Reviews of Tamarindo Backpackers
Tamarindo Backpackers Hostal 100 metros sur de cond. Villa Verde 1, 50309 Tamarindo, Costa Rica
Loading
Guests also reviewed these properties:
How guest reviews work
Each review score is between 1-10. To get the overall score that you see, we add up all the review scores we’ve received and divide that total by the number of review scores we’ve received. We use a weighted review system which means that the more recent the review, the bigger the impact on the total review score calculation. In addition, guests can give separate ‘subscores’ in crucial areas, such as location, cleanliness, staff, comfort, facilities, value for money and free Wi-Fi. Note that guests submit their subscores and their overall scores independently, so there’s no direct link between them.
You can review an Accommodation that you booked through our Platform if you stayed there or if you arrived at the property but didn’t actually stay there. To edit a review you’ve already submitted, please contact our Customer Service team.
We have people and automated systems that specialise in detecting fake reviews submitted to our Platform. If we find any, we delete them and, if necessary, take action against whoever is responsible.
Anyone else who spots something suspicious can always report it to our Customer Service team, so our Fraud team can investigate.
Ideally, we would publish every review we receive, whether positive or negative. However, we won’t display any review that includes or refers to (among other things):
- Politically sensitive comments
- Promotional content
- Illegal activities
- Personal or sensitive information (e.g. emails, phone numbers or credit card info)
- Swear words, sexual references, hate speech, discriminatory remarks, threats, or references to violence
- Spam and fake content
- Animal cruelty
- Impersonation (e.g. if the writer is claiming to be someone else)
- Any violation of our review guidelines.
To make sure reviews are relevant, we may only accept reviews that are submitted within 3 months of checking out, and we may stop showing reviews once they’re 36 months old – or if the Accommodation has a change of ownership.
An Accommodation may choose to reply to a review.
When you see multiple reviews, the most recent ones will be at the top, subject to a few other factors (what language a review is in, whether it’s just a rating or contains comments as well, etc.). If you like, you can sort and/or filter them (by time of year, review score, etc.).
We sometimes show external review scores from other well-known travel websites. We make it clear when we’ve done this.
Guidelines and standards for Reviews
These guidelines and standards aim to keep the content on Booking.com relevant and family-friendly without limiting expression of strong opinions. They are also applicable regardless of the sentiment of the comment.
Contributions should be travel related. The most helpful contributions are detailed and help others make better decisions. Please don’t include personal, political, ethical, or religious commentary. Promotional content will be removed and issues concerning Booking.com’s services should be routed to our Customer Service or Accommodation Service teams.
Contributions should be appropriate for a global audience. Please avoid using profanity or attempts to approximate profanity with creative spelling, in any language. Comments and media that include 'hate speech', discriminatory remarks, threats, sexually explicit remarks, violence, and the promotion of illegal activity are not permitted.
All content should be genuine and unique to the guest. Reviews are most valuable when they are original and unbiased. Your contribution should be yours. Booking.com property partners should not post on behalf of guests or offer incentives in exchange for reviews. Attempts to bring down the rating of a competitor by submitting a negative review will not be tolerated.
Respect the privacy of others. Booking.com will make an effort to obscure email addresses, telephone numbers, website addresses, social media accounts, and similar details.
The opinions expressed in contributions are those of Booking.com customers and properties and not of Booking.com. Booking.com does not accept responsibility or liability for any reviews or responses. Booking.com is a distributor (without any obligation to verify) and not a publisher of these comments and responses.
By default, reviews are sorted based on the date of the review and on additional criteria to display the most relevant reviews, including but not limited to: your language, reviews with text, and non-anonymous reviews. Additional sorting options may be available (by type of traveller, by score, etc.).
Translations disclaimer
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, express or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
Loading...
Reviewed: 30 August 2025 · Stayed in August 2025
Verified reviewNice welcoming staff, nice accommodation, good facilities
Reviewed: 31 July 2025 · Stayed in July 2025
Verified reviewIt felt safe and is very peaceful.
Reviewed: 15 May 2025 · Stayed in May 2025
Verified reviewReviewed: 23 April 2025 · Stayed in April 2025
Verified reviewLovely staff, beautiful outdoor space, excellent location! Overall a great experience staying here, everything felt safe and clean.
The shower wasn't working properly while we were there and the air conditioning is only on from 9pm to 9am so it can get quite hot.
Reviewed: 19 April 2025 · Stayed in March 2025
Verified reviewLoved the outside area and the pool! Great when you’re just relaxing at the hostel. The kitchen had everything you need, lockers for your valuables which is great! Staff were pretty nice, the dorm wasn’t too bad and had an ensuite which was great. Not too far from all the shops/nightlife.
Seemed like there were alot of volunteers just sitting around doing not much, the pool had a lot of leaves etc which is easy to just use the net to get it out every 2 hours or so, no one did. So we cleaned it with the net and one of the workers said god I’ve been doing it every 20 mins lol yeah right…
Reviewed: 5 April 2025 · Stayed in April 2025
Verified reviewHad a good energy in the kitchen and around the pool area. Lots of places to sit and hang out.
The dorms are the worst I’ve experienced for the price. There is no privacy and no room for belongings depending what bunk you get. Their is also no AC during the day and the areas get very hot with the heat.
Reviewed: 18 March 2025 · Stayed in January 2025
Verified reviewReviewed: 1 March 2025 · Stayed in February 2025
Verified reviewFriendly staff. Didn't use kitchen but appeared well stocked.
Spiral staircase. Impossible for me take wheelie . (Staff very accommodating.wigh this) Room upstairs, bathroom downstairs. Whole place needs some diy.
Reviewed: 19 February 2025 · Stayed in February 2025
Verified reviewThe property had great vibe Staff were super and owner was AMAZING
Nothing I didn’t like but - it would be good if they had beer to sell HD free activities like - salsa dance - Spanish lesson / outing
Thank you for your review. There are salsa classes in town, but we have thought about offering cooking classes.
Reviewed: 14 February 2025 · Stayed in February 2025
Verified reviewReviewed: 13 February 2025 · Stayed in February 2025
Verified reviewGreat, well-equipped kitchen. Close to the beach and shops. Comfy areas to relax. Friendly staff.
Bunk bed was pretty wobbly and no privacy curtains
Reviewed: 20 January 2025 · Stayed in January 2025
Verified reviewThe volunteers are cool and extremely helpful. The internet is perfect Pool is a nice touch Toilets cleaned regularly - Exceptional Kitchen and pots and pans - Excellent Access to two fridges - Perfection Overall I can sincerely recommend
The $3 card charge is not acceptable when everything is electronic these days, nothing is mentioned when you book online. I paid in local currency and was charged 1500 ($2.80) "colon" over my reservation including ALL taxes, it felt like an audio way to claw as much money as possible from you. No toilet up stairs so you have to go down the stairs every time you need to toilet / bathroom Note: upstairs is 2x rooms with (4) beds in each. Security Concerns: A french Canadian chap brought a girl back to his bed on two occasions and no one mentioned or acknowledged this. Nothing else to report
Hey Steve, here Marco mate. Thank you for your feedback! We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed the hostel, the amenities, and our helpful volunteers. Regarding the $3 credit card charge, we understand your concern. The fee is due to the extra tax we incur every time a credit card is used, which is why we offer the option to pay in cash to avoid this charge. As for the bathroom situation upstairs, we apologize for the inconvenience. The house was designed over 30 years ago, and unfortunately, we are limited by its original layout. Concerning the incident you mentioned, we didn’t notice anything at the time. However, after reading your comment, I personally checked our cameras and didn’t see any outsider entering the room in question. Additionally, our system shows no record of a French Canadian guest staying in that room. While we did have French Canadian guests, they were in another room, and the cameras also do not show any outsider entering their space. You mentioned that our staff is very cool and helpful, which we truly appreciate. However, I’m sorry that we didn’t meet your expectations enough to receive a 10. We are constantly working to improve and provide the best experience possible for our guests. Your feedback helps us to do just that. Thank you again for bringing these points to our attention. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back in the future and provide an even better stay! Cheers Marco Suárez Tamarindo Backpackers Hostel Manager
Hey Steve, here Marco mate. Thank you for your feedback! We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed the hostel, the amenities, and our helpful volunteers. Regarding the $3 credit card charge, we understand your concern. The fee is due to the ext… Show more
Reviewed: 17 January 2025 · Stayed in November 2024
Verified reviewReviewed: 16 January 2025 · Stayed in January 2025
Verified reviewVery friendly environment. I enjoyed the chat with the owner who is always around or Sebastian at the reception. Nice place to stay! 😍
Reviewed: 3 January 2025 · Stayed in January 2025
Verified reviewPeople are amazing and the stuff was like a friends
nothing
Reviewed: 29 December 2024 · Stayed in December 2024
Verified reviewAmazing volunteers working at the hostel that made me feel like part of a family, we guests were invited to the staff Christmas dinner and it was simply a pleasure to stay at this hostel, also fun to play volleyball and backgammon, great kitchen, nice pool and chill hammocks
Reviewed: 8 December 2024 · Stayed in December 2024
Verified reviewSuper nice, great staff, good bed, AC not the best but definitely good enough, big comfy hammocks
Thanks so much my friend.
Reviewed: 24 November 2024 · Stayed in November 2024
Verified reviewReviewed: 20 October 2024 · Stayed in September 2024
Verified reviewReviewed: 17 October 2024 · Stayed in October 2024
Verified reviewReviewed: 10 October 2024 · Stayed in October 2024
Verified reviewSuper nice owner and people working there, nice vibe, nice common area to hang out
Reviewed: 25 September 2024 · Stayed in September 2024
Verified reviewThe kitchen is very good
The A/C in the dorms is on only from 9pm-9am We had to ask every time to turn on during the day and felt uncomfortable, even though they did turn it on we had to argue and ask over and over. More over the website didn’t say that we have only 12h of A/C.
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We’re super happy to hear you enjoyed our kitchen—we put a lot of love into making it a special space for everyone! About the A/C, we totally get where you’re coming from. Our air conditioning runs from 9 pm to 9 am because, during the day, the heat makes it work really hard. Plus, we’re all about protecting the planet, and keeping this schedule helps us stay more eco-friendly. That said, we want you to stay comfortable, which is why we have a super clean, refreshing pool to cool off and plenty of outdoor hammocks where you can relax and enjoy the breeze. It’s true that this detail isn’t listed on our website or booking platforms, but we always make sure to explain it during check-in. We appreciate your suggestion and will work on making it clearer for future guests. Thanks again for choosing us and for your understanding. We’d love to welcome you back someday and make your experience even better. Cheers, Marco Suarez Tamarindo Backpackers Hostel
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We’re super happy to hear you enjoyed our kitchen—we put a lot of love into making it a special space for everyone! About the A/C, we totally get where you’re coming from. Our… Show more
Reviewed: 12 September 2024 · Stayed in September 2024
Verified reviewGood location
More volunteers than guests. Volunteers were using the space all day long. Our room was next to the kitchen. They say no noise after 10pm but there was noise up to then.
Reviewed: 22 August 2024 · Stayed in August 2024
Verified reviewStaff were helpful and friendly, the hostel is clean and comfortable. The kitchen is well organised and clean. Nice social space with a small pool which is a lovely temperature. It was a great place to relax. Good hanging area for drying clothes and other bits. The bathroom is spacious and great for washing off after being at the beach
If I had to say anything, there was very little room for belongings in the dorm and the hammocks are smelly, AC was a bit cold in the middle of the night so blankets would be awesome
Reviewed: 22 August 2024 · Stayed in August 2024
Verified review