annagarnett

My boyfriend and I are going to Costa Rica in a few weeks for 7 nights and I'm having a tough time picking regions and hotels.

We want some luxury/canopy tour/a little beach/volcano/hot springs/maybe white water rafting/and some nice restaurants and a little night life (especially for the first few nights which fall on a weekend).

We'll be renting a 4 x 4 and are looking for rooms in the 150 dollar range.

Here's what we're thinking so far. I would love anyone's thoughts on these and recommednations for other hotels/regions.

First few nights either:

1- in Jaco at villa caletas or marriott los suenos
OR
2- in Manuel Antonio at como si no or tulemar bungalows (need suggestions!)

And the last few nights in Tabacon/Arenal area either at:
1- Tabacon Hot Springs or
2- Arenal Observatory

Other questions:
Do you think we have time to hit Monteverde too? Can we do a day trip to there from Tabacon? What is the best company to rent a 4x4 from?

Thanks for any thoughts/advice!

Ally

I would pick "Tulemar" OR "Si Como No" over Villa Caletas or Marriott. Villa Caletas and the Marriott are within a short drive of Jaco, but Jaco is not a great place, where as Manuel Antonio is beautiful, is closer to all the action (tours and fun). Villa Caletas and the Marriott are more for people that don't want to get out, as they are nice places just to hang out, although expensive for meals. And the Marriott does not have a nice beach.
As for Arenal, I would pick "Tabacon" over the Lodge. The Observatory Lodge is on the other side of the volcano as most places and it's an awful ride into the place, so again, it would be fine if you don't feel like leaving the property, but not so great for getting out to explore the area.
With 7 days, I'd skip Monteverde. No, you can't do it as a day trip, as travel between Arenal and Monteverde is about 3-1/2 to 4 hours. By the time you got there, you'd have NO time to see the area. it requires at least one night if not two, so save it for the next trip!
I have always had good experiences from renting through Adobe Rent A Car. They have a web site. Dollar is popular too, I'm renting from them through Liberia in mid Aug. but reservations went very smoothly.

sclubb

if you want luxury & will have your 4x4 for exploring, i would HIGHLY recommend Peace Lodge www.waterfallgardens.com. It was so romantic & very luxurious & very relaxing. A PERFECT way to end your time in CR. I would recommend 2 nights & on the full free day drive an hour north to Hacienda Pozo Azul for an awesome canopy tour & white water rafting trip. The rooms here are higher than your budget, but if you can get a place for lower the other nights so they all average out to 150 - or splurge a little - i would highly recommend it. VERY VERY worthwhile (in my opinion!).

keefmick

we just returned and stayed in tulemar and tabacon and loved them both--the premium bungalows at tulemar are fantastic! enjoy

sclubb

by the way, you could work out an itinerary doing -
1 - Jaco or Manuel Antonio 3 nts
2 - Arenal 2 nts
3 - Peace Lodge 2 nts

If your flight out of SJO is later than 1pm or so, you could drive to the airport on the morning from Peace Lodge. It took us an hour from the airport to get there.

april0404

I would also suggest doing Manuel Antonio over Jaco and then doing Arenal.

We rented a 4x4 through Mapache Rental cars. I booked it through centralamerica.com. They dropped off the car to us at our hotel and then picked it up from us as well. Nice, new, clean vehicles and good service.

If you arrive late to SJO or have an early flight out, keep in mind you might have to do overnights in San Jose on either end because it's not advised to drive on the roads after dark.

Have fun!
Stacey

Pumpy

Schlub, I have a question for you. We're (wife, I, and kids 6 & 11) planning on going to Drake Bay for 4-5 nts and then spend another 3-4 nts at Peace Lodge. Is 3-4 nts too long at Peace Lodge (plenty of things to do in and/or around the hotel)? I'm also curious about the white water rafting you mention. Is it mild enough for kids (both my kids swim)? Thanx!

sclubb

Hi Pumpy - if you have a car or don't mind spending more $ for transfers/tours, then 3-4 nights would be fine. It just depends on how much you like to relax and/or be active. There are some pools at the property (they're small, but we were the only ones in them except for 2 kids who seemed to love playing in them). Of course, there is a lot on the property to explore - water falls, butterflies, hummingbirds, tarantulas/snakes, etc! I think for any guest, they will take you to the hummingbirds so they will feed from your hand, they will let you hold the tarantula or snake & they will take you to the butterfly garden to give you more details than you'd get on your own. So, you could do all of that in 1 day or split it up. Then another morning, you could do the Poas Volcano (either drive yourself or take their tour combined with the Doka coffee plantation tour). We really wanted to do this but didnt have the chance. They can tell you that morning if your chances are good for seeing Poas cleared off. Finally, the drive to Hacienda Pozo Azul is about an hour - easy drive - and they have various levels of rafting. It will depend on the water level - when we were there, we did class II & III & I think your kids could have done it - but the guide showed us how high the water level can get & it gets much quicker & more rapids. There are some places you can just do a river "float" basically but see lots of wildlife - maybe you could do that if they don't think the rafting would be safe for your kids. Definitely do their canopy tour - they will take you by tractor to the 1st platform if you don't want to ride the horses to get there. We did that to save time. The only thing with 3-4 nights at PL is that you might get tired of the dinners. You might want to stop at a grocery at some point & get lots of things to make a makeshift dinner (there is a fridge in the room). Otherwise, the closest restaurant I remember is about 20 minutes away - so you could probably manage that even in the dark. The roads were really empty in that area. I'm jealous!!!

LA_FadeAway

I agree with Sclubb's advice. I think three nights at Peace Lodge would be optimal. Four could get boring, especially if you eat dinner there every night. The place is fabulous!!