Rancho Santana

This trip ticked all of the boxes! Our couples stay at the Inn was perfectly centralized, convenient, and made everything easy as this is an amazing, lush, spread-out and beautiful property. Top-notch food and restaurants, service, and activities. We felt like true VIPs during our entire 10-day stay. Word to the wise: When booking tours and excursions, gratuity and taxes are automatically added later. The price shown ends up being more when you settle your bill. A nice feature, because it takes the guesswork out, but this is not well-articulated. The online room deals can be a bit misleading too (we did not have a panoramic ocean view as advertised), but the staff compensated when we called this out having kept our email exchange with the online reservation desk. Jonathan and Andrea are true professionals and were 100% committed to ensuring we thoroughly enjoyed our vacation. Further, all stays may not include transportation if other specials are used, such as the AmEx discount. The roundtrip airport transportation was excellent, as was the timely shuttle service to and from the beautiful beaches and delicious restaurants. Drivers are courteous, polite, and knowledgeable. This contributed to our amazing experience. Overall, 10 out of 10 and we cannot wait to go back!

Their reservation line is surprisingly bad for such an expensive resort that markets itself as luxury. They don't respond half the time and take a very long time to process a simple booking request. Please address as this is hurting your business and bookings!

We hosted our wedding at Rancho in December of 2021 and we don't think it's an exaggeration to say it was the greatest wedding of all time Thanks to Erik, Dominga, and all the incredible staff, not only did we have the wedding of our dreams, but our friends and family had the adventure of a lifetime too. My wife and I love Nicaragua. It's a special place and Rancho does a great job of letting the best parts of the country (its ruggedness, the people, the jungle, the ocean, the food) shine through while also giving you a luxury experience. We typically stay at surf hotels so it was definitely a treat. Coordinating a 3-day wedding for 50+ guest is a feat, but Erik and Dominga made the process so much easier for us and our guests. They were responsive and went through every detail with us to make sure we had confidence going into our big day. We were able to give them high level ideas (and yes, some very particular and unreasonable requests), and they made sure those ideas were executed to perfection. We didn't anticipate all the micro-decisions that had to be made, but they gave us options and their recommendations to make those decisions much easier. Even though we were stressed as the day approached, they went above and beyond to make sure we and our guests had everything we needed. Dominga even hopped on the phone with a customs agent when a friend was having problems at the Nicaraguan border. The food and drinks are excellent. Both the restaurants and the wedding food delivered in a big way. We may be biased, but several friends unsolicited said it was the best wedding food they'd ever had. From the casual first night at La Boquita, to the family style meal at the reception, to the recovery tacos and ceviche on the beach they day after the party, everything was fresh, local, and delicious. The beauty of Rancho can't be overstated. The architecture of The Inn and all the other accommodations is beautiful and the construction is solid. But, what really shines is the stunning natural landscape of Nicaragua. At any given moment, you are either staring at the ocean or walking through a jungle of lush greenery. Definitely hit up the spa and yoga. They are located at the top of a set of natural rock stairs which is a nice walk in itself. When you get to the top, both the yoga studio and the spa overlook treetops. Both the yoga classes and massages are among the best we've ever had. In New York where we're from, spas and yoga studios play rainforest sounds over a speaker. At Rancho, you get the real deal. Get ready for the soothing sounds of rain, birds, monkeys, and leaves rustling in the wind. The surf shop has a great selection of boards and great instructors and guides. Whether you're a complete novice or someone looking to improve, you can't go wrong. We went to a new break near we'd never been to before and Lances Left with Darwin who was awesome. They also have a surf photographer. We're always in the water a

We were two families, kids ages 8 to 12. Flew from Maui to MGA without any hiccups. The paperwork and requirements may seem daunting, but as long as you follow Avianca's timeline, it's not difficult. We breezed through immigration in 20 minutes and flew right through customs and were greeted by our driver to the Ranch just outside of customs. I highly recommend hiring a driver to and from the airport. We saw so much of the country that way and both drivers were a wealth of information and excellent tour guides. We stopped for groceries on the way to the Ranch which was a great option to stock up on food and drinks. La Tienda, while a convenient option, does not have much to offer and is expensive. The fresh sourdough bread and fresh, giant burger patties are a must. We ate at every outlet on site, and La Boquita was our favorite for sushi and sourdough pizza. All restaurants on property were outstanding and the service was above and beyond. We ate off property for lunch twice and each time we had to wait about 1.5 hours for our food, and it was not worth waiting for. When traveling with kids, waiting for food is not fun. The pool bar also offers a happy hour (not advertised) with $11 pitchers of margaritas. Great spot to watch the sunset. We stayed in the residences which was convenient to the Inn, pool, and literally the best surf spot right in front of our place (Playa Santana). The surf was 3-5 ft everyday, and this was without a swell. Guests whom frequent the Ranch often said there's never not waves there. Our room was spacious & very clean. The kitchen was very well equipped (coffee maker, filters, blender, microwave, toaster). They have large bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and 5 gallon filtered water jugs in your room for drinking. Pull out sofa & linens too Highly recommend sand boarding, but be warned, this requires a level of athleticism just to get there and back, let alone climbing the sand dune. Best shelling beach I've ever come across. Make sure to visit every beach on property, they're all amazing and you'll often have the beach all to yourselves. You must rent a car to get around the property. Horseback riding was amazing. The Spanish dancing the ranchers perform on their horses is a site to see. We did about 5 rides, & still there were so many more trails to take. Best ride was at sunset on the beach (not so hot in the late afternoon). The heat was extreme every day, even with the trade winds, but you can cool off in the pool

Rancho Santana is heaven on earth! This was my third trip and it never disappoints. The service is 5 star. Everyone from Richardo and Katharine at the front desk to Barman who lead us on hikes, the staff is amazing. Manuel provided rides and Julia (the yoga instructor) were instrumental in making it an unforgettable experience. This place is a mix of ranch and 5 star resort (I use this. term loosely as it is more of a community than resort). The people are very casual and easy going. No one is pretentious! There are lots of activities from hiking to mountain biking to sand boarding down dunes. The staff notified me when the turtles were hatching and made sure to get me there to witness this amazing event. the restaurants are amazing and all reasonably priced. You have your choice of beaches each with their own personalities. This 3000 acre paradise is beyond pictures (hate to tell people about it just because it's natural beauty is relatively unspoiled and I'd love for it to stay this way!). They have their own sustainable herb and vegetable gardens and everything is made right there. The store on site (la tienda) carries everything from fresh fruit and fresh baked goods, to prepared meals to coffee and all the necessities at reasonable prices. They have a tennis court and people have brought their own paddles to play pickleball. The beauty of the place is beyond description and I love that you have your choice of accommodations from the Inn to casitas or Condo along with homes that you can rent. There are no big "hotels" or cheesy resort music. Our favorite beach is Los Parros where you will find the most amazing views and surf along with the best ever fish tacos or burritos and guac made with the largest avocados I've ever seen! The property is a bit difficult to get to, but the Ranch does an amazing job coordinating every transfer. If you are renting a house where you need to rent a vehicle, the hills on the property can be treacherous and you would need 4 wheel drive. We, however, were able to use the hotel's transportation within the property to get to wherever we needed to go! It was timely and convenient!

The property is beautiful very nice people and great rooms. The food, is ok. The main dining is not very good and I would avoid eating there. The other little places on the property are very good. Skip the main dining area.

My family and I stayed in an ocean view house, Casa Linda, so keep that in mind if you're considering the Inn or Residences. We'd not only stay here again, but we've recommended this place to our friends. Although I've rated it highly, there are some drawbacks to be aware of. Pros: The staff is great. We only had positive encounters. The WhatsApp system of communication with the concierge works well. The restaurants are really good, even the casual dining. Casa Linda is really well designed and worked well for us. The views are great. Cons: The infrastructure at the edges of the property is bad, we lost power and water a few times. It was always fixed within 20 minutes, but it was inconvenient. If you are not in the Inn, you need a rental car. Tip: If you rent a villa, drop a pin on Google Maps when you first arrive.

I had a great visit here; I visited solo the week after Thanksgiving and it was incredibly quiet and peaceful; there were only a handful of other guests staying (mostly Americans). I reserved the most basic room and it was still spacious and comfortable. I flew into Liberia, CR - I think if I had to do it over again I would probably fly into Managua; you definitely need to watch the “Getting Here” video on their site if you’re coming in via Costa Rica. Pro-tip: If you stay at the Ranch for four nights or longer the airport transfer is free. I am relieved I didn’t try to drive on my own, I never would have made it in one piece. If you come in via Costa Rica have cash tips for two drivers (one on CR side, one on NIC side). The property was beautiful. I liked the swimming pools and the interesting landscapes around the resort; the landscaping makes it feel like you’re at the end of the earth, it looks cool. I hiked over to one of the beaches via trail (wear sneakers on the trail, don’t attempt in flip flops); I was the only person on the beach which was heavenly. I always felt safe. All of the staff I interacted were genuinely nice, that was a treat. I enjoyed visiting the different restaurants throughout the resort, the prices were really reasonable. My room rate included hot breakfast which I enjoyed. I booked a sunset horseback-riding tour - I was the only one on the tour and had a great time. I also had a massage at the spa which was excellent. Note that the ranch is in a relatively isolated area - stay in the capital city for a few nights to experience the Nicaraguan culture and the people, then come here to relax. Note for solo travelers - many of the excursions require two people in order to book, I wish I had known that beforehand. Resort management, please stock postcards in your gift shop! That was the one thing I wasn’t able to get during my visit. For future travelers: sign up for Rancho’s email list; the hotel runs a one-time promotion via email for future bookings during Black Friday / Cyber Monday with heavily discounted rates. I would highly recommend, thanks for a great stay.

Perhaps the least pleasant hotel experience of my life. No one should come here. The hotel hosted an outrageous new years eve party for non hotel guests, blasting music until 5 in the morning to the constant complaints of the actual hotel guests who were begging to turn the music off. The staff frequently passes the blame to someone else and does not care at all for the guest experience. I would recommend that no one come here.