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La Buena Vida Hotel

3.0 star property

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January 2025

Photo gallery for La Buena Vida Hotel

Family Quadruple Room, Multiple Beds | Private kitchen | Mini-fridge, microwave
Yoga
Design Double Room, 1 Queen Bed | In-room safe, desk
Gift shop
Yoga

Reviews

7.8 out of 10

Good

Popular amenities

  • Gym
    Gym
  • Laundry
    Laundry
  • Air conditioning
    Air conditioning
  • Housekeeping
    Housekeeping
  • Parking included
    Parking included

Explore the area

Map
Calle Principal, Hicaco, Veraguas, 60745
  • Santa Catalina Island
    20 min walk
  • Estero Beach
    6 min drive
  • Arrimadero Beach
    12 min drive

Room options

View all photos for Design Double Room, 1 Queen Bed

Design Double Room, 1 Queen Bed | In-room safe, desk

Design Double Room, 1 Queen Bed

  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 Queen Bed

View all photos for Family Quadruple Room, Multiple Beds

Family Quadruple Room, Multiple Beds | In-room safe, desk

Family Quadruple Room, Multiple Beds

  • Sleeps 8
  • 2 Queen Beds, 1 Double Sofa Bed and 1 Twin Bunk Bed

View all photos for Comfort Triple Room, Multiple Beds

Comfort Triple Room, Multiple Beds | In-room safe, desk

Comfort Triple Room, Multiple Beds

  • Sleeps 5
  • 1 Queen Bed, 1 Double Bed and 1 Twin Bunk Bed

View all photos for Comfort Double Room, Non Smoking, Garden View

Comfort Double Room, Non Smoking, Garden View | In-room safe, desk

Comfort Double Room, Non Smoking, Garden View

  • Sleeps 4
  • 2 Double Beds

Similar properties

Exterior

Bambuda Santa Catalina

Pool
Pet friendly
Parking included
Free WiFi
4.8 out of 5, Exceptional, (15)
The price is $62
per night
$68 total
includes taxes & fees
Dec 9 - Dec 10
Bambuda Santa Catalina

About this property

La Buena Vida Hotel

3-star Santa Catalina hotel with private balconies
This hotel features a fitness center, concierge services, and laundry facilities. Self parking is free. Additionally, a garden, gift shops/newsstands, and a front-desk safe are onsite.
La Buena Vida Hotel offers 3 air-conditioned accommodations with complimentary toiletries and ceiling fans. Rooms open to balconies or patios. Business-friendly amenities include desks and safes. Bathrooms include showers. Housekeeping is provided daily.
Recreational amenities at the hotel include a fitness center.

The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.

La Buena Vida Hotel features a fitness center, a terrace, and gift shops/newsstands. This Santa Catalina hotel also offers a garden, concierge services, and laundry facilities. The property has a front desk available during limited hours. Complimentary self parking is available on site.

La Buena Vida Hotel has designated areas for smoking.

Languages

English, Spanish

Property amenities

Parking and transportation

  • Free self parking on site

Things to do

  • Gym

Family friendly

  • In-room microwave
  • Laundry facilities
  • Mini-fridge

Conveniences

  • Gift shop/newsstand
  • Laundry facilities
  • Limited-hour front desk
  • Luggage storage
  • Safe at front desk

Guest services

  • Concierge services
  • Housekeeping (daily)

Outdoors

  • Garden
  • Terrace

Spa

  • Massage

Accessibility

  • No elevator

More

  • Designated smoking areas

Room amenities

Bathroom

  • Free toiletries
  • Private bathroom
  • Shower
  • Towels provided

Food and drink

  • Microwave
  • Mini-fridge

More

  • Air conditioning
  • Ceiling fan
  • Desk
  • Safe

Policies

Check-in

Check-in time starts at 2 PM
Minimum check-in age: 18

Check-out

Check-out before noon

Special check-in instructions

The front desk is open daily from 7 AM - 8 PM
Guests must contact the property in advance for check-in instructions; front desk staffed during limited hours
To make arrangements for check-in please contact the property ahead of time using the information on the booking confirmation
If you are planning to arrive after 8 PM please contact the property in advance using the information on the booking confirmation

Access methods

Front desk (limited hours)

Pets

Pets not allowed

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome
Rollaway/extra beds are not available
Cribs (infant beds) are not available

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts mobile payments and cash
Mobile payment options include: PayPal

We should mention

This property does not have elevators

Property is also known as

Buena Vida Hotel Santa Catalina
Buena Vida Santa Catalina
La Buena Vida Hotel Hotel
La Buena Vida Hotel Hicaco
La Buena Vida Hotel Hotel Hicaco

La Buena Vida Hotel Reviews

Reviews

7.8

Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 9 out of 23 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 5 out of 23 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 5 out of 23 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 4 out of 23 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 23 reviews" "

7.6/10

Cleanliness

7.0/10

Staff & service

5.6/10

Amenities

7.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2021

10/10 Excellent

Brian, Colorado

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The staff, especially Elena, was very friendly, helpful and attentive. The place is comfortable, quiet at night and close to all the restaurants in town. It was hard to know which days the restaurant was open, but I guess that depends on the number of guests staying at the hotel. Overall, great stay!
Stayed 6 nights in Jan 2020

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Don’t expect a lot in general being in Santa Catalina. It’s just a village and overall you won’t find luxuries properties to stay. La Buena vida is centrally located close to everything and you have a private room with the shower that is great. Overall, though, the property needs a lot of work - the area is full of fallen leaves and definitely needs cleaning. The room was humid and had filthy smell. Although there is restaurant on site, we were able to have breakfast only once - there was no staff at 7 am to prepare breakfast (although they supposed to be working). We had a good stay overall, but I would say that the property is definitely overrated and the price to too high for what it is.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Staff was never there during hours of operation , breakfast was not available both mornings and our room never got cleaned
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Traveled with group, Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Very good location. Great breakfast and nice hammocks in shade of porch.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Traveled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Excellent staff and great location, enjoyed our stay
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very well-located, charming small hotel, nice and comfortable rooms, very nice and helpful staff. Would recoomend it and would surely stay there again
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

Stephane, QC, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We rented the bigger Casa del Mar appartment for 3 nights. A large room perfect for our family of 5. Confortable and clean. Kitchen was fully functional and included a large fridge and coffee machine. Dishes supplied, but no pantry items (ex: salt and pepper, coffee filters...) and no toaster available, unfortunately. Local grocery store has the essentials, and fruit vendor trucks drive by the hotel on a daily basis.. We had tacos for lunch at the hotel restaurant which were delicious. Location and parking is convenient, A short 5 min walk to Santa Catalina Beach, but further from the nicer surf beach, Estero, so we would drive there. Surfboard rental are available around Estero beach. Elena, the manager (and yoga instructor), offered excellent service both before and during our stay, answering all our questions and helping organizing our activities, such as horseback riding at Ibiscus Garden). My wife had a massage, which was great, however pricey, at 65-70$ for an hour. We were suprised to find such high-end prices (higher than in Canada anyway!) in such a small, off the beaten path village. No doubt they would have gotten more business from us if massage prices were more reasonnable. All in all a great stay in a very welcoming hotel which offers great value for the price. We would stay there again without hesitation.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2018

6/10 Okay

Jacque

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Started off bad but got better.
The property had 2 different places under the same hotel.com booking. Pictures and quality are way different. One is a nice simple hotel and the other is a hostel. We stay one night at the hostel since we arrived late and just wanted to crash and we moved to the hotel side the next morning. Staff is really friend and gave zero hassle about moving and said they would separate the 2 properties.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2018

6/10 Okay

Roberto, London

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in May 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing Staff
Love this place has a yoga studio at the top of the hill on the hotel property. The food was pretty amazing as well the only thing missing was a pool but you can walk 5 mins to the beach.
Stayed 1 night in May 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
El personal y los dueños muy atentos a resolver y dar apoyo en cualquier necesidad.. sin embargo el restaurante cierra muy temprano por la tarde y para mi gusto era muy campestre pero se pasan muy buenos días de descanso porque tiene una excelente ubicación y es una zona tranquila
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2019

4/10 Poor

Rique, Barcelona

Traveled with partner
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Admiten reservas con las instalaciones del hotel cerradas y el personal de vacaciones. Deberian avisar que hasta noviembre no habre el hotel con todos los servicios.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Schön
Leider ist das Personal nur bis 2pm erreichbar. Strom und Wasser fallen in Santa Catalina regelmässig aus.
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Traveled with family and small children, Traveled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Het is een unieke plek, maar oud. Veel dingen stuk. Goede wifi. Stadje is leuk veel excursies te doen.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Cercanía a los sitios de interés. ubicación y diseño con el ambiente que lo rodea.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Staff & service, room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness
La Buena Vida doesn't do room cleaning during one's visit. I also couldn't initially check in at 3PM, as there was nobody present at the reception. I had to wait for five minutes for someone to show up. When I left at 6.45AM, nobody was present at the reception again. After calling a few times, I gave up again, and left the key and the money due at a table outside of the reception.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2019

6/10 Okay

Michel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The hotel is quite dated, our room was dark and furniture, mattress, bathroom, floors, mosquito screens would need renovation/replacement. There was a functioning AC in the room. Good location in walking distance from the beach, restaurants and activities. Professional staff. Price was reasonable even given the shortcomings.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018

4/10 Poor

Verified traveler

Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2018