Since beginning to travel and live as digital nomads, we’ve heard the Selina hostel brand discussed and mentioned frequently by fellow travellers and in advice groups.
We were intrigued by what looked like the perfect mix of the social nature of a hostel, combined with the convenience of private rooms and co-working facilities.
However, we were always put off by the cost, with the prices of a private room at a Selina often seemingly equivalent to those of luxury resorts nearby.
But when we were planning our trip to Costa Rica, we saw a great deal on the Selina Manuel Antonio resort, so we decided to go for it.
We spent almost a month living in Manuel Antonio and, overall, we really loved our stay at the Selina. However, there are definitely some things I would have liked to have known beforehand about staying there.
If you want to know more about what it’s like to be a digital nomad in Manuel Antonio, check out this post which breaks down everything you need to know.
So here’s our honest Selina Manuel Antonio review and everything you need to know before booking.
Table of Contents
Selina Manuel Antonio Review
Pros
- Amazing wildlife
- Free entertainment and classes including yoga, salsa and live music
- Three swimming pools
- Quiet co-working space
Cons
- Can be noisy at the weekends
- Slightly run down
- Expensive
Location
Manuel Antonio is a relatively small place and the Selina is right on the main road that runs through the town, so location-wise, it’s pretty convenient.
The Selina Manuel Antonio is at the top of a large hill leading down to the main beach, meaning you can walk there in about 15-20 minutes. However, there aren’t sidewalks and the walk is very steep so it is a bit tricky, especially coming back up.
But, if you really can’t handle the walk, there is a bus that runs through the town every 20ish minutes during the day that also goes to the beach.
You can also catch the bus to the national park, although we decided to walk and it took us about 40 minutes.
There are plenty of shops and restaurants around Selina Manuel Antonio, so overall the location is very convenient if you don’t mind a few hills (these are pretty tricky to avoid in Manuel Antonio tbh).
Rooms
Selina Manuel Antonio has a range of rooms available, from beds in dorms (6 or 8 people per dorm) to standard rooms and suites.
We booked a Suite + through booking.com as there was a special deal on which meant the upgrade from a normal private room was free.
When we arrived, we were impressed by the size of the room and it even had a small kitchen with a cooking plate, which wasn’t in the room description.
There was a beautiful balcony outside overlooking the jungle where we could chill and watch the monkeys.
We had air-conditioning which was pretty necessary given it was around 30 degrees Celsius each day!
However, the room definitely didn’t look like the pictures online. There was no four-poster bed and it was pretty run down.
We were missing things, like cushions on the sofa (it was just a hard bench) and a desk, which was pretty important as we were working remotely.
When we asked about these things, we were told the pictures were “just illustrative”, although they did eventually bring us a desk and chair after we asked again.
Facilities
We were pretty impressed by the facilities at Selina Manuel Antonio. The best part was the three swimming pools.
Although they weren’t heated, the humid weather meant they stayed at a nice temperature. It was so hot in Manuel Antonio that having a pool to cool down in was amazing.
For longer-term travellers, there is a shared kitchen and dining area.
Although we had a small kitchen in our room, the hotplate wasn’t great so we used this sometimes and found it well stocked.
For remote workers like us, the set up at Selina Manuel Antonio was great.
First of all, the wifi was consistently good. During our month-long stay, it only cut out twice for about two minutes maximum.
There was also a co-working space on the rooftop and access to this was included in our stay. It was very quiet with few people using it regularly.
Although Selina is known as a digital nomad destination, the majority of people we met were just passing through for a few days while on holiday (more on this later) which meant the co-working space was barely used.
There was also bar and restaurant on the rooftop, as well as a smaller bar which turned into a nightclub on Fridays and Saturdays.
This meant it could be noisy on the weekends as the music went on until 2am both days. Although we could hear it from our room, it wasn’t too loud and we managed to sleep through it. However, it could get slightly annoying.
Wildlife
By far the most amazing part of staying at Selina Manuel Antonio was the amount of wildlife around.
The resort backs onto the jungle and we encountered so many different animals during our three-week stay, including toucans, huge iguanas, monkeys (some of which even went for a dip in the pool!) and macaws.
This was way more than we saw in the national park. If you’re looking to see Costa Rican wildlife up close, Selina Manuel Antonio is the place to be!
Socialising and vibe
As I mentioned above, we were expecting more of a hostel vibe filled with longer-term travellers.
However, we found most people we met at the Selina were there for on holiday for a few days only, rather than digital nomads.
This meant it was less social than we expected, but there were still lots of opportunities to meet people thanks to the events organised by the hostel team.
There is a welcome drink every night for new arrivals and activities like yoga and salsa (as well as the club nights) mean it is easy to meet other travellers.
Overall Selina Manuel Antonio Review
Overall, we really enjoyed our stay at Selina Manuel Antonio and would definitely return.
The highlights were the amazing wildlife – there’s nothing like waking up, stepping outside and seeing monkeys and iguanas on your balcony! We also loved the pools and being able to chill out at the end of a work day.
We found the rooms to be slightly run down, but still nice to stay in and the location was great for enjoying everything Manuel Antonio has to offer.
That’s all for our Selina Manuel Antonio review! Do you have questions? Let us know in the comments.
