Hotel Arco Iris

Set among tropical gardens and indigenous trees, this boutique hotel gives you a quieter base in Tamarindo while keeping the town within easy reach. The setting is leafy rather than showy, with howler monkeys often moving through the trees; a useful reminder that the Pacific coast is doing its own thing just beyond the garden.

Bright, contemporary rooms and bungalows come with air conditioning, Wi-Fi, cable television, a safe and a minibar. You will also find an outdoor pool, sun loungers, umbrellas and towels for the hours when the sea can wait. The hotel team speaks English and Spanish, so you will be understood without resorting to underwater hand signals.

You are in Tamarindo, on Costa Rica's Pacific coast, at Playa Tamarindo. The beach and the shops, restaurants and bars of town are about 0.3 miles away, close enough to reach on foot but far enough for the hotel to sit back from the street. That separation matters when you want sleep rather than another round of holiday noise.

Tamarindo lies within the Baulas de Guanacaste Marine National Park area. Grande Beach is about 1 mile away, while Langosta Beach is roughly 1.3 miles away. For a coffee stop, Breaking Bread and Cafe Colibrí are both around 0.4 miles from the hotel; Avellanas Beach is about 3.7 miles away.

For two people who want a compact base with a private entrance and a private bathroom, the bungalow is the straightforward choice. It gives you the essentials without asking you to pay for space you will not use. The larger deluxe rooms make more sense for a couple who likes room to spread out, or for a small group needing more sleeping capacity; the option with two large beds accommodates up to three people.

Every accommodation has air conditioning, a minibar and a refrigerator, which is exactly the sort of detail that earns its keep when you return warm, salty and ready for cold water. A desk gives you somewhere to sort photographs or deal with the unavoidable message from home, while the patio or terrace and garden setting provide a more civilised place to sit than the edge of the bed.

The rooms are bright and contemporary, with modern bathrooms, showers, toiletries and hairdryers. Cable television is there for the evening when conversation has run out, and the set-back position helps keep the nights calm. Daily housekeeping and luggage storage add a little practical ease around arrival and departure.

Seasons Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner beside the pool, so you can keep the day simple rather than go hunting for a table every time hunger arrives. Its menu follows a Mediterranean fusion line, with local seafood, vegetarian dishes and several meat options.

The most distinctive part is the daily catch. You can choose the “you catch it, we cook it” approach, while the kitchen also works with dishes such as sashimi finished with sizzling sesame oil, ginger and spring onions, pan-seared snapper with grilled aubergine and red pepper coulis, homemade ice creams and sorbets, and white chocolate mousse with strawberries.

There is one bar on site for a drink before or after dinner. The restaurant is the main event here, not a parade of dining venues, which suits a hotel where the town's wider choice is only a short walk away.

The outdoor pool is the obvious landing place when the sea has had enough of you for one day. Pool and beach towels, loungers and sun umbrellas are available, while the tropical gardens give you somewhere to sit with a book and let the afternoon pass without a timetable.

A massage can be arranged on site, useful when your shoulders have been working harder than the rest of you. The concierge and tour desk can also organise boat trips, island outings, waterfall visits, market trips, rainforest canopy tours and visits to Arenal Volcano. Snorkelling, kayaking, fishing, horse riding and canoeing are available as activities away from the hotel.

Wildlife observation, hiking and cultural excursions give couples and non-diving companions something to do beyond the pool. You can also simply walk into Tamarindo for the beach, cafés and evening life, then retreat to the gardens when the town becomes too lively.

Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport is about 1 hour 20 minutes away by car. An airport shuttle is available and can be arranged with the hotel; a shuttle service is also available. Car hire can be arranged, and free private parking is available nearby, with no reservation option.

Check-in runs from 15:00 to 21:00 and check-out is by 11:00. You need to tell the hotel your expected arrival time, and photo identification plus a credit card are required at check-in. The minimum age for check-in is 21.

Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel. Concierge service, a tour desk, currency exchange, luggage storage, express and private check-in or check-out, daily housekeeping and laundry are available. Payment is accepted in cash, Visa and Mastercard.