We stayed at Alma de Hatillo for one night and we were left with mixed feelings. Our room shared a porch with two other rooms which gave it a kind of motel feel. And our room itself was so small and cramped that we spent next to no time in it.
The open air dining hall was the single nicest dining area we saw on our trip. It's top notch! Surrounded by jungle on three sides, it's the perfect place to bird watch. The property is wonderfully breezy as it's situated on a rise -- so it was never too hot for us here. The yoga platform is also top notch. We didn't partake in any yoga on our stay, but the platform honestly had us wanting to do a class or two. If you're looking for yoga, look no further. The salt water swimming pool is equally lovely.
Unfortunately, there was no self-serve fridge or bar in the dining hall, in fact, there were no drinks or food to be had on the whole property outside of breakfast and dinner (which you must schedule ahead of time). This was a huge disappointment for us as we didn't have a rental car and it was a pricey taxi ride to Dominical just to get a coke or a beer. Bring your own food! On the plus side however, the breakfast we had here was amazing! The homemade jams were fantastic.
Unfortunately, there is a farm situated very close to the property, perhaps right next door. You will hear the sounds of cows all day long, a rooster at dawn, and if you're lucky like we were, the shrill screams of a pig being slaughtered. If you are dog lovers like we are, you won't be afraid of Sabina's slightly intimidating pack of large sized dogs (German Shepherd mix, Chocolate Lab, Pitbull (?) looking mix), however, I can certainly see her pack being a problem for those who have any fear of dogs whatsoever. It appeared that Sabina was good about keeping the dogs locked up and checking with guests before she brought them out.
We found Sabina, the owner, to be on the overbearing side of chatty. When we were using the public spaces she was always on us, wanting to chat. At one point she even pulled up a chair at our table and stayed for an hour when we were trying to relax and do some reading. Some guests might like this sort of close interaction with a property owner, but we didn't appreciate it and would never stay here again based solely on this.
