We stayed at Cabinas Jimenez (hereinafter CJ) for 4 days, Feb 11 thru 13 and the 16th. It is a relatively inexpensive resort with some very small and basic rooms but also some that are large and fairly nice. The room we had on Feb 16th was very nice.
We took a Dolphin and Snorkel tour from the hotel that was led by John Podson, CJ’s owner. We really liked that tour. We saw lots of dolphins and spent quite a bit of time on that. Then we did the snorkeling and it was OK, but IMO that’s about as good as it gets in Pacific Costa Rica. At the end of the snorkeling John suggested that those who wanted to, could do some ‘body-boarding’ (my memory isn’t perfect but I think that’s what it was called). You hold onto a board that has a forward and rear handle while the board is towed by the boat. Using the handles you make the board dive to the bottom or rise to the surface. Both Cindy and I did it and it was a lot of fun. What’s more we spent quite a bit of time with the dolphins so doing this made us even more late getting back to the hotel. The tour was supposed to end at noon but it was actually a little after 2 by the time we got back. I doubt if there are many other tours that go above and beyond like that.
On Feb 14th thru the 16th we hiked into Corcovado National park, did some tours around Sirenna Station in the park, and then hiked back out. The issue with that is you need somewhere to store your luggage while you’re away. CJ does this for free for their guests. That was great and really convenient as we just left the luggage in our room and locked the door with the key left inside.
My major issue with CJ is the staff. My wife and I are very careful about avoiding cigarette smoke as we both very much dislike the smell and my wife has medical reactions to persistent exposure. To avoid this we contacted John before we booked to ensure that Costa Rica’s smoking laws were respected on the property. He assured us they were enforced. (Since 2008 no smoking is permitted on resort properties, and in 2022 that was expanded to basically cover anywhere that could expose others to second hand smoke like work-places – even bus stops and taxi stands.) Our room had a nice and spacious deck with a kitchen, and we liked to spend time out there when at our room. A common deck area was about 20 feet or so from our deck and a guest started smoking there. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing the smoke right into our deck. I went to the front desk to alert them of the issue and one of the senior staff there (she didn’t give her name but she was Caucasian and about 30-something with dark hair) responded with ‘So?’ in a tone that reflected the disdain of the word. As I pointed out the law she first lied and denied the laws existence. I say lied here because arguing that someone who works in the tourism industry would be unaware of a 14-year-old law that is mentioned on Costa Rica’s tourism website beggars credulity. As I was responding to that she interrupted me to ask where I was from. I responded ‘Canada’ to which she responded ‘Oh! Well! Your in central America now!’ I strongly object to anyone’s complaints being regarded through a lens of where they’re from. I’m a 60 year old Caucasian male – I’m not used to being a victim of national discrimination and I certainly didn’t like it (and got a whole lot of more empathy for the visible minorities who have to deal with this often).
At this point I returned to the Costa Rica law perspective since that makes the Central-America-argument moot. The conversation started going downhill from here. She interrupted me again and the elderly man who does a lot of their maintenance (not part of the conversation up until this point) also started talking simultaneously. Since two people were talking at once I couldn’t follow both of them but one thing was clear – the maintenance guy didn’t consider smoking an issue, nor did he consider her ignoring the law an issue; I was the issue.
During this John’s car passed by so we stopped talking so I could take it up with John. His attitude was totally different from his staff’s. He immediately agreed that it was not permitted and agreed to inform the guests, and indeed we walked back together – he to talk to the smoking guests, and me to my room. I did note while walking by that there was an ashtray on the table at which the guests were smoking – I don’t understand why a resort in a non-smoking country would even have an ashtray. (I’m admittedly not certain it was CJ’s ashtray, but it certainly looked the part.)
I told my wife about the incident and then went out on the deck again. Looking over the edge of the deck I saw that both the smoking guests and John had left, but the ashtray remained on the table. Shortly thereafter I noticed the guests were back and smoking again. This time my wife went to talk to the front desk. She had the same experience with the unpleasant woman I did. The woman claimed she couldn’t ask the guest to stop smoking because she was afraid they would stab her! Neither the guest’s appearance nor CJ’s reputation and other guests’ appearance have indicated this as a credible fear. Shortly after my wife returned to the room the maintenance guy came to the room and told her he had spoken to the guests again but there was nothing more he could do. I didn’t hear the conversation but I’m told the guy made it sound like he was doing her a favor. IMO neither, enforcing the law nor a commitment the resort owner made is a favor.
So in the end there a parts of staying there I really liked and one part that I absolutely detested.