A beautiful garden on the beach, kept in perfect order by a middle-aged German with a solicitous Filipina wife, and a large and cheerful Filipino staff. The rooms are in small cottages scattered around the gardens, decorated with dark stained wood and whitewashed walls, with scented sheets and a few items of carefully selected antique (looking) furniture. No reception - a member of staff will materialise whenever necessary to sort out any problems. This is definitely a place for getting away from it all, providing sun, sand and sea, hermetically sealed off from all the troubles of the world. Even the sand is beautiful; very fine, a mix of dark grey and white, like powdered granite, with a sprinkling of something bright that sparkles like diamonds. Unfortunately even the best endeavours of the management can’t keep everything disagreeable permanently at bay. I glimpsed a cockroach in the bathroom, and had a brief encounter with jellyfish in the warm surf of the sea. It was small consolation to be told they were the first that had been seen that year, as I washed myself in foul-smelling vinegar to prevent further damage. I am sure the restaurant was wonderful too, but I arrived on a Monday, when it’s closed. It’s only a 10-minute walk into the town of San Juan, but it’s hardly worth the effort. There’s no restaurant there either, that I could find, and I was beset by dogs as soon as I set foot outside the locked gates of the hotel compound. They poured out of all the neighbouring properties and chased me all the way to the main road, barking their heads off.
Not cheap but fair value at 800 peso a night ($15) for single occupancy of charming double, including satellite TV, fan or air conditioning, shower room and generous hot water, but excluding breakfast, particularly on Mondays.