We live in Nicaragua and decided to take an overnight trip to Ometepe Island with some friends who were visiting. We had a two year old, a four year old, an eleven year old and a thirteen year old with us. This place was great for what we needed.
There are a few different price range options for you to choose from. We had reserved a basic cabin ($45/night) but once we arrived there, the woman at the front desk said they had two higher-grade cabins available on special for $70/night. These included TV and hot water, the basic cabins do not. We chose the $70/night ones because of the view, mainly.
The rooms were nothing spectacular, but face it, you are in Nicaragua. Our room had two queen beds and an armoire, a separate toilet and shower area. We did NOT have hot water, nor a TV. Our friends room, which was right next door, was the same except they did have a TV (Sky TV network). We never really found out about the hot water because there was a big storm that night and the power was out for a lot of it. The hotel does have a generator, which was great, we at least had lights and fans. Again, this is Nicaragua, the power here is NOT reliable, especially on Ometepe! So be prepared.
The staff was VERY friendly. We even ordered dinner for the kids to eat in the room, and they brought it to them without us even asking. The food there is pretty good. Worth the money. Order the chicken curry skewers and you won't be disappointed! And they make fabulous mojitos. :)
The beach area was wonderful for my two small children. They played in Lake Cocibolca (aka Lake Nicaragua) and loved it. Some other guests were there having cocktails on the shore, and had some music playing. It was paradise! There are blue birds there that will eat from your hand they are so tame. And pretty!!
There were definitely some gnat like bugs... the clothing I left out to dry overnight was covered with dead insects, but again, that is to be expected in a somewhat remote area.
The location of the hotel is nice, we did have our own vehicle (came over on the ferry with us, I highly recommend this if you can do it) so it was no problem driving around to the canopy tours, Ojo de Agua and some petroglyphs. I didn't see TOO many restaurant choices in the immediate area but we were only there for 1 night, so we didn't search too much.
I would definitely stay at Villa Paraiso again. The views of volcano Maderas from the shore, and if you walk into the lake far enough, you can see Volcano Concepcion, too, were totally worth the money and putting up with the power outages and gnats!
- Paraiso Hotel Isla De Ometepe
- Paraiso Isla De Ometepe
