Kimkim Trip Reviews for Costa Rica

Located right downtown in the heart of LaFortuna. Lots of restaurants and activities nearby to soak up the local culture. Smaller rooms, but, in a perfect location for getting around town and exploring other areas.

Lovely location with lots of animals and we had an amazing guide!

Fun experience with a different view of the cloud forest. Our guides was great for a bigger group ensuring he rotated through the front and back of the group. Climbing the ficus tree at the end was an unexpected and fun surprise!

Fun adventure where we were able to see lots of insects and critters. Seeing the rainforest at night was a real treat and nice contrast to other the daytime hikes.

Sloths were beautiful and the highlight. It was a short experience when compared to the transportation, lines and wait times. Visit the sloths at another location that isn't the Adventure park.

Unfortunately: when we arrived we learned that the Hotel was booked for the following night ( the wrong night!). But the Hotel staff was helpful in arranging a room ( one of two rooms left to book for the night!). So it avoided a situation which could have been very disastrous for us since we had to leave at 4 am the following morning for the airport.

Make sure to get a Beach Front room ( and not one next to the road). Our pickup time for San Jose got delayed. For one hour. The staff of the hotel helped to find out where the driver was. They arranged for a driver who took us a few miles and connected us to a van who drove us to San Jose. The driver of the van was an excellent driver!

Rainy day, hike cut short: just to Laguna.

Wonderful place, but too many tourists and groups

See review: second hike was cancelled. Guide was little motivated. Ecotermales was very good: better at daytime to see the environment

See our review

We were surprised by heavy crowds in the park - especially at the entrance. It took us at least 30 minutes to get through the gates and if we would not have a guide with us who knew what to do, we would spent there 1 hour easily. One of the reasons is that park rangers are checking backpacks and confiscating prohibited items (food, single used bottles, knifes, plastic, etc.). Park itself is great and despite of the people crowds, we could spot a lot of animals, which was the main purpose of our visit. Our guide was making pictures and videos through his telescope and he was sharing these pictures with the rest of the group. He was also able to spot animals which we wouldn't have chance to see - so I very recommend to have local guide there. There is one official place (in the big cage) where you can buy some meal and drinks, but everything has to be consumed inside of the cage. Unfortunately they are not very organized there and there is long queue to the cashier. Fortunately there are several spots in the park with drinkable water from the tap. There is also nice beach in the park, so it's possible to bring swimming suit and spend some time there.

We like Monteverde a lot - it was not so hot in comparison with other locations, however mist and rain can occur at any time. Night Tour was a little bit overcrowded, but we had a great young guide who was able to keep distance from other groups by selecting different trails and was able to make this tour very pleasant. He could spot animals we would not be able to spot at all and he was also making pictures for us using his telescope - so overall great experience.

It was a transportation from point A to point B with the lunch on the way, but due to very good guides (Lars in bus and Freddy on the boat) we have learned a lot about the country and nature and they have made the trip very interesting. Without them this would be a bit boring.

It was interesting experience, but due to rainy weather we didn't enjoy it as much as we could in case of good weather - but as our guide said - this is a rain forest and rain is good for nature :-) Because of weather, I also think we have not seen so many animals as we could see under different weather conditions. At the end of the tour there is half an hour session about the chocolate production with chocolate tasting. Since we have been visiting chocolate plantation already with really dedicated guided tour including tasting, this half an hour could not compete with proper chocolate tour, which we highly recommend.

We have enjoyed the hike, unfortunately weather was not really on our side, so we could not see the Volcano peak for our entire stay in La Fortuna. Nevertheless we have enjoyed it a lot.

We love wildlife and Tortuguero is full of animals. Our guide was also great and could spot animals which we would hardly spot by ourselves.

Loved the hot springs

A stunning hotel with excellent good, service and tours.

Comfy beds and good breakfast

Outstanding guide, swimming in waterfall was great

Informative guide and well paced

This is a nice hotel, looks big but does not feel big. Rooms are roomy and comfortable. Pool is very nice. Drinks are great. Staff is overall friendly. Breakfast is great, rest of the food is decent. Enjoyed our stay here. Property is steep but most of Manuel Antonio is! There is a nice private path on the hotel grounds to one of the best beaches, Biesanz Beach....I recommend!

Beautiful spot, the staff is so friendly and helpful. The free evening frog/bug walk is so great! Food was delicious. Highly recommend.

We initially were put into a very small room - door had huge gaps, not really clean. My husband asked for another room and we were put into a much better, cleaner room with a door that closed.

Great location, super interesting wildlife at the hotel.

VERY noisy. It was so big. The restaurant was one of the best however. The breakfast, one of the worst.

Remarkable property! Our view was sublime.

Not the drivers fault but we were really tired. Our guide was good, he tried. But the restaurant was not good at all. This was not the guides fault. We were rushed for time due to a late flight out of Drake Bay.

Very special locations. The Mangroves to the wildlife on the river.

Guide did not show up at the location and time we had listed. He asked someone else to come and take us on the tour. At this point in the day after our early morning tour of Corcovado, we were exhausted in the heat. Nice guide but it was really lackluster.

absolutely loved this part of our trip and frankly it was the highlight. beyond my expectations

Hard because there are so many people.

It was fun but do NOT do this mid afternoon as we were scheduled. It's hot and BUGGY. Not sure why it was scheduled for this time.

It was wonderful to actually be hiking in this landscapes and get the feeling of what it's like. there were not as many people. I appreciated our guide. It was nice to take a vehicle out. I cannot imagine that kimkim would suggest taking the horses up that long hill out of the trail. It's arduous even in a vehicle not to mention the hardship on these poor horses.

Interesting just not outstanding.

We did see exceptional wildlife. though the experience is not as great given it's on a paved walkway with LOTS of other people trying to see the same animal.

This was not what we expected. Thought it would be more 'natural'. However, this was one of the most beautiful hotels we've seen. Just large and lots of people throughout. Glad we got to see the hotel but wanted a different Hot Springs experience.

Beautiful landscapes, comfortable stay, room was very nicely prepared for the stay

Location of this hotel is great, but everything else was just average.

Beautiful resort with lush greenery and epic view of the Arenal Volcano from the resort room. Staff was amazing and very friendly and always willing to help. I wish we had more english language channels for the TV and the hotel had shuttle services to the downtown area..

Really nice hotel, located out of town (walkable) with gardens full of colourful noisy birds, their own farm, their own micro-brewery and great food. Cocktails at happy hour, admiring the views was a highlight!

Amazing hotel which felt like we were in the rain forest with monkeys, sloth, iguanas all around the grounds. We had a Vista Room with views of the sea and bay and forest.

The hotel is luxurious and the on-site hot thermal springs are amazing both night and day. Lots of animals to observe around the grounds. The only downside is the cost of F&B. All the hotel cafes and restaurants were expensive, with little choice under $30 for a main course (plus sides/starters/deserts drinks) -so a family of four were spending $200 every night . However, food was excelllent and breakfast was fabulous and included of course.

In the middle of the rain forest with Sloth, monkeys and other wild animals around the grounds. Very nice breakfasts, efficient transfers along the waterways to/from the meeting point and well versed local guides taking us out on canoe/boat. Although the rooms around the gardens do not have aircon, the tranquility and ambience of the hotel gardens easily made up for that !

Well located for the market and old quarter. Good breakfast

Good sightings of monkeys, deer, birds, sloths and finished with swim at the beach.

13 Zip lines within and above the cloud forest, the final one being 1KM long. Great fun.

Saw many sloths. The guide ensured we saw them through telescopes as they are often up high in the trees

Difficult to review as it was wet and cloudy but our guide was enthusiastic and engaging

We saw so much wildlife ! We went on various canoe, kayak and boat tours to spot wild animals and colourful birds

Efficient transport to the meeting point at the docks. However, the organisors moved our pick forward from 6.45am to 6am and as first pick up, we were on the bus for 50 minutes before we even left the City and the roads were then busy for the first half hour. We were picked up at the dock by Mwamber Lodge boats and enjoyed an amazing trip down the estuary right to our hotel, passing monkeys and birds along the river bank. I would give this part of the journey 5 stars!

Great views of Arenal volcano. The pool area is nice. Easy walk to some tasty restaurants. Breakfast buffet was nice. The room was clean.

Food and service were great. We did not have a very nice room though. There was no privacy as the room was right above the restaurant. The door was a big sliding glass door and anyone walking by can see into the room. So we had to keep the curtains closed. There was only a tiny window so there was minimal light with the curtains closed. The bathroom could use an update. There are other more private rooms that would have been much nicer.

The room was so spacious, modern and clean. We overlooked the parking and the registration so that wasn't ideal, but the overall property was so lovely, it didn't matter. The lodge is tucked up in the mountains and has several paths to hike. The restaurant has beautiful views and delicious food. Saw a lot of birds and some other wildlife. Very relaxing stay in the cloud forest.

This was really fun. Our guide, Karla, from Toucanes tours was so funny and friendly! The food we helped cook was delicious and I am inspired to try making the dish at home. My son enjoyed cooking as well. It was just my son and I so we got all the attention.

You definitely need a guide to see the animals. Don't expect a relaxing time though until you get to the beach. We were running from one place to the next trying to spot the birds and other wildlife. Our guide was very good at making opportunities for use to see animals, but there are so many guides and groups it feels like a competition. We saw a mother and baby sloth very close up which was awesome. The beach is lovely. Despite the crowds, this is definitely a must see place.

Fun learning about coffee and chocolate. Good for kids. We did the night walk as well and it was fun searching for wildlife.

So much fun and the guides are terrific. Great for kids. The rapids are fun but not super scary. The class 2 section is gorgeous.

Not much to see here. Could have done without this.

The walk was just ok. Nice views and learned a bit about the rain forest. The real highlight is the zip lining of course.

First, the people who work here are AMAZING. Some of the nicest people we met in Costa Rica (and that says a lot because EVERYONE was nice!). The place was absolutely beautiful, the breakfast was delicious, the rooms were remarkably spacious, and the front desk staff were always there to help with all aspects of our visit. This would be the kind of place I could imagine staying for an entire week. Just outstanding all the way around. On top of that, the front lobby is an art gallery featuring original works by local artists. Several people even bought paintings while we were there and the front desk staff walked them though the whole process of having the paintings shipped back to their homes. If you are planning on visiting the Manuel Antonio area, seriously consider staying there!

Great place for our whole family. The food was amazing. The rooms were small, but comfortable (but, frankly, we spent very little time in our rooms). Views from the balcony of the room was amazing for ocean views and the sunset. The pools and amenities were great. We spend a good deal of time in the pools, played giant-sized chess, walked on the beach in the moonlight, and had a great time. The food was AMAZING. On our first day, we were limited to the "snack bar," which has burgers, hot dogs, nachos and other fast food. That was ok. But the breakfast and the other meals were fantastic. The only issue we ran into is there was some kind of miscommunication between their reservation specialist (with whom our travel agent, Priscila worked with) and the front desk staff. We were supposed to have an early check-in as we were arriving around 11 am. The young front staff knew nothing about it and said we had to wait until 3pm. Eventually, one of staff who helps with baggage and greets guests - who was older and had worked there for a while - intervened on our behalf and helped get us into a room after a bit. He was helping at the same time Priscila was on the phone with the reservation people. That was a minor set-back, but I wanted to include it because is just showed how often we ran into people who wanted to help and how awesome Priscila was.

Pretty standard (quite nice) Radisson. We were only here overnight before heading to the airport early in the morning. Again, great staff.

The people here were really great. They made us feel welcome. I think we just had some bad luck with the room. The room was beautiful and much bigger than we expected. The major problem we had was that the air conditioning did not work in one of the bedrooms and it was really hot. We reported the problem, but it was not fixed. The food was mixed from day to day. We tend not to be picky eaters, but some of the dishes on the buffets were good, others not so much. On the flip side, the views of the volcano were amazing. The grounds were filled with beautiful plants and wildlife. It was a pleasure waking up and getting outside. To be honest, I think part of the problem was that we booked so late and there were limited options for our stay when we booked.

We're home!

Another "don't miss" experience. We saw squirrel monkeys, white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, crocodiles, cool spiders and snakes, sloths (one mother with her baby!), and so much more. Our guide was amazing. He also helped us take cell phone pictures through his spotter scope - and we got some great shots! The hike ends with about 30 minutes free time to swim at the beach before heading back. I would have LOVED to spend more time swimming here, because it's so beautiful. But, its just the right amount of time to refresh and get ready for the hike back.

Unfortunately, we had to cancel this part of our trip. We were looking forward to this so much! But, we tried to pack in too much. We were exhausted from our previous activities and travel, so decided to spend the day in the pools at the resort. Please don't see the three stars as reflective of the experience, since we did not go on the trip. This review form just requires that I put in a rating before I can continue.

One of the coolest things we did on our trip. Amazing tour guide and boat captain. We got to swim in the bioluminescent algae and learned so much about the region and the science of the bioluminescence.

Our driver was amazing! There was not much else about this part of the trip other than the fact that there was some miscommunication about our reservations (no fault of our travel agent, it was an issue with internal communication at the hotel)

Fantastic guide and great walk. The guide provided such great context and history of the volcano and the hike was invigorating and well-paced.

Wonderful! My only suggestion is to either schedule the hanging bridge tour and zip lines as the ONLY activity for the day or plan them on separate days. We did not have enough time to do the hanging bridge guided walk because we had to get back to our hotel to meet up for our afternoon hike to Arenal.

Great views and tasty food. Restaurant is small and wait staff are not accustomed to small kids.

AMAZING! The best parts were the hot-springs tubs piped directly into your hotel room, the gorgeous breakfast, volcano views and many hot and cool pools. 10/10 would live here if I could!

The hubby caught a 90lb yellowfin tuna and a large dorado, my mom and son smaller tuna. My husband had such a great time he wanted to go fishing again the next day!

FUN! Great wildlife guide Alex on the hanging bridges, and the fellas that did the ziplines were all so great and fun and very hard-working!

We saw some awesome animals! Jesus showed is so many things - my son's favorite was the click beetles, but we also saw a 2-toed sloth, palm viper and kinkajou.

Lots of great information! Yeri is clearly very highly educated!!! We all learned sooo much from her and the boat trip was very relaxing.

We loved Juan Carols and Gonzalo sooooo much, we wanted to take them everywhere with us! My daughter was holding Gonzalo's hand and he was showing her all the birds. What a heavenly day!

SOOOO much fun! I cant even being to count the number of animals we saw.

First class service and accommodations, with unbelievably helpful and professional staff. Nothing but smiles all day every day and a willingness to make the vacation and hotel stay comfortable and wonderful. The hotel is beautiful, secluded, exclusive and enormous (when also considering the club rio aspect). The pools and hot springs are incredible as is the children’s game room and niceties like a helpful essentials type store and free laundry accommodations. The food wasn’t what we hoped for - it was not terrible by any means - but just not up to the expectations given the VERY high price. The sushi was good and the restaurant down near club rio activities was quite good but that’s about it. The morning buffet was very mediocre and we made sure to leave the hotel for breakfast after trying it twice. The hotel pizza and non sushi dinner options were not enjoyable either. Again, not horrendous just not what we’d expect given all the other incredible aspects of the hotel and the cost of course. We will certainly return, we just know we will mostly eat downtown in La Fortuna. Otherwise, absolutely wonderful in every way

LOUD. Motorcycles all day and late into the night echo throughout the town. Nice staff, room was basic but fine. The restaurant staff downstairs , Balcon Arenal, was great.

Big rooms, clean, nice garden area to hang in. Bobby the Lodge Lab was awesome. Friendly staff. If it had a view I would give it a 5

Nice, clean, friendly. In the main area so not close to the beach. Small sized rooms for two queen beds. Nice pool.

short nights stay for an early flight. clean, comfortable, not much for food options in the area unless you are a fan of Denny's

Fun ecosystem to explore. Hugo was really good. Authentic experience.

Park is not very big and is crowded in March. The monkeys were out, saw sloths, tucan. Beach is beautiful. The guide Jose found stuff to talk about and keep us entertained.

Alex was awesome. Super thoughtful guy and a real student of the forest.

Very cool hike. Unique. Take the horses.

Otto was a fun guide. He sings and teaches you to dance. Incredible viewpoint of the volcano.

Staff made the experience safe and fun. The groups height anxieties went away. Beautiful canyon and a great way to see a sliver of the interior country.

Hugo was a good guide. Knowledgable. Great views. Not sure if you need a guide for this one other than to make the day plug and play.

A beach worth visiting. The far beach was closed.

Great hotel, but poor location

the stuff in this hotel must have been trained by the ritz carlton or 4 seasons. they are amazing.

really beautiful place. not the cheapest thing I've ever done but they work hard to make sure everything is perfect.

good spot if travelling in costa rica and need to spend a night on the way in or out.

Cathy was really great, if they offered other meals we would have done more.

really great guide,

beautiful and romantic experience.

its a moderate hike, really beautiful place. I would repeat. Guide was knowledgeable but did not seem interested in us or anything else.

really great experience with an excellent guide.

Great location and views to the beach with a balcony The bedding and linen was tired and everything was minimalistic with no soap or shampoo provided.

Good location, the room did not have a balcony and was close to the road

Lovely location and pools.

Lovely location, very comfortable room, good food and the trips with memorable. We had to rely on the hotel for drinking water and think this may have been the initial cause of tummy issues.

Very disappointed, other than the location it was tired, our room had a window too high to see out of. Very dark and gloomy

Very busy rather disappointing, it was sold as a walk needing walking boots, it was more of an amble.

The private guide was excellent the walk was enjoyable, lots of wildlife and information

Really enjoyed it

Self guided interesting walk and views.

Very interesting and informative. The walk was very atmospheric.

Disappointing, unable to get close to the volcano, very busy path. Guide was informative and knowledgeable. The Spa was very busy.

Great guide and lovely views of wild life

Good journey, we enjoyed the view of the banana plantation. Lots of information and background to Costa Rica

I did not like hotel. It was clean but no outdoor spaces to enjoy. Food was subpar compared to other hotels we stayed at. No privacy when using bathroom or shower from other guests in my room.

Hotel was a little dated and not as well taken care of as the first 2 hotels we stayed at. Beds and pillows were comfortable. Too hot to enjoy the roof top patio. The resort was laid out a little funky. Not enough staff to take care of things the way I expected. Nice place, but not exceptional. I did like that we had a 2 bedroom villa.

Absolutely amazing! The buffet was wonderful. Rooms were clean. Beds and pillows were too hard for my liking. Food was delicious. Beautiful volcano views. Seen a lot of wildlife, including a sloth on our resort.

Loved this activity!!!

I would not choose this again. We did not see wildlife.

This was one of our best experiences!!! Wildlife was amazing. Our guide was beyond amazing!! I would do this again with our guide! Surpassed every expectation!!!

This was amazing. Our guide was knowledgeable. The hike was more difficult than expected. Very hard for my mom.