Kimkim Trip Reviews for Costa Rica

Great vibe, great location, lovely little pool, just a really good fit for us. Monkeys, lizards and exotic birds on the grounds all the time. The restaurant doesn't have the deepest menu, but the food is _fantastic_. Would stay here again, no question. One small warning: in the restaurant, particularly at breakfast, avoid the corners of the sitting area furthest from the kitchen. The flies there are insufferable. Deeper into the seating area, things are fine.

It's perfect if it's what you are looking for. This isn't about creature comforts. The path up from the boats to the hotel is steep, slippery and long. You'll be staying in a stifling hot cabin or a noisy, simple platform tent. Everything gets damp and stays that way. Meals are picked for you - there's no menu. No TV, viable internet or cell coverage. But if you are here to be here, to see Osa and Corcovado park, you're in the right place. Everything is astonishingly, endlessly beautiful. Scarlet Macaws nest in trees right on the grounds. Troops of Howler and Capuchin monkeys wander through all day and night. The forest, the ocean, the flowers -- this is the place to sit and soak it all in. If you want to see Osa, and be a part of Osa, this is a great place.

We went here at the start of a trip, got in late, left early. Didn't really get to evaluate much about the hotel, but what we saw was good. Five stars because they were accommodating (despite our late arrival). Helpful (which we needed because we were sleep-deprived and exhausted, and patient (which we needed because we were grumpy from the delays and other complications that made us late.

We weren't here very long, arrived fairly late and left fairly early. We enjoyed our stay, but there are couple of things worth mentioning: * This is a slightly odd layout. Everything wraps around a smallish courtyard. The pool area covers most of the courtyard, and the restaurant seating spills out into the courtyard. The result is that everything feels kind of packed together, and you if your room opens to the inside area, you can hear pretty much everything in the building. It's cool and exciting for large groups, who get to be "together" even when they are in different places. I saw a couple of such groups here, and they were clearly having a great time. You might enjoy it less if your schedule depended on getting some sleep earlier than 10pm or later than 7am. * The restaurant was pretty great, with a deeper and more subtle dinner menu than your average hotel. * It's tough to find, even for San Jose. Parking is even trickier - it's across the street from the hotel, and you really have to plan in order to be able to get there without circling a few blocks.

We did nature hikes in Monteverde, Corcovado, and here. Much to our surprise, Manuel Antonio was the clear winner for variety of wildlife, educational content, and overall enjoyment. Coati, monkeys, huge spiders, snakes, a variety of birds, lizards, and an up-close encounter with a sloth. Don't miss this hike!

I have a life-long, irrational fear of horses. I agreed to do this only as a trade-off to get my kids to try some other things on our trip. Much to my utter surprise, I had a great time. Our guides were patient and very clear with their instructions. They kept a pace that we could manage. We went through terrain that we never could have navigated on foot, and it was just amazing. I got my horse all the way up to a trot a couple of times. I can't say I'm cured. Horses still seem crazy to me. But, if they could deliver 2 hours of exhilaration for me, I expect they can do that for just about anyone.

Some great wildlife! Can't complain about that, really. We saw big coati family, a couple of agouti, a tapir, lots and lots of monkeys. But, I suspect we could have seen a lot more, and would have on a normal tour, but something odd was going on when we were there. Our guide spent a lot of time just _waiting_. Not sure for what. We waiting 15 minutes before getting started, then walked back and forth over the same 100 feet of trail for another 30 minutes with no obvious explanation. We paused and talked to another guide for 15 minutes later. We hung around at Sirena Station for much, much longer than planned. We headed back to the boats 20 minutes early. The end result is that we only spent about 90 minutes actively looking and exploring. I think this was unusual, some mix-up. Maybe a guide didn't show up? In any case, I'd still strongly recommend this tour, but I think we caught them on an off day.

I wanted to give this one star, because I was terrified the whole time and never really got to the point where I enjoyed myself, but that's just me and my fear of heights. The rest of my group had an amazing time. The guides were fantastic. They were very visibly obsessed with safety, which helped keep my panic to a minimum. They joked around with the kids, were patient with me and my wife, and generally did everything conceivable to maximize our enjoyment. Not their fault that it didn't work for me. Also - they used our cameras to get phenomenal number of great videos. I suspect we'll be watching those for decades.

I tired out after the first set of dives, but the kids kept going for another hour or more. Lots of great fish (including pufferfish!), sharks, some folks saw turtles. For me, the highlight was floating peacefully while hearing whales sing somewhere out at sea.

Unique and comfortable hotel. The views from the 800’s building were gorgeous and the shuttle busses made traveling the mile (up and downhill) between the rooms and reception/restaurants very do-able. Our only issue was that the wifi, including the premium option, did not work in our rooms. Delicious breakfast and very friendly staff.

Fantastic hotel in beautiful surroundings. The bungalows felt very luxurious and the view of the volcano could not be beat. We enjoyed the swimming pool and hot tub and the breakfast was delicious.

Fantastic location right next to the National park. The hotel was comfortable, easy to navigate and only a few minutes walk to the beach and other restaurants. The hot tub did not appear to be working but the pool was lots of fun for the kids. The best part of the hotel was watching the monkeys and toucans in the trees next to the pool!

AWESOME experience! We were a little hesitant about zip lining in the pouring rain but it was such a great experience. There’s nothing quite like zip lining into the clouds. The guides at Sky Adventures took safety very seriously and their course and hanging bridges are well worth it.

Quite a unique experience to walk through the Costa Rican forest at night at Refugio de Vida Silvestre. We spotted a bunch of different animals during the two hour tour.

Great time rafting on the Peñas Blancas river with a snow Aventira. Our guides, Martin and Brian, were knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Didn’t see any sloths but saw many other animals. The trip down to the waterfall was fun but, in hindsight, this was something we could have done on our own. Lunch at Cava Pizza was the only downer of the day - the guide called our order in ahead of time, sensing that the kids were hungry after a long day, but we still had to wait almost 1.5 hours for our food.

Rafael at Don Juan was a kind and knowledgeable guide who taught us so much about cacao and coffee. The kids loved making their own chocolate bars and we thoroughly enjoyed tasting the coffee. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip!

Danny of Toucanes Tours was a wonderfully kind and knowledgeable guide. His English is phenomenal and he clearly enjoys what he does. We saw many animals during our two-hour walk and enjoyed a brief break at the park’s beach. 10/10!!

Very enjoyable, basically private tour at the Ecological park. Karina of Ecoterra Tours was very knowledgeable of the local fauna and flora. The butterfly enclosure had been damaged and all of the butterflies had to be released but we saw many other animals on the tour. The Maleku presentation was interesting.

We arrived at night while it was raining and hungry after our long trip. We were initially frustrated because we did not have great internet access and the front desk was unable to provide guidance on restaurants nearby or ones that could deliver. We eventually went walking to get dinner and found an excellent restaurant (Travesía) within 5 mins. We discovered many wonderful places to eat within a 10 min walk during our time there (Italianissimo, Snapper House). This hotel really has an excellent walkable location and the pool was great! I would 100% stay again.

We stayed on the beach access side of the property and it was excellent! The property is lush and beautiful. We could hear the waves from our room. We ate most of our meals at the restaurant and it was delicious— Marilin was especially helpful! The pool is a great size and was never overcrowded when we were there. We did not have hot water the first night for showers but the office had it fixed the next day. Liked seeing the monkeys on the property until they stole food directly off my plate. Overall, wonderful stay and would 100% recommend this gem.

A large hotel, with beautiful ground and great facilities - multiple pools, 3 restaurants including a sushi bar, it's own crazy golf course and monkey trail. Rooms were not the biggest but adequate and well equipped. Small balcony, looking onto the courtyard. A wonderful local beach, Playa Biesanz which is walking distance but quite a steep walk. We felt the hotel was very security conscious, all entries and exits were questioned and confirmed for vehicles and pedestrian. Great ocean views. We loved the Pedro, the resident iguana!

Not the biggest hotel. More basic than the previous two we'd stayed in. We ended up being allocated a room without air con although it did have a fan. The hotel room was quite small but adequate. Storage was a bit of a challenge in that the hanging space was limited, within a short cupboard where my husband was not able to hang his shirt up without being crumpled. We had an issue with our plumbing which was quickly rectified. The grounds were very well maintained with beautiful planting. The hotel had a covered pool area with a good bar, a large jacuzzi and a large fire pit with seating which were popular in the evenings. There was a short walking trail around the grounds and plenty of outdoor seating, which I made use of to compensate for the smaller rooms. It's the only hotel out of 5 that had a menu option for breakfast, which was lovely.

Lovely hotel set in a lot of grounds. I like the lodge arrangements that was separate to the pool and restaurants. Good choice of restaurants, we particularly liked the Italian, the Sushi bar and the snack menu which was offered during the day. There was plenty of choice for breakfast and the service time from 6:30 helped with several of our early morning excursions. We preferred the evening meals from the other restaurants on site. There was a mix up upon checking where my acceptance of an upgrade for one of the rooms turned out to be a change the hotel had made, reducing our 3 room requirement to a single room which was upgraded to the Master Suite. Whilst this did come with a double room, it would not have worked accommodating with 2 families, 7 people. The hotel did insisted that we had to settle for this arrangement as they were full, fortunately KimKim were already on the case and by the time we went back to reception after assessing the room. Arenal Springs did provide us with another double room which we made work. That was an unfortunate start to an otherwise wonderful stay at Arenal Springs. We all loved the daily towel displays and chocolates and the Master Suite was luxurious with two in-room jacuzzis powered by Hot Springs, an indoor and outdoor shower and a hammock with a view of Arenal Volcano.

Good hotel, room size and facilities as you'd expect of a large chain.

Cristal Ballena is one of our favourites on the trip. The hotel was fairly small therefore an intimate feel. It was tucked away off the main road and had amazing views, floral, fauna and wildlife. We got best close up view of a sloth of the whole holiday at Cristal Ballena. The staff were attentive, the food was good. We had dinner at the hotel on all 3 nights we were there. Rooms were of a good size, with air con. We had a balcony with a view into the the hotel grounds, swimming pool, the ocean in the distance for incredible sunsets.

A great adventure with a relatively small group. We were rewarded with sightings of plenty of dolphins and a turtle, even though the whales didn't make an appearance on that day. We liked the way the guide was in communication with all the other boats out with the same purpose so if one boat spotted wildlife, the others would rush to the same spot so others could also. It brought an additional element of excitement to the tour. We particularly loved the way the tour started and ended, where the passengers had to enter the boat from the beach rather than a jetty and surfing the waves to get back onto the beach! What fun. The fresh fruit was a nice touch.

Thanks Alain and the other guides for a wonderful experience. We saw lots of wildlife, had enough freedom to go at our own pace although there were some quite competitive kayaks :). We appreciated the food at the end of kayaking.

Thank you to our guide Phillipe, we thoroughly enjoyed the tour. We learnt a lot about Costa Rica's eco system and climate. The transfer was a little confusing, as it was a bus full and no communication about where we had to go at the beginning so we joined the main queue, along with the other bus loads. However, all was clear when we got to reception. We were assigned Phillipe as our guide. It was really busy at the time so Phillipe suggested that we did the bridges backwards, ie. from 8 to 1 to avoid the crowds. That worked really well.

Thank you to our wonderful guide, Carla for spotting all the wildlife (we don't know how you manage to see some of the well camouflaged insects and animals), flora and fauna and particularly for help us take some tremendous photographs through your binoculars with our smart phones.

We spotted 7 in all, two and three toed sloth. We also saw plenty poison dart frogs, a Jesus Christ Lizard, howler monkeys and a tiger heron. Thank you to our knowledgeable guide and the local spotter who'd spent hours before tracking down the animals.

3 star, not because we didn't see as much as we'd like but because our guide whilst informative was less conversational. Again, he tried to avoid the crowds and the searches felt a little desperate towards the end. That said, we did enjoy it and managed to capture great photos of a glass winged butterfly, pit viper, hummingbird amongst others. Thank you for providing torches.

Thank you Franklin, we believe he's one of the best. We were entertained. The teenagers even enjoyed the singing and the dad jokes ;). Hot and humid but we really enjoyed it. Franklin kept a good pace, although he did say at the beginning that we could ask him to slow down if we'd need him to. The heavens opened when we got to the thermal springs and for the most of our time in the springs but we enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

This was never going to be our favourite activity, as a group we're not experienced, therefore I don't review the horse riding part. The 3 star review is because of the mismatched in expectations around the La Fortuna Waterfall and optional opportunity to swim. We didn't expect this to be a hike (at least 30 mins) down steep steps (and back up for the return) to get to the waterfall. We were prepared for a short walk but not this level of difficulty. The walk also didn't bring us to the waterfall, whilst it was visible at the end of the walk. For those who had opted to swim, they can cross the water with a further short walk to get to the waterfall. For those who had opted not to swim, there was no way to get to the waterfall and there was nowhere to stand/sit and wait for the rest of the part. We collectively felt that this detail need to be reflected in the activity description.

What a finale activity for us. Once again, our guide was brilliant, knowledgeable, full of humour and chat thank you Martin. We had to do a little bit of work but not a lot given the flow of the river. Our activity was made some what more exciting by an unplanned rescue of a couple of stranded kayakers (both were rescued, unharmed and laughed about their experience).

This was the last leg of our trip and the lodge was very different from the first two places we stayed. This felt like the least crowded place we stayed and we had a lot of peaceful time to ourselves and we enjoyed two guided tours, on one of which we had the wonderful guide Faviola all to ourselves and on the another there were just two others. The staff in the restaurant were lovely and friendly and made us feel very welcome.

We had a wonderful and relaxing 6-night stay at Cariblue - this was the middle leg of our trip and we enjoyed the extra time and lazy days that a long stay afforded. The accommodation was lovely, the air-con was a luxury and we enjoyed the pool and the restaurant. We were also able to experience the beach and the immediate location outside the hotel on foot. It was quiet and never crowded out and about.

We enjoyed our stay at Mawamba Lodge and were glad to have stayed three nights to allow us to take our time on tours and enjoying the grounds. We never felt that the place was crowded nor did we ever have to wait for anything. The staff at the restaurant and bar were very friendly and professional and welcoming. You can tell that they are being trained properly by a well-managed company.

Though we stayed just one night, this was a lovely little hotel in central San Jose. If we ever return to SJ to explore the capital further, I would certainly stay here. The staff are very friendly and welcoming.

The boat tour of the national park was wonderful - we were in a small group in an open top boat and we pretty much saw everything that we expected to see and more. I had binoculars and was able to help the guide with spotting and we were busy viewing wildlife almost the whole journey.

There were four adults and 3 children on this tour and that was a perfect size - any more people and the trail would have been crowded and we would have had difficulty spotting wildlife and hearing the guide. It was a long, hot walk in the rainforest with a welcome dip in the sea halfway through and some fresh pineapple to refresh us. We also had a boat collect us at one point to help speed up our return trip.

This was the most crowded tour and place that we visited in our whole two weeks but it was worth it. The work they do here is incredible and the volunteers and staff are to be commended.

Our kayak trip was cut short because the river was high due to overnight rains - so we could only go a short distance upstream - and the seas was too rough for the second part of our paddle. we had a short hike around Punta Uva, but the guide seemed like he wanted to be somewhere else and he was much less engaging than any of the other guides we met on our holiday.

The hike in Selva Verde's primary forest was fascinating. Faviola is an excellent guide and her knowledge of, and enthusiasm, for the flora and fauna is impressive. They even provided wellies for us to walk through the mud!

Hands down the best resort/hotel I've stayed at. In a word, impeccable.

The overall hike was nice, but our specific experience was not amazing. Our guide was a no-show due to some sort of misunderstanding (presumably). We had to pay for parking at the main lot since our guide wasn't there to tell us to park in their private lot. It was rainy, so the river was not blue like in the pictures (but that's just luck of the draw). The guide who did jump in to help us was pretty good, but the ending of the hike was a bit awkward while we waited around to figure out payment (basically fact checking that we had pre-paid).

We stayed at a resort that did have hotsprings, so although Tabacon had a gimmick of the river hotspring, it was not worth it for us. It was crowded, the pools were very shallow, the natural rock was painful, and the man-made pools even more painful. They charge a deposit for towels, so you have to worry about people walking off with your towel and owing money at the end.

It was good, but very touristy. The handmaking of the various products was an interesting experience, but overall it wasn't the kind of thing we typically do.

Andy was great. Super interesting to talk to and very knowledgeable about the forest and animals, cameras and photo techniques, and just life in general. Very attentive to our questions and desires.

Our guide Andy was great. We saw some interesting things, got to play with cool gadgets like infrared cameras, night vision goggles and UV lights.

Roy and Ebi were great guides. It was a fun experience, never felt like we were in any danger. Great views and very exciting.

Alfredo was a really great guide. He was very knowledgeable and very fun to talk to. I would have taken more tours with him if I could have. We ended up going over on time because Alfredo would give such detailed and interesting answers to the questions we asked. The park itself was very cool and pretty. A lot of interesting history here that isn't just generic "this is a jungle hike."

It was really fun but a little bit dangerous. The rocks were slippery and if you don't have good balance you can easily trip. The rappelling was not inherently dangerous, but I did tweak my arm coming down one of the waterfalls. Our guide Roy was fun to work with. I didn't realize how wet we would be getting and should have worn different clothes.

We don't usually spring for resorts but it was the most reasonably priced option that we saw. I'm glad we did it! The rooms were immaculate and top-notch. Reception and guest services was super helpful for a huge variety of questions. Breakfast was great. Pool is great. Staff are great. Kids loved the pool table. It was generally very kid friendly. We saw a sloth on our first day!

I was glad to be isolated from the busy town. The trees and view of the volcano are magnificent. Even on our first day, we saw so many different birds and wildlife! The pool and the springs were a hit with the kids. The delicious food in the restaurant was very reasonably priced and my kid won't stop talking about their fish fingers. The staff is super helpful and flexible, and was always helpful with tours and accommodations. They even made to-go breakfasts for us in the mornings we'd leave too early for the included breakfasts! I appreciated the opportunity to have laundry done for about $8. The rooms were spacious and simple, but we didn't need more than that. It was great!

We saw lots of critters here! Monkeys, agouti, and the resident dogs and cat are a hoot. Great location right in town and close to restaurants (we liked Legado Monteverde, esp. the seafood plancha with Peruvian sauce). Breakfast buffet was delicious and varied. The rooms were clean and thoughtfully laid-out. Our suite was perfect for a family. Lots of hanging hammock chairs for the kids to mess around outside. Staff was helpful, especially Laura. Highly recommend!

Wow! We have done a bunch of riding tours in other places so I was expecting more of the same, but just for longer. We signed up for the whole day and I am so grateful! We learned a ton from Marvin about horses and it is so clear he loves them. They are so cared for and responsive, the easiest horse I have ever ridden—speaking as someone who only does 1-2 hour trail rides with a lifetime total of 10 rides and doesn’t consider themself a rider. Our kids have probably done 5 lifetime rides and they did great. I enjoyed the western style of riding (felt easier on my knees) and the horses didn’t have to wear bits. Marvin had lots of gentle and useful reminders for riding, and his English is much better than he gives himself credit for. The scenery was phenomenal and easier to absorb than on a zip line. The lunch was delicious and filling, nicely accounting for our pescatarian diets. We had time for the kids to scramble around and in a stream and the number of butterflies we saw verged on ridiculous. We were on the horses for almost 5 hours and we will be sore tomorrow for sure but everyone agrees it was worth it, even the kids. Advice? He will provide ponchos if you don’t have any (rain jackets are insufficient for keeping the saddles dry) and you don’t need to bring water because he will pack it. Bring stuff you can wear into the stream, or at least enough to stick your legs in. I probably should have worn jeans but I wanted to pack light, oops. I don’t wear contacts often but did for this trip and I am glad because some parts were very bumpy and my glasses would have fallen off. Definitely a highlight of our trip and we won’t ever forget this!

We've been on lava tube tours and other limestone cave tours in the US but this one blew them all away! Part of this was the structure of the tour and the cave setting (no guided trails) but a huge part of this was our guide. Marcus knew so, so much about everything. Seriously, I don't know if he has an advanced biology or botany degree or what. We mentioned not having seen a sloth yet (we were only 2 days into our trip) and not 3 minutes after we mentioned this, he located a sloth in the trees on the way there! He stopped the van, got us all out to look with his monocular telescope, let us ask questions and take photos, loaded us back into the van, and then found another one! That was even before we got to the cave. Marcus was great with our varying ranges of ages, fitness, and confidence going into this amazing adventure. We learned so much about the critters and the geology. He was encouraging and friendly, patient and passionate. We did this early in the trip and we knew right afterwards that topping this experience would be hard!

This view is amazing.

I really enjoyed this hotel. Upscale, classy hotel with good food and presentation. Small room but a cottage feel. Pretty grounds.

Our room was very nice. We had a tree outside our room that belonged to a sloth so we enjoyed watching her in her several positions. We also saw a howler monkey on our tree as well as a white bearded monkey. I liked that it had a kitchenette as well.

The hotel is located in a beautiful area and is a charming, relaxing place to stay. It is a little older but very comfortable. The service was wonderful and we very much enjoyed our stay. There were several nice touches including bicycles to ride around the beautiful property, and a bottle of wine in the room. The meals were very good.

Aguas Claras is one of our favorite hotels of all time. It is a small, boutique hotel located just outside of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca (which is great because the town can be quite bustling and busy). It consists of several separate bungalows surrounding a main area (with a restaurant, pool, and reception). The bungalows are beautifully decorated, spacious and comfortable with every amenity. The restaurant was phenomenal and we enjoyed breakfast and dinners there. The service was unparalleled--the concierge Nathalie was attentive and incredibly thoughtful. She helped us arrange several things including dinner in town and service from our rental car company to replace a flat tire. Other staff were equally wonderful. The hotel is a short walk to a beautiful, seemingly secluded beach. This hotel is a hidden gem and we could not recommend it more highly.

Amazing experience - but be sure to note that you are living "outside" for much of the time - and will likely want to bring your own food. The walk to the beach is spectacular.

Nice place, pool / bikes are great additions.

Wonderful guides. We didn't get to do the Pacurare but they made the best of if.

Loved their enthusiasm / knowledge and the story of how they are making a difference in their community. Will change how we choose/eat chocolate!

Super accommodating and encouraging staff - wonderful place for beginners to feel successful.

We found Hotel Costa Verde to be mediocre and, based on our room location, the opposite of a beach vibe. We were in the A block of rooms which is right on the road. It was really loud - lots of trucks and cars and people yelling. If your room is away from the street and near the beach, I could imagine having a different experience. We had two rooms A7 and A8. A8 was upstairs and had a sitting room, high ceilings, kitchenette, balcony with a far away ocean view + 2 queens and a bunk bed. A7 had the same bed set-up, kitchenette, and balcony but had really low ceilings and was dark and depressing. The top bunk in A7 was not usable given the ceiling height and fan placement. Both rooms were run down and dingy — rusted faucets, gross molding and corners, and bedding that could really use an upgrade — the A/C is run by a key so you can’t leave it on, the hot water is super unreliable, and you are supposed to use the same towels for pool and shower. The A block has its own cute pool but requires driving to the beach which, with little ones, is a hassle. Breakfast is made to order and was good — the other restaurants were totally overpriced for the quality — especially when you have such good food at local restaurants nearby. The staff was nice but not really service oriented — the overall experience was more “hostel” than “hotel”.

We stayed at Peace Lodge our first two nights in Costa Rica. No words to describe how lovely our experience was — every detail was thought about, from your name on tiles outside your room to the fire going and late night snacks waiting for the kids upon arrival. The rooms have natural indoor living gardens and jacuzzis in the bathrooms. The balconies have hammocks, jacuzzis, hummingbird feeders and the views are staggeringly beautiful. The food — at breakfast and in the restaurants was fabulous — and literally, any change or request was honored without an issue. One of our bags did not arrive and they opened the gift shop after hours so we could buy our son a few things!!! And the grounds are truly spectacular — the exhibits are small but lovely and the waterfall loop a truly perfect hike with kids on day one. Trout lake was also really fun — even in the rain :-) Just can’t say enough good things — it’s about the details — the staff were just absolutely extraordinary and we loved our experience.

The Springs, like Peace Lodge, gets the service aspect down 100%. They do not miss any details and are totally focused on making sure adults and kids have whatever they need to relax and enjoy. The property is big but they run you wherever you want to go on golf carts. We had two adjoining rooms (610-611) and they put my parents right next door without us even asking. The rooms are nice — not luxurious but spacious and super comfortable. The food was really good — again, nothing out of this world but really solid. The hot spring pools were a hit for everyone and the kids could be in the main one for hours. The large pools weren’t the cleanest which was my only issue but they are heavily used. There is a swim up pool vibe — fun, music, cocktails and so If you are looking for luxury or quiet this isn’t it. We did a lot of hiking and so only used the pools for an hour or so between or after excursions and so it was fine for us for these pop ins. Overall, a really solid comfortable choice for families or groups. If only adults, I would likely look for something a bit more unique.

El Establo was okay. We had two rooms — one was a duplex with two king beds (311), one was a standard room with two queens (204). The duplex would be good for kids but the stairs are totally open so not ideal for little ones. Overall the rooms were dark and rundown. Internet was really bad, hot water was limited, and definitely nothing luxurious about either room but both had nice balconies and lovely views — but no furniture to sit on. Breakfast was really good but the food we ordered from room service after a long day of hiking — pizza and rice stir-fry — was literally inedible (not an exaggeration) and very expensive. The property is huge — and pretty — and there are shuttles to take you everywhere if you don’t want to/can’t walk but the overall vibe is just super disconnected and impersonal. The service was odd — breakfast crew was awesome and helpful but then it took 3 calls and a personal trip to reception to get a room service menu or an extra blanket. There was nothing awful about it and since we spent most days on hikes and tours, we were fine to crash here at the end of the day but we also were not impressed at all. The location is good for views and walkable to butterfly garden and Valle Escondido and a quick taxi from downtown but if I return I would definitely try someplace else.

This was terrible! It is a 100 person boat with terrible blaring music and filthy conditions. The floors are gross after two minutes from all the people, spilled food, soggy snacks. Someone vomited and it wasn’t cleaned up for an hour. The food was nasty — packaged cookies and soggy fruit for snacks and awful large plastic cafeteria trays of rice and fish served to people standing in long lines for lunch. There was someone on a loud speaker saying look at this volcanic rock or that beach but no information worth listening to. There was a water slide that was open for an hour and “snorkeling” — which means they handed out life jackets and masks and said if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t go because we are far from a hospital (not joking). Honestly, it was terrible and dirty and we could not wait for it to be over.

High-end hotel. The food is pretty good, but pricey. We had all inclusive packages, so we didn’t have to worry about the price. Their sushi is not that great though. Best of this hotel is that you get to see the howler monkeys and coatis and other creatures close up. We took several tours to see wildlife and actually saw the howler monkeys most close up right on the trails of this hotel. It also has a nice beach. You can check out kayaks, body boards. There are also local tour vendors on the beach by the hotel, so you could do horseback riding, ATV type of things on your own. I would recommend this hotel.

I like the hot spring pools and the location of the hotel. The staff is great here too. The rooms are very nice as well. The thing we don't like about this hotel is the food is not great. Breakfast was included and it was pretty good. Lunch and dinner here in their restaurants are not great. We especially didn't like their Italian restaurant food. The dinner buffet was ok ($20/person, kids has a discount) for up to two times there. Then it gets pretty boring.

Great fun doing the night tour. Got to see creatures that are active at night. If you haven't done a night tour before, I would highly recommend it. Our tour guide was super knowledgeable and fun too.

Love this one! How often do you get to explore 15-million year old caves! I wrote a google review for this too. Highly recommend doing it at least once in your life.

The guide was nice, but there were hardly any animals we saw. I know there is a lot of luck envolved in these nature tours. It was fun seeing mangroves and monkeys though. We were able to see monkeys close up on our hotel's campus later. So if you want to see monkeys, I would still recommend this tour.

Got to see animals close up and learned a lot. The guide was fun and had a lot of stories to tell. We also did hands-on food preparation (cutting veges) and making fun fodd containers, and then saw them enjoy our prepared food. Kids loved it especially.

The water wasn't clear so we couldn't see any fish. It was fun being on the catamaran, but we've done it a number of times before. We saw one sea turtle on this tour. If you have done catamaran at other places, I would just skip this one.

A very easy walk in a well maintained park. Saw a lot of monkeys there. The guides were very knowledgeable. I would recommend this one!

I personally liked this low key tour. My kids also liked it. There is no factory here, just some trees. I think we just liked watching them making chocolate and us tasting chocolate. If you just want to do something less physically demanding, and your hotel is close to this farm, I would recommend it.

There are so many activities within the hotel and you will not experience a single dull moment. Immerse yourself in the natural surroundings and simply enjoy!

Very cute and quaint and the wildlife was impressive. The monkeys and birds were on full display. Breathtaking!

All staff was amazing (with the exception of one). We felt right at home in this cozy lodge. My son even made friends with the children of guests visiting from Germany. They communicated through Google Translate, lol. This was probably my favorite part of our Costa Rica trip!