Morgan's Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge
Natural high
Rainforest-clad coast
Wildlife is as warmly welcomed as the guests at Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge, a remote resort in 4,000 acres of pristine rainforest and low-impact farmland, between the Pacific and Lake Nicaragua. Playful primates, sloths, anteaters and macaws are some of the biodiverse beasties roaming the interior, while a curve of white-sand cove is home to nesting turtles (and bronzed sunbathers). Murmuring waves and tropical birdsong rouse couples cosied up in the 15 residences – each with expansive views from an open wall – and the lodge’s eco efforts add an altruistic edge to your wildly romantic break.
Facilities
Habitaciones
Fifteen, including five bungalows with private pools.
Checkout
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Más detalles
Rates include à la carte breakfast, non-motorised watersports (surfing, kayaking, boogie-boarding and paddle-boarding) and mountain-bike hire.
Also
Salute the sun in the hacienda’s 4,300-square-foot, open-air yoga studio with hard-wood floors and palapa thatch. Private classes must be arranged when booking your stay, and the resident yogis can help plan a bespoke retreat. Guests can gather eggs and milk the cows on the farm, or pick up some souvenirs; handicrafts by local artisans – clay pots, weaving, colourful tchotchkes – are sold onsite. If you want to leave an impression, make a donation to the local school.
Acceso gratis a internet
Lavandería
Piscina
Restaurante en el hotel
At the Hotel
Private beach, farm, acres of rainforest, yoga studio, laundry, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: iPod dock, coffee machine and kettle, water purifier, beach bag, Raw Botanicals bath products. Forest-View Rooms and three Ocean-View Rooms have private plunge pools.
Our Favourite Rooms
With plunge pools in all, a ‘sea-breeze’ machine above the bed to keep you cool, and bright splashes of colour, the Forest-View Rooms are just that teeny bit better than Ocean-View Bungalows; you still get a peek of ocean too, if you’re worried about getting short-changed on the view. Ocean-View Bungalows live up to the natural showcase their name promises; but staying in them involves a clamber up several flights of stairs, and a longer walk to the restaurant.
Poolside
The forest-flanked chlorinated pool is petite, but just-right for sunset watching. There’s a smattering of wooden sunloungers for some post-swim R ‘n’ R; wave over snacks and drinks from the bar as needed. There’s a small child-friendly pool, too. Alternatively, hit the beach to splash in the surf, rock in a hammock or recline on pavilion-shaded lounger and order a couple of coconut cocktails from Mike’s Beach Bar.
Spa
Inspired by local sea turtles, the Paslama Oasis is a simple spa-shack open to the elements with wooden walls and a sandy floor. Gaze out at the ocean, inhale the salty-sea breeze and prepare for some serious pampering with a deeply-relaxing aromatherapy, Thai, Swedish or hot stone massage.
Packing Tips
Light sleepers may want to shut out nature when snoozing – pack earplugs to mute the crashing waves and eye masks to shutter daybreak. Mozzie spray will make your stay that little bit more relaxing.
Also
We’d advise against drinking the tap water, but filtered is readily available. Guests with mobility issues may struggle with the many stairs.
Niños
Best suited to over-6s, the Morgan’s Rock is a giant green playground and exotic petting zoo (but actually petting is discouraged, of course). Bungalows sleep up to three children on a queen-size sofa bed (an extra bed can be added on request).
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
Perch at a table with the clearest view of the coast – then settle in for the sunsets of many colours.
Código de vestimenta
Tropical prints and light breezy dresses by day; smarten up before sundown.
Hotel Restaurant
To reach La Bastide, the palm-fronded dining pavilion, you cross a suspension bridge with jaw-dropping views, so you’ll be gobsmacked before you’ve even ordered an apéritif. Food is staunchly farm-to-table (around 60 per cent of ingredients are grown or produced onsite), with rare exceptions sourced from equally ethical local suppliers. Locally influenced dishes include carne and pescado with tamarind, jalapeño or chimichurri, served to tables overlooking the ocean and cove, with some alfresco tables. A Central American-style breakfast (gallo pinto, spicy eggs) is served either here or on the farm, where chef Denia cooks on the hearth – ask nicely and she’ll teach you how to make tortillas.
Hotel Bar
Bar Commodore serves up Nicaraguan beer and heady cocktails with serious lashings of rum; the usual suspects – daiquiris, piña coladas, caipirinhas, mojitos muddled with freshly picked mint – party together on the chalkboard menu. Bossa Nova beats set the mood as the sun heads south. Alternately, ask friendly bartender Mike to whip you up a summery sipper at his wooden beach bar.
Last Orders
Breakfast is from 7am–10am, but staff can rustle something up outside hours. Lunch is from noon–3pm, and dinner starts at 6.30pm, with a last seating at 9.30pm. The beach bar opens from 10am–5pm, Bar Commodore closes when the last guest leaves.
Room Service
Guests can dine in-room on request, but it may attract the attention of hungry rainforest residents.
Planes
Morgan’s Rock is a two-hour drive from Nicaragua’s capital Managua; fly into Augusto C Sandino International Airport or Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport in Liberia, Costa Rica. The lodge can arrange transfers: a one-way trip from Managua for up to four is US$225. If arriving from Liberia (around a three-hour journey, on a good day), rental cars cannot be taken over the border at Peñas Blancas, and hotel transfers will switch vehicles on the Nicaragua side. Border crossings can take several hours when busy, so some in-car entertainment is essential.
Automobiles
Nicaragua’s rural roads are improving, but only confident drivers with lightning-quick reflexes should attempt them in a hire car; it’s not unusual for livestock to wander out into the road. To reach the hotel, turn down a dirt road, nicknamed La Chocolata, before entering San Juan del Sur. Drive for around eight kilometres until you spy signs for Maderas and Majagual Beach, then turn left. Drive straight until reaching a fork in the road, and head right towards Majagual Beach; keep going till you reach the hotel’s main gate. There’s free parking onsite.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
The lodge resides deep in the rural Rivas department; beyond its ley-lines sprawl sugar-cane fields and mango orchards, and to the east Concepción and Maderas volcanoes rise from Lake Nicaragua to form Ometepe Island. With hotel staff’s help, the intrepid and stamina-blessed can climb these behemoths, but it’s a round trip of up to 10 hours and rocks near the top get a little toasty. The grounds offer gentler pursuits: biking, horse riding, monkey- and sloth-spotting trips, jungle walks by day and night, shrimping… Watersports (surfing, kayaking, boogie-boarding and paddle-boarding) are included in your room rate, and the cove’s sandy beach is a postcard-ready vision; for an added splash of romance, watch the sunset from a hired boat. Come summer, watch the fruits of the hacienda’s conservation efforts, when turtle hatchlings scurry from egg to sea. Twitchers should pack binoculars to up the chance of seeing scarlet macaws, herons, egrets and other graceful birds. Take to the canopy to get a closer look.
Beyond Morgan’s Rock, bijou colonial town Rivas is an hour’s drive away, and beach town San Juan del Sur has charming clapboard houses, a mini version of Christ the Redeemer and rideable surf. San Juan del Oriente, a two-hour drive north from the lodge, is the place for colourful ceramic pots, vases and other doodads – we especially like the smiley-faced planters. Book the hotel’s ‘cultural experience’ trip to see the artisans at work, gaze in awe at the expanse of Apoyo Lagoon from the Catarina Viewpoint, visit a spice-scented market before stopping by Masaya volcano, then lunch amid Granada’s colonial grandeur; or pair Granada with a hike through the Mombacho Crater. If Ometepe’s volcano-conquering is too hardcore, take a boat trip through its brood of dinky islets.
Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt
This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .
