Verdad Nicaragua

A Private Crescent of Sand South of the Town

The coast below San Juan del Sur breaks into a series of separate bays, each reached by its own road off the highway, and the further south you go the fewer people you find on them. Verdad sits on Escameca Grande, a quiet crescent on the stretch known as the Emerald Coast, with seven rooms and cabins facing the water and nothing else in the frame. It calls itself a boutique hotel and a retreat, and both are accurate: a pool above the sand, a beach bar, an open air yoga and fitness studio, and a kitchen that puts everyone at the same table.

Why It Works

What decided it was the scale. Seven rooms on a private beach is a different proposition from a resort on a public one: the property can be taken whole by a group, and when it is not, you share the sand with a handful of people. The second thing is that the activity programme is real rather than a rack of leaflets. Surf lessons run with ISA certified instructors, horses go out through the forest to beaches you cannot drive to, and the catamaran day is a full five hours with snorkelling and fishing. The third is the massage studio, which after the first of those is not optional.

Why This Location

Escameca lies south of the town, past Playa El Coco and Yankee Beach, on a coast that faces into consistent offshore winds. That matters to surfers, who get clean water for most of the year, and to everyone else, because it keeps the afternoons breathable. A free shuttle runs to the neighbouring beaches when you want a different break, and most of the excursions that need a vehicle, waterfall hikes and canopy lines among them, sit between six and twenty-five minutes away by road. San Juan del Sur is close enough for an evening out and far enough not to be heard.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Barefoot, private, retreat, Pacific

• Rooms: 7, across Design Rooms with partial ocean views, Design Cabins with a queen and a sofa bed, and Deluxe Cabins sleeping up to five

• Best For: Surfers who want lessons rather than a scene, yoga and fitness retreats, groups taking the property whole

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The open air studio, where the class and the ocean are the same view

• Dining: Restaurant serving locally sourced meals family style, plus a beach bar

• Amenities: Outdoor pool with loungers, massage studio, yoga and fitness studio, surf school and board rental, free shuttle to neighbouring beaches, whole property buyout

• Attractions: Escameca Grande in front of the hotel, Playa El Coco and Yankee Beach up the coast, waterfall hikes and canopy lines within half an hour by road

Cabins, Rooms and Who Gets the Ocean

Three shapes, and the difference is the view. The Design Room takes a double bed and a partial ocean view, the entry point and perfectly good for a couple who intend to be outside all day. The Design Cabin steps up to a queen, a sofa bed and a full view of the water. The Deluxe Cabin is the one for families or three friends splitting a bill, with an ocean view and space for up to five. With seven keys in total the property fills quickly around retreat weeks, and the cabins go first.

Surf Lessons, Horses and the Catamaran Day

The surf school works with ISA certified instructors and rents boards, which makes this a reasonable place to learn rather than merely to watch. On land, the horseback tours cut through forest to beaches with no road, and riders regularly see monkeys, toucans, parrots and sloths on the way. The waterfall hikes need a four wheel drive and end in pools you can swim in. On the water, choose between a five hour catamaran sail with snorkelling and fishing, or a panga out with local fishermen. Cooking classes and wine tastings fill the days when nobody wants to move.

Before You Book

Check in runs from two in the afternoon, check out from ten to eleven. The hotel takes children but not animals. Spanish and English are spoken. The road in is a coastal track, so ask the hotel to arrange the transfer rather than improvising one, and if you are coming as a group, ask about the buyout before booking rooms one by one.