My Husband and I sat at dinner on the third night of our stay at Mukul and tried to come up with a couple things that we would try to improve at the resort. The biggest one was the fact that there could have been a couple more plug in our room for our various electronic gadgets and the other was that a bit more lighting in the bedroom would have been welcome. That’s it….that was the entire list we came up with while sipping a margarita and watching an amazing sunset over the Pacific Ocean. During a later conversation with the General Manager (who everyone will likely meet as he is very hands on and welcoming) we learned that the bedside table drawers each have a row of plugins for our electronic gear. So now, our biggest complaint was the fact that know about the electrical sockets earlier! The point is, the resort was extremely close to a perfect destination for our family getaway. While I write my review from a perspective of a family getaway and the hotel does offer options for people traveling with families, I would like to also point out that this resort with only 37 rooms is an excellent couples (and romantic) destination where a couple would never feel like they were being over-run with children at a resort.
Our room, called a Bohio (which is a stand-alone one cottage/tree house) has a very large bedroom with a huge shower and windows overlooking the ocean and our plunge pool. The shower stall has two opposing sets of shower heads so you need not fight over who showers first. The walk in closet was bigger than our home version and the mini bar was well stocked with everything needed. One of the best aspects of our room was the huge deck with a small dining table and lounge seating with a panoramic Pacific Ocean view. The hotel offers a “rooster” coffee service on your deck, which we chose to have at 6:00 am each day, to get you primed enough to make your way down to breakfast without caffeine withdrawal kicking in. Breakfasts were amazing and if you get to Mukul I would encourage you to try all the local egg dishes, and if less adventurous everything you get at home is probably on offer. We ate 12 meals and experienced the 3 restaurants with every meal being very good. We are picky about what our child eats and there were nutritional yet tasty choices for children. The staff could not have served us better and on more than one occasion went out of their way to create dishes that were not on the menu. The Food at Mukul is excellent. I can’t imagine many people being disappointed. I thought it also important to mention that the Wi-Fi at the hotel (for the size and expanse of the property) was excellent, and free!
While there I toured the resort and also saw the 1, 2, and 4 bedroom villas. WOW. These villas are ultra-high end, I guess that is one of the reasons the resort draws a celebrity crowd….the other being the fact that everything is so private. The Bohio we stayed in is perched high on the cliff, in the trees overlooking the ocean. The villas are on the beach each with walk out steps to private beach areas, full yards with hedges, lawns and gardens and pools of various sizes. The décor is very tasteful with a Central American flair. I am sure the web site more aptly communicates the elegance of the rooms. The two bedroom villa was really a 3 bedroom as the downstairs in the second building had a huge seating area with 2 queen size Murphy beds. The third room set up perfect for kids and or nannies with two fully appointed bedrooms in separate dwellings. The two bedroom would be perfect for two families or a family with grandparents.
The backdrop to the whole resort is a series of hills that are almost cliff like shaped in a huge C shape that forms around the roughly 1/2 mile long beach. Mukul is considered a surf destination, probably more like a beginner surfer’s destination, as the ocean rolls in very consistent sets of wave after wave. My 7 year old and husband boogie boarded for hours and never had to get into water deeper than 4 feet to catch good waves. Often my son stayed in the near shore break in 2 feet of water. The beach and the beach sunsets are likely the best we have experienced. There is also a championship 18 whole golf course on the premises with full club rental and reasonable playing rates. We played 18 holes one evening and thought the course was solid. If you are a hard core golfer the course is slightly short at 6,660 yards but the layout is very undulating and the greens are great. Although we didn’t play or see the courts tennis is also on offer.
I would be remised if I did not mention the spa. We had a tour of the 6 spa studios, each with different themes supporting different treatment techniques and philosophies. Mukul may have one of the best Spas around. Extremely private, ultra-relaxing, very professional and all in perfect surroundings. Be sure to treat yourself to the spa. While you are at the spa you can park your kid in the kids club or use the very available babysitting services they provide. Our son was in heaven in the kids club and we had a hard time getting family time with him as I guess they kept him more entertained than we could. The kids club offered 2 movie nights while we were there, which gave my husband and I a couple of “date nights” while at Mukul. If your kids are teenagers and not into surfing, golfing or lounging there may not be a ton of excitement for them at Mukul. If that is the case, do not deprive yourself of a few days at Mukul but rather tie it in with a trip to the Four Seasons in Costa Rica where your teens can get their fill of teen life. Saying that, there may be a host of local adventures that we did not explore as we were very happy on the hotel grounds. The drive from Four Seasons Costa Rica to Mukul is 4 hours. (Read my review on the Four Seasons for more on that).
Mukul is “up there” a lot of places we have been. If you have been to Canouan or Jumby Bay I would rank the experience at Mukul as on par with those resorts albeit with a little more local flare, which we thought was a nice touch. Staff could not have been more pleasant and accommodating and we can’t wait to go back with friends.