Sergio our initial contact person did a great...
Costa Rica | Aug 3 - Aug 12, 2023

S
Siang O.
New Braunfels, TX | Reviewed on Aug 13, 2023

Sergio our initial contact person did a great job making our travel itinerary. Since I do not know much about the country, I gave him a very vague description of what we like and do not like and from there he managed still to create a pretty well rounded list of activities for us to get to know Costa Rica.

Nancy and charlotte: both of them took over since Sergio has a family leave, both of them were very responsive to our questions when we were stuck. Eg had a couple of questions and issues arise during our trip and they managed to smooth it out for us to move on.

Overall I would definitely recommend Kim Kim and use Kim Kim again, it definitely has saved me from doing all the homework and research prior to the trip and just enjoy my vacation without trying to juggle too many things.

Hotel Reviews
Hotel Savegre
San Gerardo de Dota

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.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Very serene, beautiful location. But the road to get there is not easy.
Staff
Everybody was very friendly, helpful and nice.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Very well maintained.
Hotel Villa Florencia
Turrialba

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.

Authenticity & Character
It is a good location with lots of vegetation, need improvement project
Location
Need multiple improvement projects
Staff
The first night receptionist who checked us in were not very helpful or friendly with little help but once we complained, the new staff were friendly and nice.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Need lots of work.
Congo Bongo EcoVillage Costa Rica
Manzanillo, Limon

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.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Hampton Inn & Suites San Jose Airport
Alajuela

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

Authenticity & Character
Very standard Hampton in
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Activity Reviews
Quetzal Tour
Quetzal Tour
San Gerardo de Dota

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.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Coopedota Coffee Tour
Coopedota Coffee Tour
San Gerardo de Dota

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!!

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Thermal Hotsprings Hacienda Orosi
Thermal Hotsprings Hacienda Orosi
Costa Rica

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.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve & Waterfall
Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve & Waterfall
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

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.

Quality of Experience
Food
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Pacuare River Rafting
Pacuare River Rafting
Turrialba

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

Quality of Experience
Food
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Hike Turrialba Volcano
Hike Turrialba Volcano
Turrialba

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

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Organic Farm Tour with Lunch
Organic Farm Tour with Lunch
Turrialba

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!

Quality of Experience
Food
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
 Exploring the Underwater Wonders of Cahuita National Park
Exploring the Underwater Wonders of Cahuita National Park
Costa Rica

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?

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Local specialist: Charlotte Törnqvist
Charlotte
Charlotte Törnqvist
Local specialist in Turrialba, Costa Rica | Replied on Aug 25, 2023

Hi Siang,

Thank you very much for your detailed review, and all the photos.
We are glad you had a great overall experience, and we will pay attention to the experiences/sites that can be improved.

Pura vida!

Charlotte