Surf Ranch Hotel & Resort

DO NOT STAY HERE!! The owners are not friendly. The service is terrible. I traveled with my girlfriend who invested in the surf ranch and we were greeted by very unfriendly staff that didn't care that my girlfriend helped build this place. I've also been told that the owners are canadian. I had no idea that's how they would treat us. Would not come out to settle legal disputes. Very cowardly people. The staff didn't care to hear us out or even serve us drinks if we paid cash. They also charged my credit card without authorization by me. Which I'm pretty sure is illegal. This place could be so much more than it currently is. The owners need to acknowledge that they have investors on their property and not treat them like criminals. I highly suggest everyone and anyone to stay away from this so called "resort" you will be over charged and nickel and dimed every step of the way. The cooks do not offer and vegetarian/ vegan options. The servers look at you like we are some sort of disgusting people. When in fact we are paying customers and owners. The maintenance of each room is sub par at best the website we booked with stated there would be hot water. Upon arrival we quickly wanted to have a shower before dinner and to our surprise there was no hot water. There was no maintenance for the hot water situation. The skatepark. Very poorly built and the lights didn't work at night. Clearly this place is not what it is made to look like on the internet. DO NOT BE FOOLED!! I highly recommend everyone to stay away from here.

This property ad was deceptive. The drone shot shows a "water park". It was one average sized pool with water. What appeared in the picture to be other pools was cement painted blue but dry (not joking). Worst of all is that it advertises to be in San Juan del Sur. SJDS is five actually miles away, and the last 1 mile is down a long dirt road crossing a river (no bridge). Since it rains nearly every day in SJDS, this "road" is continually a muddy jeep trail. We almost didn't get there to check in and we damaged our rental car trying and we were nearly stranded at night on a muddy road since there was no night receptionist. Of course, it is nearly impossible to book a room last minute in SJDS so this made matters worse. Fortunately, my paid guide was able to use his influence to first get us access via the security guard to our room after we arrived, and then get us a room at another hotel for our second night. Bottom line: If you want an off-road adventure and you have a high clearance 4x4 mud rig, this might be the right hotel for you. For people who want a nice hotel in San Juan Del Sur, avoid this hotel at all cost. Although the hotel promised to refund my second day since we could not access the hotel due to their muddy road and 20' river crossing, it has not refunded the money thus far and it has been five days. Sadly, the staff was very pleasant and seem to be victims of dishonest and unscrupulous ownership/management. AVOID THIS HOTEL AT ALL COST.

We had a great 3 days/2 night stay at the Surf Ranch! Very beautiful resort. We enjoyed the pool with the slide, the breakfast, the beds were heavenly, the staff was friendly (waiters, parking guards, housekeeping, the maintenance guy who was getting the leaves out of the pool, the reception girls who gave me first aid when I had fallen,...), the food was good (off course pricier than in a small local restaurant). We haven't used the climbing wall, the skate park and the children's water playground, so we cannot say anything about those. The road to the Ranch is not very comfortable, but it's not too bad either.

After staying at their other place in Popoyo, I eventually made my way to San Juan and decided to check out the Surf Ranch here. This one is smaller but has way more stuff to do, I really enjoyed it and the rooms and staff were great!

My friends and I booked a few night stay here at the Surf Ranch. Overall great experience. The staff were very attentive and super friendly. The waterslide and pool were great, although one day we were planning on relaxing, but it filled up with probably 40 people and kids, which I am not complaining, but once it got busy, it wasn't what we were planning to do for the day. The rooms were great, we stayed in a condo, it had a smart TV, comfy beds, and view of the skatepark. We rented some boards and goofed around, we are not skateboarders so really can't give input on it, but the skatepark was big and many people skating it. Oh ya they also have a skateboard shop. What else? basically you will need your own car, or their reception can book a taxi for you. Town is only a quick 5 min drive away, and overall, great trip and we will definitely stay here again.

This place has great potential, but needs a ton of work which could have been totally overseen if the service was good. I recently stayed here for 4 nights and it won't let me leave a review on any other site. Convenient for them huh. - the only reason I give the rooms a 1 is because of their false advertisement of big fluffy pillows and comfy duvet, when actually it'd a plastic covered pillow with a linen cover and the smallest sheet you could imagine for the whole bed, and if anyone is aware that you don't flush toilet paper in Nicaragua, they didn't come into room once to clean, also not only can you be locked out of your room, you can be locked in... otherwise the bed was comfy and air conditioning is nice. - service was an absolute 0, as I mentioned the room cleaning. Every breakfast took at least 30 minutes after sitting down to be acknowledged unless I called them over. And this was basically for everything during my stay. Getting a drink, getting food. I love tipping but the workers there just seem like they don't even want to be working there period. 4 nights stay shows it all. Even got eye rolls from some of them and noticed a few extra charges when leaving ( which they corrected, gotta give credit where it's due ) - With some awesome staff and good service, this place could be fantastic, the location isn't far from town and the stream you have to pass to get there isn't the hotels fault. It's a shame such a good spot is absolutely ruined by the staff that just don't care. My girlfriend and 2 kids sat at a table one of the evenings for 35 mins (timed) watching the 2 guys behind bar on their phones laughing together before I went up and grabbed my own menu and told them we are ready some drinks.

There was a rock climbing wall but you couldn't use it. The food was overpriced. The slide into the pool of water filled with debris not exactly the highest moment in life. I would avoid going even for the $10 fee which is reasonable. If you have a kid that likes a skateboard park he might enjoy it.

I first learned about Surf Ranch, Lucas & Travis after watching their documentary Hotel Brothers. I decided to come do a multi tour stay at all 3 of their hotels. They helped me book everything, from my airport shuttle in Liberia Costa Rica to their hotel there, getting my covid test and transfer to this Surf Ranch in San Juan Del Sur, then taxi up to their newest resort in Popoyo. I guess I was the first one to do this 3 hotel stay trip. I got to meet Lucas at Surf Ranch in SJDS. I will write a review about each one, but this one I think was the funnest. I grew up skating so I got to skate their skatepark, they have a cool skateshop on site as well. Everyday I was there, it was busy, lots of people using the water slide and waterpark, their is a cool vibe at this resort, a mix of hotel guests and locals or tourists just coming to hang out for the day. Everything looks brand new, renovated, I stayed in the deluxe condo overlooking the skatepark, comfy beds, ac, tv, hot water, quiet, no outside noise, I recommend the deluxe condos from what I seen of the other units. The food was great, cool that they have the same restaurant in both countries at their resort, I think it was called Sprout. Anyways, I will be back for sure and you guys gained a fan! congrats on what you have accomplished and look forward to your next resort!

The roads are hard to access parts are flooded, there’s a small river you have to cross. When we arrived we were told they do not offer 6beds as shown on their description- we ended up having to get a third room. The main room a scorpion inside when we arrived and later throughout the night ended up flooding. Very disappointed in the overall stay.