La Ponderosa Reserve

A lush jungle paradise that feels like your home away from home

10.0

This hostel is breathtakingly beautiful. It’s eco friendly with locally grown foods, and located in lush jungle by the river. We extended our stay to attend a party which was good fun. The private cabins are so cute with outdoor shower and pretty gardens, and we also stayed in the dorms and private tree house. All staff went above and beyond to accommodate our group of 4. Well worth visiting this place! The vegetarian meals are 10/10

− Just note, getting here required a long motorbike journey where you see gorgeous views of mountains and the ocean

AVOID!

5.0

The river, most of the Colombian staff and a few volunteers. The hammocks. The place has potential. Tap water. Leaving.

− I did not like most of my time there but I especially did not like the arrogant English boys who own it, who treat it as their own permanent party and who got us there using deception. My daughter and I went for Christmas and on social media they promised an experience that did not materialise. She had heard good things about it. Sadly our experience was not full of ‘good things’. It’s is very difficult & possibly dangerous to get to their location & therefore difficult to leave. The ‘deluxe’ cabin that we booked & that they promised was actually someone else’s home who moved out for the duration. It was very grubby, remote & did not match the pictures. It had not been ‘deluxe’ for many years. We had to ask for bedding. No towels. We eventually got it changed to a smaller cabin (no less worn) that was less in the sticks. The place, which has more ‘volunteers’ than guests, has a feel of hedonistic/frat party central/white lotus on the cheap. There are signs that say ‘Please keep quiet’ between 10pm & 9am and this was not observed at any point. The opposite occurred. On the first night, there is a a full on ‘staff’ party going on which does not include the guests. The divide in the bar area is rude & weird. None of the managers speak to or involve the guests. There are not many of us. The thumping blare of music all night long and during the day was unbearable. The void between those that should be providing a service and those expecting one is vast. The contempt shown by those that are supposedly running this place did not abate. There hospitality acumen of the mulleted moustachioed gringo hombres is zero. They were permantly very pissed. They had their own cliquey parties with their personally picked, what seemed like, harems. We were charged more for items on our rubber wristbands than is displayed. We had a cheese sandwich for Christmas Eve dinner. There was supposed to be a Beach BBQ on Christmas Day but they could not be arsed.