2 Weeks in AprilThe best guides were Chris ...
Costa Rica
|
Apr 20 - May 3, 2023
2 Weeks in April
The best guides were Chris in Guanacaste and Marianos in La Fortuna (swimming in the waterfall was highlight for me) also the night hike in Monteverde, but I forget his name. Least interesting hike was the Arsenal volcano hike.
The hotels in Monteverde, La Fortuna and Tamarindo were the best. Food at La Fortuna was excellent (deserts were 1 Michelin star! Breakfast buffet was the best too).
Loved the cottage (hot water bottles!), food and local hike in Monteverde (roasted garlic soup and the local limoncello was brought by bartender without even asking for it). Staff was especially great there.
Loved the pool (!) and the food in Tamarindo - sunset happy hour on the beach was fantastic.
Guanacaste was OK and unpretentious, but food options were limited. Back porch listening to all the birds was exceptional.
The hotel in Papagayo was the worst — room door to the outside didn’t close well, even after we got it repaired. Hot tub wouldn’t hold water, AC just didn’t really work and made a loud noise. Food was mediocre. Pool was tiny. Water stopped working one morning. Snorkeling tour was great although the fish weren’t that interesting. The footprint of the hotel was great, but really needs work.
Don Juan coffee and chocolate tour was Jane’s highlight - she called it phenomenal.
All the drivers were great and prompt. Roads were terrible and many under construction — 4 hours from Monteverde to Tamarindo. Tourist dollars would be well spent to improve them going to the parks.
We tried tipping everyone who gave us excellent service, but kept running out of small bills. Would highly suggest you recommend getting them before you leave. Most hotels could break a $20, but not all. All the staff at all facilities were great.
Hope this is helpful — I’m trying to be honest. We would have paid more to stay at a better place in Papagayo — maybe the Andaz? Also the heat was just a bit much for us San Franciscans. Could have used some more fog! ;-) Next time the Caribbean side?
Hotel Reviews
Hotel Senda was amazing - the staff was awesome, and they even provided a heater and hot water bottles in the bed! The cloud forest guided hike and the night walk were both great, and our guide for the night walk was especially knowledgeable. There's a nice national park near the hotel with beautiful old strangler fig trees. We didn't go into town because it was quite steep, but we loved our stay at this hotel.
We had a really good guide in Rincon de la Vieja. Chris, a naturalist, took us on a nice long tour. He even had bird calls on his phone! Overall, we enjoyed our stay at this hotel.
My wife especially loved the dessert at the restaurant in Arenal. The breakfast and meals were generally pretty good, and she thinks they were close to Michelin star quality. The guided hike in the Arenal Volcano Park was a bit steep and not as nice as some of the other hikes, but overall, we had a good time at this hotel.
We really liked the Cala Luna Boutique Hotel in Tamarindo. The pool was great, the food was awesome, and it had a nice, relaxed vibe. We enjoyed watching the sunset over the beach and walking into town along the beach. This might have been our favorite hotel.
The Hotel Bosque del Mar in Gulf of Papagayo wasn't the best ending to our trip. The food was a little worse than mediocre, and we had some technical problems with our room. However, we were able to walk up and down the beach and find nice little restaurants, so we had some alternatives to the hotel.
Activity Reviews
The cloud forest guided hike was good, although it was a bit crowded. We enjoyed being in the cloud forest and exploring the area.
The night walk was a highlight of our trip. Our guide was very knowledgeable and showed us some cool stuff. We appreciated being on our own during the walk and exploring the nighttime forest.
The snorkeling experience was good but not great. We enjoyed being out on the water, and the crew was great, but we didn't see as many fish as we had hoped. The spiky sea creatures were a bit intimidating, and the snorkeling spot wasn't as crowded as we expected. However, overall, it was a fun experience.
This was a highlight of our trip. We had a great guide, and we got to make our own chocolate bars and drink roasted coffee. We would highly recommend this tour, as it was well-done and enjoyable.
