Serendipity Adventures

This is a gorgeous property staffed by friendly, helpful people, but the room itself fell short for me on a couple of measures. My three kids and I stayed in a family suite, which contained three beds--a full and a queen on the first level, and a king in the loft upstairs. I don't love this arrangement because nobody gets privacy--four people sleeping in one room is tricky for light sleepers and people who don't all go to bed at the same time. We were given a heads-up at check-in that the room contained neither heat nor AC; you're in Monteverde, it doesn't get very hot, and can dip quite chilly at night. I can never be cold enough when I sleep, so I wasn't worried about not having heat, but the room was pretty stuffy and the loft actually hot when we arrived--I suspect it hadn't been occupied in a couple of days. It did cool off once we opened it up, and by our second night the loft was very comfortable, but the first night not so much. Another complaint is that the room was *dark*--Costa Rica is known for its energy conservation measures, and of course Americans are spoiled with our expectations of bright lights and blaring AC everywhere we go, but once the sun went down (which it does in CR between 5 and 6 all year), this room was ridiculous. There was one mirror in the sleeping area, but it was practically useless because by daylight it was brightly backlit by the windows and by night it was too dark to see yourself; this left only the mirror in the bathroom for dressing and getting ready which, again, when there are 4 people gets complicated. Hot water can be a challenge in lots of Costa Rican hotels, and that was very much the case here, where basically one of us could count on a hot shower per day, even with long intervals between people. This hotel was also just missing lots of little touches--nowhere to put your suitcase (except the floor), no extra blankets or pillows, no key to the safe, not enough water glasses or coffee cups, or supplies to make everyone's coffee or tea. I'm sure all of these things could've been had by calling the front desk, but it's already necessary to call for a shuttle to get most places on the property (which is a mile long from end to end), so who wants to keep calling for blankets and a safe key? The lunch/dinner restaurant was good, pretty views and good menus, and our dinner server Carmen was lovely. My daughter and I headed over to the pool for a hot tub soak at happy hour after a long day of hiking, only to find there is no hot tub and the pool is not heated, so we bundled up in towels and watched the sunset with our drinks. Again--delightful young woman working the bar, good drinks, but how is there no hot tub in a place that gets so chilly?! I loved sitting on my deck with a cup of coffee and watching the clouds over the gulf of Nicoya in the mornings, and we saw lots of birds and small animals as well. The location is good, walkable to some restaurants and bakeries, close to town and attractions...just a little more rustic in terms of the actual accommodation than I would've preferred. But also not a bad value for what you get in terms of the whole resort.

Beautiful property with comfortable, well-appointed cabins situated at the foot of the Arenal volcano. Friendly, helpful staff, great food (I especially loved the Arboleda bar menu and its exceptional Costa Rican chifrijo), covered jacuzzi (soak with a drink while it rains), pretty pool area and great breakfast. Would've loved to have stayed longer and taken better advantage of the yoga deck, the hiking trail (wear good shoes, it's a real hike!), and the gorgeous grounds; will definitely stay again next time I'm in La Fortuna.

The Westin was a great place to relax after 8 days of adventure in Monteverde and Arenal/La Fortuna. The grounds were very nicely maintained, the many restaurants ensured we didn’t get bored with the food over the course of a week, the staff were absolutely amazing - really friendly and helpful. Just a shout out to a few: Ruddy was a fun and knowledgeable instructor of yoga and water aerobics (do this! It’s so fun!), and Christopher, Bryan, Gabriel and Christian were incredible bartenders who knew our names and always greeted us with a smile, were really fun to chat with and also were great bartenders.

The hotel and hot springs are nothing short of stunning. The grounds are beautiful. The walk to the pool, main building and hot springs are easy and so pleasant. The fact that the hot springs open to hotel guests two hours before the general opening allowed us to visit feeling like we had the place to ourselves. The secluded areas with cabanas and the plethora of flora makes it seem like you’re in a magic rainforest setting.

This hotel exceeded our expectations. While the room decor is pretty basic, the bathroom is beautiful, the grounds are very nicely manicured and host many birds and wildlife, and the location was an easy walk to town but also at the top of a hill which afforded stunning sunset views. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful.

This was a great trip. You can’t believe how blue this water is until you see it in person. Stunning.

The volcano hike and waterfall hike (two different hikes in different locations on the same day) were both beautiful. They have completely different views but are equally nice. The power of the waterfall and the fact that you can swim in the water near it is really cool. Mariano was our guide, and he was awesome! He’s a seasoned guide with a deep knowledge not only of the flora and fauna but also the history and politics of the region. He took great photos and was patient while we swam. He also took us to some great restaurants.

This was my family’s favorite adventure. The canyoning was gorgeous, in the cloud forest and down a waterfall through a series of rappelling and zip lining and features with walks along the river in between. The whitewater rafting was exciting. There were class 2-3 rapids which were just adventurous enough (a couple of us did bounce out into the water but it was fine). Mario was our whitewater rafting guide, and he was SO fun. This adventure also came with a meal which was delicious.

Our guide was friendly and took a lot of great pictures. The setting is pretty spectacular.

The guides were super but unfortunately the nocturnal animals were not cooperative.

It was interesting and delicious!

A great way to start the vacation! The cloud forest is gorgeous and looks spectacular from the top.

Good location right on the beach. Wildlife just outside the rooms.

We only stayed 2 nights but it was lovely. Awesome hot springs with bar. Very friendly and helpful staff.

You can find places with fancier rooms or facilities but you won't find a staff anywhere that's nicer, friendlier and more attentive. Super recommend.

We loved this activity with Brian and Mario. Smooth boat ride with drinks and delicious fruit and snacks. We snorkel a lot but this was our first time in a tropical location and loved to see different kind of sea life, including holding an octopus in our hands :)

We enjoyed the hike and aerial bridges. Our guide was great and we learned a lot about the forest. The zip-lining was a ton of fun. My 60+ aunt and 70+ uncle both loved the experience. And our 15y old son loved the optional free-fall at the end.

We really enjoyed our night walk. Our guide, Walter, was incredibly knowledgable, and we learned so much. We saw a lot of tarantulas which our 11y old daughter was very excited for.

Rappelling was so much fun. Thrilling but also felt very safe at all times. The waterfalls and hike through the forest were just beautiful. The whole staff was amazing. Rafting was also great (the favorite by far of our 15y boy). One of us fell off the raft but thanks to Christofer's guidance we were able to pull her back safely and she enjoyed the rest of the trip. Great lunch spot as well (best coffee).

Mariano was awesome. Very knowledgeable and funny, showed us beautiful places and took us to a great spot for lunch. I had told him I really like ceviche so he called the place in advance and they made up a ceviche recipe on the spot just for me! It was delicious :) The waterfall visit was one of our favorite activities.

We just stay here 1 night before our flight back home. Very standard Hampton in , clean, good breakfast and close to airport.

This is an amazing location in the reserve. The people were nice and friendly, very helpful. The housekeeper washed our clothes daily and clean the villa. We were sleeping with the sound of wildlife. Saw lots of wild life, howler monkeys and many type of birds. The hammock was the highlight of this villa. We live in sweet dream house, it has 3 rooms, 1 of them has a/c. The location is cool enough, we did not use the a/c too much. A full function kitchen, outdoor sitting, dining, bbq area, walking trail and a waking path to the beach. Easy access to everywhere else. Will definitely return to this location.

I think this hotel has a lot of potential. It is sitting in a beautiful land with lots of vegetation but not maintained enough. When we get there, we immediately had a bad feeling at the entrance compare to our experience from hotel savegre. We got into the our rooms, we have 2 rooms, both rooms bedsheets were not very clean, 1 if the rooms smell very damp and the bathroom were leaking. This location is definitely not as comfortable compared to hotel savegre. 1 night were so hot even with fan going, but I guess we cannot really change the climate. The food quality in their restaurant were pretty bad. We relayed our experience to travel agent, who then spoke to the owner/manager of the hotel and they acknowledged they knew about the leak in the bathroom and immediately change our room to a better room that smell much better with clean linen, they brought us a bottle of wine and cancel our bill of dinner the night before. We appreciate them trying but I think this location is a good location if they have enough staff and maintain better.

One of the highlights of our trip. We opted to drive our rental car and the journey to San Gerardo hotel savegre was definitely not something you should try if you are not confident with your driving skill. We called the last 3-4 miles stretch down to the valley to the hotel “road to hell”, the unfortunate part was we got slightly delayed at the airport with looking for our rental car and getting sim card activated and wasted maybe 2 hours prior to leaving SJO, we got to San Gerardo when it was dark and that was definitely an adventure to get down to the valley. We couldn’t see much because it was dark but we definitely saw a huge tapir on our way to the hotel. Once we got to the hotel, we were immediately greeted by the security guard who guided us to the reception and from there we had our first meal in the hotel. Let me say, this hotel is very well kept, the restaurant is clean and upscale provided pretty good food and service. Our rooms were beautiful and cleaned daily. The following day when we have sunlight, we were amazed at how beautiful and serene the valley was. We did bird watching and some hikes around the hotel. Definitely a place we will revisit. Wish we have more time to do more of the hiking trail.

Again slightly different from what was described in our itinerary, Itinerary: You will go snorkeling for about two hours in the most important Coral Reef of Costa Rica… You will discover the National Park by White Beach sector, up to Cahuita point, crossing through beautiful beaches to relax and swim in the calm water of the Caribbean Sea for a while. In spots between Cahuita Point and the town of Cahuita (3.5 km), you will be able to see various types of snakes (boas, bocaraca, bushmaster, eyelash vipers, etc.), sloths, white-faced and howler monkeys, anteaters, armadillos, raccoons, blue morpho butterflies among others, birds and many more such as medicinal plants, orchids, trees, ferns, vertebrates, invertebrates, sea, and earth shellfish. Our actually experienced were hopped on the pick up van, drop off, get on a boat to do snorkeling. It was a nice trip still. Maybe the exploring the national park part is on our own? But our ride got us back immediately? Maybe in the future better description eg we can take our own ride to the boat, a snorkel and explore the national park on our own?

This is the description we have from the travel agent: Today you will visit the iguana zoo farm of the KEKOLDY territory, where an indigenous family is dedicated to the reproduction of the Green Iguana, a species that was in danger of extinction, and thanks to initiatives like these it has been recovering. Next, in the Bri Bri territory, you will visit an indigenous family that grows medicinal plants and will guide you through the usage of several tropical plants, followed by a demonstration of the production of chocolate. Cacao (chocolate) within the Bribri culture is very important since they use it for purification, food, and medicine. In the last stage of the tour, you will visit a waterfall where you can take a bath and have a small fruit-based snack. Finish the tour in a typical restaurant in the area where you have typical lunch. Our actual trip: only include the last stage hike of primary and secondary forest to the falls, our guide is very nice and knowledgeable, this is not an easy hike. Very slipper from rain night before, we saw wild life. The guide Mynor, driver fofo and host Hermano? Who serve us lunch were are amazing people. We love this adventure.

Again we had no expectations of this tour. We thought just another farm with lunch. We were so wrong!! We learn so much from this organic farm from zero to a full education center. So much knowledge and passion of the owner. We love learning her passion. Great lunch!

Very nice hike, unfortunately it was raining and foggy. But we love it. Very nice guide Gloria was very informative.

One of the highlights of our trip. The guide were very knowledgeable and helpful. We felt very safe. And a nice lunch!

A nice detour between San Gerardo to turialba. My husband said it feel like a heated pool rather than hot spring. The weather was not so friendly, it was raining. It is a beautiful place, the lunch attached was descent.

To be honest we went there with little to no expectations because the coffee shop where the coffee plantation tour attached to had some mixed review from google review. But once we met our guide everything changed, very knowledgeable guide, amazing tour with so much information from the fruits of coffee to the process and tasting of coffee. We learned so much!!

Our guide brought binoculars and the super birdwatching magnified spotting scope. We were able to see several quetzals. Learn about them from the guide. Again just a beautiful place to be in.

Beautiful hotel was great restaurant, right at the edge of a nature preserve.

Hotel right at the edge of the national park, nice to have pool downstairs where you could order food and we enjoyed the restaurant at the top of the hotel with the great view.

Very large complex, somewhat crowded not a boutique hotel. Having the restaurant and the vast hot tubs area was convenient though.

Great hotel, all-inclusive food, nice rooms and boat tours for wildlife viewing are included.

Nice downtown hotel with rooftop restaurant and bar.

IMPORTANT: if you are going to stay at this hotel, make sure you have all their contact information and the ability to call them from the airport if you are a little bit late arriving in case your driver decides to leave. When I arrived at the airport, the driver was not there - this was not Serendipity's fault (they reimbursed me for my taxi), it was the hotel's - my flight was delayed by forty-five minutes so I arrived according to that - not very late. Besides, their responsibility is to check flight times or wait! It was late, I was tired, I had all my luggage and limited Spanish. Thankfully I found someone who could speak English and they were very helpful - I managed to arrive. No real explanation as to why the driver wasn't there - he had actually been there and just left, apparently. This could have been an absolute nightmare. The hotel itself was a very nice, mid-range standard city center hotel.

Great kitchen/hang out area. The rooms were much better than camping. Kids loved the trail to the waterfall.

The room was great and loved the recreation room for the kids. The breakfast was very yummy and staff was super friendly. I took one star away because the gym had several pieces of equipment that were broken and need to be repaired.

Resort pools were great and staff was very friendly and helpful.

Great hotel and staff!

Stops at waterfalls were great guides take great care of you. This was our favorite excursion.

Monkeys sloths, and beaches what is not to love

Zip lines are high and fast, staff is friendly. The hike and bridges was ok but would not do again.

Was a blast and my first time zip lining into a pool of water. Highly recommend this excursion.

Great family trip guides were excellent

Estevan is the best! Service is the best I have ever had Most beautiful propery!

It was at the top of a hill and we needed to walk up many steps and hills. Not an issue for us, we liked it, but for others that have an issue ask for a room in the main hotel area. The view from the hotel was spectacular. The breakfast wasn't our favorite, but it was fine as they provided a number of options. The staff was very accommodating and friendly. We loved that the hotel itself had a lot of wildlife. We saw a sloth, two macaws, toucans, spider monkeys and a white-faced monkey right there at the hotel. That was exciting.

The staff was so friendly and so helpful. The room was clean and very comfortable. The best part was the breakfast. It was THE best included breakfast I've ever had at a hotel or resort before. It had everything you could think of and it was fresh and they took a lot of pride in the presentation and service. It was impressive. We also loved the spa services. We had a perfect view of the volcano.

Our guide Mariano was a pro from start to finish. He was our personal guide for many hours that day and ended with a nice lunch at a really great restaurant in La Fortuna. He was very knowledgeable and taught us about the fauna and flora in the park. We walked about 2 1/2 miles while he explained all that we were seeing and hearing. After a very hot and humid hike, we went to the waterfall. It was so beautiful and so refreshing. We LOVED it. Mariano was patient, he helped connect us with others to book additional adventures, he was a terrific guide.

We cannot say enough about our time at the Farm. Eli and Esteban were so wonderful. They both, along with their friend who helped cook the meal and the dancers that performed, made the experience unforgettable. It really helped that our two teenage kids could speak Spanish. It allowed them to practice and to communicate with Esteban in a way that my husband and I could not. It's always fun to see wildlife, zipline, hike, and be adventurous, yet, taking the time to learn and experience the culture of Costa Rica from the food, the land, the music, the dancing, the singing to just being with a Costa Rican family and connecting was so magical. We loved every minute of it.

The guide for our hike was so knowledgeable and really eager to point out and tell us about the jungle and the animals. You could tell he loved what he was doing. The zip line was so much fun. Well worth it.

Very clean and good location 20 minutes from airport. Only issue is hotel restaurant was blah and very pricey, outside of that it was great.

Great location for park and beach. Rooms are a bit worn, but functional. Pool Bar was great, the whole staff was amazing at both bars had great bartenders, I believe Estrella was one gal and Josue upstairs.

Clean, nice pool area covered. Rooms worked, nothing amazing. Friends enjoyed spa. Great location.

Amazing. Everything was great from check in to check out. Jose at the pool bar, everyone at the restaurant. Everyone at reception. Rooms were comfortably with amazing shower. I would be happy stay here again. Pools are fed by hot springs so they are warm. We were a group of adults. Not really a kid property more relaxing adult. You can not really walk to town or restaurants but taxi's are always readily available and its a short drive. Views from room are great, not one complaint.

Great experience saw lots of animals but far away. Tour guide was a little snotty and rude to other people.

Amazing, would do it again, best zip line activity, give yourself time to do the bridges and sloth exhibit. Best place to get close to sloths.

Guide was very knowledge able and although we saw about 15 animals its hit or miss and most need to be seen through a telescope.

We saw about 12 sloths, but far away. If you want to be close look for conservatory. Also seeing sloths could be a miss. But the end of trip coffee and snack was nice.

Mariano was amazing, slow paced walked but did have some tough parts. Great guide.

Very relaxing, saw lots of wild life. Mariano and Diego were great. A surprise snack was lovely. Would recommend especially if you don't want to do rapids but want to be on the water.

This was one of the best parts of our trip. Glamping with the tourguides as hosts, making delicious meals and great company.

Luxurious accommodations and wonderful amenities in the rooms, with snacks and drinks and a full kitchen. There was so much to do at the resort itself, from the game room to the gym to the pools and trails and beach.

Nice mix of resort accommodations and family friendliness. Only inconvenient thing is that the rooms are very far from the lobby, pools, and restaurants so you need to call for a transport every time you need to go to/from your room. Plan for an extra 15m for any activity on both ends

Very convenient location and helpful front desk staff. I especially appreciated the 24/7 coffee and tea station in the lobby, and loaner umbrellas!

The pools are amazing.

The Westin cannot accommodate the number of guests staying there. We tried making reservations for dinner when we arrived, but there was nothing available before 8:45 pm even for two people. The buffet restaurant (no reservations needed) is not air-conditioned. The cooking classes were booked for weeks. There are not enough bathrooms by the pool, and the toilets were often plugged up.

We loved this all Inclusive! The rooms are lovely and the grounds are beautiful with lots of wildlife. We enjoyed the pool and beach and we thought the food was pretty good. We would consider returning to this resort.

We loved the hot springs. We had a nice room On the fourth floor but the first floor rooms my relatives had weren’t as nice. The hotel was very stingy with towels and the shower had no water pressure. It took forever to bathe and the water was never warm. If you lost your room key (a plastic card), they charged $10. Toiletries were cheap. The food at breakfast was decent but we ate dinner in the restaurant one night and it wasn’t great. I wouldn’t stay at this hotel again.

This hotel was so beautiful. It feels like a classic hotel from the turn of the 20th century. The rooms are lovely, included breakfast wonderful and staff friendly. We absolutely loved the gardens outside with the covered walkways. We even enjoyed the jacuzzi on the roof one evening!

This cruise was spectacular. The food and drinks were good and plentiful, the catamaran clean and beautiful, the swimming cove pristine. We saw whales and dolphins, a double rainbow and beautiful sunset. This was a magical end to our trip.

We loved the horseback ride on the beach. The sights were beautiful. The beaches were practically empty and the guides took great photos. However, I had to knock off a star because we had a horrific experience getting back to the resort. We were driven around for almost an hour only in a crowded van to return to the horseback riding place. The driver then refused to drive us back to the resort and we had to beg to get taken back.

We loved the cloud forest and wished we had more time there! We saw lots of wildlife including a quetzal, three wattled bellbird, capuchins, and agouti. The trail was walkable and the views great. I wish we had more time in Monteverde.

It was a lot of fun to “hunt” for sloths in La Fortuna and see them in their natural habitat. We had a specialty guide for this tour and he taught us a lot about sloths and was great at spotting them!

This raft safari was another highlight of our trip. We loved seeing howler monkeys and white faced capuchins and other wildlife. We also loved the picnic our guides set up on an overturned raft with fresh watermelon, pineapple and Costa Rican candies.

The hanging bridges was possibly our favorite activity of the trip. Warning: the bridges are a bit scary. But the views are incredible. We saw lots of wildlife - spider monkeys, pit vipers, and lots of birds. The lush rain forest is classic Costa Rica. We thought the lava hike of Arenal Volcano was challenging - a tough activity to do after the hanging bridges. The views were pretty but the path was tough for our group. We ended up shifting the La Fortuna waterfall to the next day.

This was a very interesting experience. Our tour guide was great and we loved learning about chocolate and coffee making. We preferred the Chocolate part of the experience because the coffee grown at this location isn’t actually the coffee sold or tasted during the tour. The best coffee is grown at higher elevations. It’s also quite hot and there are lots of mosquitos!

We loved this! I learned a lot about the history of Costa Rica and enjoyed seeing the old part of the city.

The carvings are interesting to see, but the experience is similar to other museums I have been too. It reminded me of a smaller version of the Museo de Oro in Bogota

This isn’t for everyone but we loved it! We really enjoyed the artifacts documenting the journey of the founders of the Jewish community from Poland to San Jose and the tour of the synagogue.