long, water is warm and inviting, ocean breeze to keep things cool, plenty of shade if you want it.
Exceeded all our expectations.
Animal life gets a bit loud at night, so you might want to bring ear plugs if you are a light sleeper.
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Date of stay: March 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jay has done a great job in his first year at the Fenix. The rooms are rustic with no TV, allowing one to completely unplug if desired and if not, free wi-fi is available. At first we were surprised to find that the rooms did not have air/conditioning but found that the over head fans were more then sufficient to cool the rooms. In fact, on two separate nights we were chilled and turned them off. The grounds were immaculate and the landscaping beautiful. There were plenty of lounge chairs for sunning or ‘shading’ and a number of hammocks to relax in. If you like to read or write, you couldn’t find a better place, unless you simply don’t like the sound of gentle waves breaking on a white sand beach. There are even three resident iguanas that meander around the residence. You could not ask for a better host then Jay. He was both courteous and kind and possesses a great sense of humor. On arrival to the Fenix, Jay drove us into town and told us how to navigate our way through it, including the grocery stores since each room comes with a kitchenette and recommended a couple of restaurants, which were also excellent. By way of beach the Fenix is approximately a 20 minute walk to town, which we did each morning before our first swim of the day. The rooms at the Fenix are as close to the beach as you can legally get, allowing for quick and easy potty breaks or easy access to snacks and drink refills. In the beautiful Costa Rica weather it is easy to become quickly dehydrated and Jay actually reminds you to “drink water”. “Don’t ruin a good vacation trying to recover in bed.” Thanks for everything Jay!
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Jay P, Owner at Fenix Hotel - On The Beach
Responded 12 Mar 2020
Thanks for the great words. Im glad you had a great time on your vacation. and remember... Drink Water. Jay
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
This small hotel is on a quiet, natural and lovely property right on the beach. There are only 6 rooms, and only one has AC. We loved our AC room. Kitchen has everything you need to cook if you wish. Separate bedroom is perfect so early risers can use the kitchen.
The upkeep and updating all over the property is amazing. The owner, Jay, really cares about keeping things in perfect shape and also cares about the comfort of his guests. He is kind, helpful, and thoughtful. We loved being there and can't wait to return! We stayed for 12 days and wish it was longer. It is a real gem!!
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Date of stay: April 2021
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:All rooms are about the same, but only one has AC.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was our second visit to Samara so this time around I searched for an accommodation on the beach. I thought we would give the Fenix a try and I was sure glad we did. We had the perfect stay for close to six days. Our unit did not have AC but we did not need it as the unit had fans and the ocean breeze. We greatly enjoyed the cooking unit including the blender to make our own pina coladas. The owner Jay is great and he takes excellent care of his property. It was nice to actually see and be able to talk with the owner (as this does not happen at many accommodations). Jay also took the time to show us how to BBQ some fresh fish so we really appreciated this. He also booked a tour for us. The way the property is set up makes you fully fall into relax mode - hammocks and lounge chairs which lead to the main beach area. You can also dip in the pool to cool off. The sunsets were mind blowing and the property was located not far from the main town (we would walk the beach) to get to town as we enjoyed the scenic walk there. Getting to know our neighbours in the adjacent rooms was also fun. In all, my only regret is that I wish I could have stayed longer. The Fenix was a real gem! Would love to come back again some day!
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Date of stay: December 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Book early! There are not too many beachfront gems so book well ahead of time.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Fenix Hotel, General Manager at Fenix Hotel - On The Beach
Responded 16 Jan 2024
Thank you so much for your review! We are so glad you enjoyed your stay. xo
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Playa Samara, Costa Rica15 contributions2 helpful votes
Buenas días,
We have rooms available for many of the nights in January and February 2016. There are also many nights that we are full.
If you send me an email with the dates you are looking at and the length of time, I will let you know what we have.
Also the number of people traveling with you. All of our rooms sleep four with different configurations.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Saludos,
Phyllis @ The Fenix
Playa Samara, Costa Rica15 contributions2 helpful votes
Buenas dias again Jackie,
Our hotel is located at the center of the beach. Once on the playa, you would need to walk south for ten minutes.
If you want restaurants and bars, you will need to go to Samara central.
Saludos,
Phyllis @ The Fenix
Playa Samara, Costa Rica15 contributions2 helpful votes
Buenas dias,
We do have wood chairs in our rooms. Some of our guests use a pillow.
Our sunbeds on the beach have 3 inch foam cushions.
Let me know if you have other questions.
Sincerely,
Phyllis @ the Fenix
There are more places to choose from in the Playa Samara area.
PRICE RANGE
RM 994 - RM 1,127 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
fenix hotel playa samara
LOCATION
Costa RicaProvince of GuanacastePlaya Samara
NUMBER OF ROOMS
7
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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