We stayed at Pelican Eyes for 5 nights during the last week of January, first of February, 2012. We were mortified that we had to go through the main dining room, the bar and the pool area to get to our "cabina", but after the first day as the hotel was not busy, it began to feel like our own villa. We loved the private patio on our cabin that overlooked the bay, the breezes and birds. The cabin appeared to be adobe and quite comfortable except for the steps to the coffee maker, bathroom and closet. The beds had the only mattresses that my husband has found to be comfortable in all of the places around the world where we have stayed.

The staff is cheerful, but most of them have so little English that it is almost impossible to communicate. We have some Spanish and between that and the little English and sign language, we managed. Despite the hotel not being busy, we were forced to use the pool at the bar because the desk staff refused to allow us to use the other pools most of the time on the pretext that they were too busy. There were only 4 lounge chairs and they did not recline or have cushions. Neither did they have pool towels available during our stay. Good thing for those breezes.

The property is extremely steep with stairs everywhere, up and down, too much for most. They do have vehicles to take you down to town and around the property if you require, although, most of the time we got the pick up and not the suv. They have a sign up about their own sailboat, but they could never get enough people to book it and tried to rent it to us for $600. They couldn't arrange any other sailing trip, or snorkeling or anything else, so we simply walked around San Juan Del Sur for 5 days. The place appears to be geared mostly to young surfers who want to pay $15 per night for a room and extra for sheets. Most of the restaurants are that way too. We had some concerns about Nicaragua, but found the people charming. We were happy for the experience, but are not likely to return.

This hotel is somewhat pretentious for the surrounding area.

We stayed a couple nights attending the wedding of a close friend's daughter. It's a destination hotel oriented to the market niche of weddings and receptions for foreigners and upper income Nicaragua families. The hotel is located on a hill overlooking the bay of San Juan del Sur. The rooms and apartments are scattered along the hill and there are a lot ups and downs to move through the installations. The rooms are spacious and comfortable, decorated with taste, in a rustic style but the steps inside our room to reach the bathroom were dangerous and may cause accidents. The hotel's main attractions are the swimming pools and the panoramic views but other than that it is not worth the money: the cheapest room is $200, which is a lot for Nicaragua standards, and the food pretentious and expensive.

I stayed at Pelican Eyes from Jan. 11-17, 2012. The hotel has great expanded since my last visit, and we stayed in the Casa Cielo, which is probably the highest house on the property. It was gorgeous, with a huge downstairs area with full kitchen, gas grill outside and upstairs sleeping quarters with a balcony and beautiful view of the bay. A really incredible room, where you could cook your own meals, etc. There is also a small restaurant that serves the higher parts of the property, with superb service from Gato and Saca. The only negatives are the prices, which are comparable to expensive hotels anywhere, and way above SJDS rates anywhere else; and the long walk uphill to the Phase II buildings.

I would definitely recommend the sail again, as well as day trips to Playa Madera and Playa Hermosa. Both beautiful beaches with bar/restaurants on them. You need a truck to get there though. I did not use the 4WD, but the roads were very bumpy with steep uphills and downhills. Good thing I am used to alot of offroading here in Louisiana.

The good: the rooms are very nice - pools are good and rooms and pool all have great views
The bad: mediocre, overpriced food, poor customer service (especially from the evening staff) and a steep uphill climb up a unpaved, rocky dirt road if you are unlucky enough to be placed in "phase two" of the development. Avoid the latter at all costs!