Review of Hotel Charco Verde (assignment for travel writing class)

In August 2009, I started an online travel writing class with UCLA Extension. I quickly quit it for a myriad of reasons (dad got cancer, I quit my job that was to reimburse me for the class, UCLA let me out of the class for a full refund, etc.), but here's one of three assignments I managed to turn in first, my hand at more traditional travel writing.

"Any resort or hotel on Nicaragua’s figure-eight-shaped Ometepe Island really only has to fulfill one goal: don’t take away from the island’s natural wonders.

The Charco Verde resort not only meets that goal but does its part to enhance Ometepe’s beauty. No room is more than 200 feet from a small, black-sand beach. Unlike the more popular Santa Domingo beach on the island’s northern, windy side, the waves at Charco Verde are warm and gentle. A small playground and kayaks for rent line the resort’s beach.

Best of all, the resort is just steps away from the trail to the Charco Verde Reserve, a green lagoon surrounded by mangrove trees that’s cordoned off to development. Before you’re three minutes in, you’ll encounter a family of howler monkeys (get used to hearing them from your room at night). Easily marked paths in the reserve take you to higher ground and a lovely view of Volcan Maderas in the southern half of the island. Just beware of Chico Largo, the witch who supposedly guards the reserve. According to legend, he’ll offer you a life of luxury in exchange for your soul – which he then converts to cattle.

The bedrooms at Charco Verde are clean and functional, but if you have one of the rooms with an adjacent, semi-outdoor bathroom, be prepared to wipe dead gnats – hundreds, if not thousands of them – every time you use the toilet, sink and shower. And be prepared to be surprised at how quickly you no longer mind the task.

Expect to spend your nights at the resort’s open-air, thatched-roof restaurant and bar just off the beach. Transportation around the island is scarce and it’s near dead at night. The food at Charco Verde’s restaurant is nothing special, though. If you’re lucky, you might be at the resort on one of the nights when they bring in a local children’s dance troupe to perform.

The hotel can rent horses and arrange climbing tours of Maderas or Volcan Concepcion. Internet, laundry service and a conference room for up to 80 people is available.

Sidebar:

Hotel Charco Verde

South of San Jose del Sur town on Ometepe Island

Phone: 887 9302

Web site: www.charcoverde.com.ni/ingles/start.htm

E-mail: charcoverde22@yahoo.es

A dorm is $5 per person and a double with fan/AC costs $25/$45, pre-tax. Consider bargaining with the pricier rooms. When we asked for a cheaper room for our second night, the owner knocked the price from $25 to $20 and took away the tax."