Fodor's Expert Review Hotel Hibiscus Garden

Ten kilometers (6 miles) before Santa Catalina is this simple but comfortable and affordable lodge at Playa Lagartero on the Gulf of Montijo. Rustically accented rooms employ driftwood and local resources creatively; each has a patio with hammock. There's a shared kitchen for guests to use, and a restaurant serving burgers, sandwiches, seafood, and pasta. The German-owned hotel runs birding tours along a nearby river and horseback rides on the long, virtually abandoned beach, which is named for the small alligators, or lagartos, that populate the area's rivers.