Because this is the first review of this hotel on this site, we will give an overview of the hotel as well as our comments. We stayed at Hotel Vistamar for one week March 1 – 8th, 2009. During our stay, there were only 2 other North American guests and the remainder were Spanish speaking. With the exception of a conference group, there was probably no more than a dozen guests at one time. Our last night before our return flight was spent at Best Western Las Mercedes (directly across the street from Managua airport – you can walk across the road to check In !). You can check our review of the Las Mercedes on this site also.
LOCATION
The hotel is beachfront at Pochomil, approximately 1 ½ – 2hours from Managua airport, depending on traffic. The community of Pochomil is to the south (left on the beach) of the hotel. To the north (right from the hotel), a 25 minute or so walk will take you to the fishing village of Masachapa.
RESORT
Vistamar is a small complex with the rooms mostly located around the pool and along the oceanfront. There are 40 rooms in 2 story, 2 unit buildings. We chose an upper oceanfront unit which gave us a large, private verandah with a small table & 4 adirondack rocking chairs and a hammock with sliding doors to the room. Palm trees in front of the resort provided privacy while still giving us a view of the ocean and beach. Some of the lower units have kitchenettes for an extra cost. The grounds are nicely landscaped with lots of tropical plants and trees (almond, cashew, tamarind & palm). There are lots of birds – warblers, kiskadees, jays, bluebirds, doves, sparrows, and the odd woodpecker. There is a good size main pool and 2 smaller ones, and 2 cold water Jacuzzis. There are several palapas around the pool, one with hammocks, and the rest with chairs and tables. There seemed to be adequate lounge chairs for the number of guests that were there. There is a small gift shop on-site. Also, on a few occasions, a vendor family was on the grounds near the pool. They will not approach you or bother you. The little girl, Marivel, was very helpful with helping us to figure out dollar vs. Nicaraguan cordobas for our purchases. The prices were very reasonable – earrings were $1.00 US, necklaces $2.00 US and a ball cap was $5.00 U.S. We found all of the hotel staff to be very friendly and courteous (as were any of the Nicaraguans that we met during our travels). While we were there, only one staff member at the front desk (Marlon) and one restaurant server (Byron) spoke English, so some Spanish is definitely helpful.
Our e-mails to the hotel were answered by Alfredo Gonzales, the manager, whose English is excellent. We booked our stay on-line and everything was handled very professionally, including our pick-up at the airport and return transfer.
Was this review helpful? Yes Thank you for giving us your opinion.