El Pital, Chocolate Paradise

Beautiful venue, great food.

To be honest - for this price I did expect a bit more. I was very excited about the sauna/ice bath, but apparently you can only do this if you find enough people to fill up the sauna. I was solo travelling.. So couldn't have this experience. Very sad about this. Also the yoga wasn't communicated well, and when I asked for more information at the service desk, the guys were kinda annoyed with me that I didn't know the information that no one shared with me. I think El Pital would be a nicer place if they were a little bit more helpfull in general and also wanting to make the experience epic for the solo people.

The place is beautiful. The restaurant is nice and the food is good. The place has access to the beach and they are currently working to have a better access.

Parking is far and we had to walk through rough terrain with our bags. We were not told about the daily activities in the place, they were written on a small board by the restaurant. We missed them all.

Everything is so organic & natural, the beauty and serenity of this place is truly special.

The Magic Bus didn't have any A/C but overall not too hot at night with the fan, the roof trap doesn't shut so there are some friends inside 🦎

The location is a 10/10, the cacao tour is a 10/10, and the kindness of the staff is also a 10/10. Unfortunately, our overall experience was affected by a few important issues.

On our first night, someone tried to enter our cabana and then ran away. We immediately reported the incident, and the receptionist told us that, thanks to the security cameras and staff, they would be able to identify who was responsible. Later, however, we were informed that there were actually no cameras covering the area of our cabana and that, in any case, “nobody could have entered from outside.” The fact that the person may have been another guest rather than an outsider does not make the situation any less serious. What disappointed us most was the lack of any apology or follow-up from management. We chose this solution based on a friend’s recommendation, hoping to experience a bit of the real Ometepe. Unfortunately, apart from the excellent cacao experience, the hotel felt like it could have been located anywhere in the world—Bali, Sri Lanka, or elsewhere. We found very little that felt genuinely Nicaraguan in terms of atmosphere, culture, or identity. Finally, our bed was not as clean as expected. I am not referring to traces left by insects or animals, which can happen in a tropical environment, but to visible stains on the mosquito net that had clearly not been cleaned. Given the price of the cabana, we expected a higher standard.