Sorry to say I wasn't as impressed as other travellers.
On the plus side, Ometepe is an incredible volcanic island, with amazing wildlife (definitely check out Reserva Charco Verde, over two visits we say a coral snake, a horse tarantula, howler monkey families and tonnes of birds), volcano trecking (you need to be seriously fit but an incredible experience) and kayaking (there is a river through the island with incredible birdlife, worth going with a guide to make the most of it).
Sadly, we didn't feel we picked the best place to stay on the island.
The issues were that:
- we booked with booking.com for a room called "rustic suite with forest view". We understood that the guesthouses are set up almost like tree-houses, so you have a great viewpoint to see the birdlife in the canopy. We ended up with a ground-floor room which was comfy enough but no view at all.
- this wouldnt have been much of an issue at all if there had been a decent common area, perhaps on one of the raised platforms they have. Instead the only common area is a small space around the kitchen without any proper hammocks and with loud music pumping a staff phone during the daytime. Not a good place to chill.
If you do book here, perhaps use airbnb for more info on which room you will actually stay in or contact the property in advance to get more detail, as it will make a big difference. Some of the other rooms looked stunning...
The other issue was that the manager on duty kept changing every day, which meant everything was a bit hectic. For example I had booked to do a treck up Conception Volcano and specifically agreed a start time of 8am as I knew I'd be able to do the treck faster than the normal 8-10 hours suggested. However, that morning I was informed the guide was waiting for me at 5am. I was also informed that the guide would cost 25 USD instead of 30 USD, and due to his waiting, I had to pay an extra 25 USD for transport on top of that.
Further, the property is a good 20 min walk to the nearest town of Balgue, and doesnt serve lunch or dinner. There are a couple of take-away options available, but on one evening both were too busy to service take-aways so being exhausted after a day of exploring, we just went to bed.
This remoteness is good in a way as you are in a kind of oasis of quiet, but to get around the island you really need your own transport, so we hired a scooter (not cheap in itself at 20 USD/day) but you cant get to the property itself with this, you need a dirt bike or a very expensive quad bike (I heard they went for 80 USD) to make it all the way up the dirt trail from the main road.
Finally, I never undertand why eco-lodges based amongst incredible wildlife decide to keep dogs. There are a couple on the property, and one of them brought a dead chicken back one afternoon (much to the manager's shock, it has to be said!) and dogs generally scare away small land animals and some types of birds that might otherwise be spotted.
Having said all this, we didn't feel ripped off as such, the staff were all very friendly and Ometepe is a magical island. But standards were set so high in other places we stayed at during 5 weeks travelling around Nicaragua, the niggling issues listed above meant that this place was probably the only dissapointment.
