El Faro Beach Hotel
At a Glance
- Feel at home staying in a recycled and remodeled shipping container
- Great Ocean Views with the major Islands and Manuel Antonio National Park
- Close to the entrance of Manuel Antonio National Park
- 7 minutes walk from Espadilla North Beach
Craddle on rock outcropping on a mountain ridge off the eastern hillside of the Manuel Antonio National Park wilderness, El Faro Beach Hotel invites guests to experience their stay in its eco-friendly, recycled shipping container rooms with private balconies, breathtaking ocean views, direct connection to the outdoors and top-notch services.
read more closeEl Faro Beach Hotel features two pools and three airy, modern buildings with two steel staircases that provide access to the floors, built from recycled flood, earthquake- and fire-proof shipping containers mounted on top of each other – seven per row - and retrofitted with concrete, stainless steel beams and gypsum.
An infinity L-shape pool lies at the base of a two-story building with five poolside rooms, a three-story building with 24 rooms including on the top floor two penthouses, two studios and a lounge with couches and beach chairs to sunbathe, and at the edge of the roof-top restaurant of the other three story building with 14 rooms and another pool at its base.
Owner Fred Neighbor from Oklahoma, visited Costa Rica frequently to buy quality coffee for his family’s roaster business, fell in love with the property where the hotel is now and purchased it with the idea to raise money from private investors and develop a condo complex, but due to the financial crisis in 2008 all investors were not interested to invest in the idea.
Traveling through the Caribbean, Neighbor saw countless shipping container’s graveyards and it suddenly struck him the idea to build his hotel using shipping containers. He realized that it would allow him to keep the environment surrounding the park almost intact, save money in construction materials and produce less waste material. The containers including the shipping to his location only cost $4,000. He invested roughly one million dollars to make his dream come true. He brought the containers with a truck and built the hotel in eight months – 35% faster than normal – from start to finish also cutting concrete and water costs down 60%, and reduced construction waste by 75%.
Mr. Neighbor replaced the front doors of the 20-foot cargo units – and used them as retaining walls and desk counters - with glass sliding doors to soften the interiors, he outfitted each unit with a private deck, a bathroom, with a toilet and a shower, gypsum walls and top of the line amenities.
Rooms
Rooms feature queen and/or double size beds, sofa, TV, hair dryer, a phone to call reception, hot water, and are fully air conditioned to keep you nice and cool. They also have a balcony with two chairs and glass sliding doors to let the breeze of the ocean in – just in case you do not like the A/C.
El Faro Beach Hotel boasts 50 rooms:
6 poolside standard rooms 160 sq. foot (20 ft long x 8 ft width x 8 ft height)
2 top floor studios 160 sq. ft. (20 ft long x 8 ft width x 8 ft height)
2 top floor penthouses 320 sq. ft (40 ft long x 8 ft width x 8 ft height)
35 deluxe ocean view rooms 320 sq. ft (40 ft long x 8 ft width x 8 ft height)
5 Deluxe superior rooms 320 sq. ft (40 ft long x 8 ft width x 8 ft height)
Room rates range from $90 to $189 (May – June).
Services & Amenities
Complimentary breakfast is served in the restaurant located in El Faro Beach Hotel where guests can choose from omelets, pancakes or a Costa Rican-style breakfast that includes eggs, bacon, and gallo pinto (mixed rice and beans) – all are served with a choice of coffee or orange juice.
Golf carts take guests up and down from the parking lot to reception or to the rooms along paved trails winding up and down the hillside. 24-hour reception desk and free WIFI are available. Laundry service offered upon request.
Opinion
We were pleasantly surprised how a shipping container can feel like a “home” during our stay. Our rooms featured a relaxing view of the Espadilla Beach North View along with the islands, T.V., cable, air-condition, double beds, hair dryer and an excellent room service.
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