We wanted to stay at an inexpensive hotel near a quiet beach. Of the few I called, none accepted reservations online. Because the phone lines in Esterillos often go out, I had trouble getting through to the hotels. I finally booked at Auberge Pelican, a 14-room Paradise in Esterillos Este, the easternmost stretch of Playa Esterillos (www.aubergepelican.com), at $65/night for a room with a private bathroom. Rooms with shared bathrooms are $55. The thorough and friendly housekeepers keep all parts of the hotel immaculate, but I was happy to pay $10 extra for privacy.
Besides other hotel guests and a few tenants at rental properties on either side of the hotel, we saw no one on the chocolate-colored sand beach. At low tide, 25 feet of sand separates the hotel from the water; at high tide, the water comes within 10 feet of the entrance. On our first evening there, we saw sand and water for miles and miles, but not a single living person.
The rooms are decorated in a French bed-and-breakfast style, most with hardwood floors. Due to the length of our stay and my late booking date (a month in advance), we were forced to change rooms three times. What might have been an annoyance actually worked out nicely, because we ended our stay in the nicest room available, no.4, with a gorgeous view (from a large bathroom) of the ocean. When I gushed about it to the hotel manager, she said, "It’s the best view on the Pacific Coast." Bias, aside, she wasn’t far off.
Ultimately, we loved Auberge Pelican for its staff. Brett, an American-expatriate bartender (and a for-hire surfing instructor), made the place feel like home. Try his mandarino margaritas and make sure to talk to Oso, the owner and another expat. The kitchen staff cooked delicious fresh fish, steak, and chicken with daily specials, and from the groundskeeper to the manager, everyone had a ready smile and time to offer advice about where to eat or visit.