Excellent trip with great guides

Costa Rica | Apr 3 - Apr 17, 2024

On steep hill out of town, so taxis needed for transfers. Family room was large but had a huge bath in the bedroom itself and nowhere to sit indoors. Wildlife in the gardens a big compensation. Coatis and many birds.

Extensive gardens and birdlife made up for pretty basic accommodation. Restaurant was not Japanese fusion as described. Hot springs uninviting.

Good quality Hilton hotel in great central location. Comfortable rooms with all facilities.

Good pool surrounded by palms. Our accommodation was a huge apartment on upper floor but we didn't use the dining area or kitchen. Hotel a bit dated with lots of mismatched decor/ornaments. Quirky. Lots of steps everywhere. Staff a bit unapproachable and unhelpful. Restaurant/bar a bit messy and staff appeared particularly unprofessional. Prefer staff who don't sit around on the bar counter area singing along to the piped music, or who clear tables with a lollipop stuck in their mouths. 😯

Great location and helpful cheerful staff. Super open air terrace restaurant/bar on 4th floor. Great food and drinks. Industrial feel of entrance and front desk area, and bare tiled floors in room a bit unwelcoming on late evening arrival, but the whole hotel grew on us. Striking bold murals as decor for our room. No mirror. Quirky.

The rain took the gloss of this tour a little. Great views over the rain forest canopy all the same. With guides help spotted poison dart frogs and an eyelash pit viper. Also spider monkeys very high in the canopy. Animals and birds a bit thin on the ground though despite guides efforts to help us find them.

Great visit. Guides were terrific and took good care of us in the dark. Saw loads of tarantulas and other creatures including sleeping birds and butterflies.

Best ow the two hanging bridge tours we took. Maybe the weather helped. Saw plenty of birds but no sloths. Had chance to walk parts of the trail in our own time without group company. More relaxing experience on narrow bouncy bridges.

Enjoyed Doka Plantation tour. Gardens not so much. Felt had to move at guide's speed and shere guides personal interest in animals and plants.

Cancelled due volcanic activity - sulphurous fumes.

Mix up between tour operator and KimKim over pick-up time led to rushed start. Good visit though. Helpful guide. Steps down were were more difficult than up. Not much chance to observe wildlife.

Really enjoyable visit, made all the better by welcoming hosts and really enthusiastic helpful guide. Amazing insight into language, culture and way of life of indigenous people from 300 years ago. Great chance to try skills needed to live to survive by subsistence hunting, fishing and farming.