billyboy

Hi All,

I am trying to plan a honeymoon for this May, and after reading all(or at least a whole bunch) of the posts on CR, I'm hooked. I've found a few deals through luxurylink.com that seem too good to be true. There is an offer at a place called Villa Caletas. They are associated with Flor Blanca. I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts or experiences with either the hotels or the luxurylink web site? Also, it seems that most of the posts here detail fairly active itineraries with a lot of moving around. I'm inclined to maybe stay at two place at the most and do day trips. My fiance found an outfit that books "u-drive" trips with vouchers for a number of hotels, as well. My concern is that we may end up in some less than desireable hotels. We're not being snobby, but this is our honeymoon, and the first real vacation for me in almost ten years! If we decide to go this route, I'm sure I'll have a few more questions.

TIA, Bill

shillmac

Villas Caletas and Flor Blanca both have excellent reputations as rather small and elegant hotels. Both are beach locations. South (about an hour I think)of Villas Caletas is one of the most beautiful areas in Costa Rica--Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. Flor Blanca is in an area of the country that is very nice, but a bit more difficult to get to since it involves taking the ferry across the Nicoya Peninsula. From there, there are a couple of neat areas to explore for day trips (Isla de Tortuga and Cabo Blanco Reserve).

Sounds like you don't want to stay too busy (good idea), and these are both excellent places just to relax, explore the surroundings a little, and enjoy the ambiance!

Villas Caletas is in the area of Jaco Beach which is not one of the better beaches or more attractive towns; however, the hotel is quite a draw in and of itself. You can easily arrange a one or two day trip to Manuel Antonio from here. There are several very nice hotels on down in the Manuel Antonio area as well which you might wish to consider. Check out Makanda by the Sea or Si Como No. It is a more touristed area--a little more action. So you could enjoy that, then head to Flor Blanca where the beaches will be more deserted and there will be fewer tourists. Kind of the best of both! Good luck and have a great time! Although there is nothing wrong with driving yourself, and I would highly recommend it, I think you would be happier with your honeymoon if you would avoid the "see the sights" pre-arranged tours. Although these are okay, they do involve some moving around. The hotels, while clean and quite acceptable, are not among the top rated ones. You can do that on another trip--as you say, this is a honeymoon! I hope it won't be another ten years!

Ally

Shillmac has excellent advice.
I bought a package for Villa Caletas on luxurylink.com. It was a fine experience and easy. I ended up selling the package to a friend for her honeymoon and the transfer was easy too. Someone else on this board was asking about Villa Caletas and here's the questions and answers:
Q: Would you recommend Villa Caletas for a honeymoon?
A: Highly. The service and setting are both excellent. The concierge always amde sure we were happy and comfortable. The private beach is much cleaner than nearby Jaco beach and was very relaxing without a big crowd.
Q: Was the food aat the two restaurants good? Pricey?
A: Both were excellent and the service very good. The Amphitheater Cafe is about the same cost as, say, Chili's. The Mitador, which is reservation only, is quite expensive...but it is 4 star place and the food was delicious. I recommend you eat there once, but for the remainder of your stay to to Jaco where we had steak and lobster for much less than the cost for the same in the States. Jaco is a big tourism place, there is no worries in eating the local food there or most of the towns. All cafes offer bottled water. I was never concerned, but better safe than sorry.
Q: Is there a store nearby to get snacks and stuff for the room?
A: Jaco has some grocery stores and we found a couple on small roads to other villages, but these are all miles from the hotel. Stock up in Jaco, the mini bar Snickers was about $2.50
....(This is getting long....continued on next post)

Ally

Q: Is it feasible to go into town for the evening?
A: Getting out of the hotel is tricky, if you don't rent a car. They will not allow taxi's up without guest in it. A small trick to make you use their shuttle service which is $25 round trip (which is okay if you manage to hook up with another couple for the trip as the price is the same for 4.)
In order to take a taxi to town you need to hike downhill for twenty minutes and meet them at the highway, though on the return they can take you all the way back up. We were not overly concerned about the cost, as it was our wedding and we'd planned to spend money. We took the shuttle everyday, with or without other people. We'd ask for a car as late as 15 minutes before we were ready to go, though during the high season you may want to make arrangements earlier.
Q: Are the rooms/villas nice?
A: Our villa was very nice. It was one of the suites with a private pool. They have local cable as well as CNN, HBO and Cinemax. We had no hot water in our room, but we also never bothered to contact the concierge, as we were indifferent to such a trivial matter. However, I'm sure if we had complained they would have tried to rectify the issue.
Q: Are there Spa services?
A: The hotel uses Serenity Spa out of Jaco. They have an assortment of massages and treatments that, in my opinion, cost about the same as they do in the States. My husband had an Aromatherapy massage the day of our wedding and he stated it was the best he's ever had.
Q: How would you rate your experience at Villa Caletas overall?
A: Two Thumbs Up.
The Costa Ricans in general are tremendously great people who are very attentive to all guest in their country. I noted this to one of our tour guides, who explained to me that the people are proud to show off their homeland and it's natural beauty.

So there you have it. Just wanted to fill you in on Villa Caletas, but I do love Shillmacs idea to stay at Makanda By the Sea in Manuel Antonio and Flor Blanca in Mal Pais.

katolb90

I've never used luxurylink.com, but a couple I met at the Monteverde Lodge in January booked their trip through luxurylink.com. I also think this is the site a friend of mine mentioned to me although she didn't book a trip through them. When you deal with these online companies one of the first things I look for on a website is the 'about us' link. If they don't have one (or something similar) don't deal with them.

billyboy

Thanks so much for everyone's responses. We are very excited about our honeymoon. I think we'll be staying at Villas Caletas, but for some reason Flor Blanca's web site is down and only accessible though the web site of CentralAmerica.com. The price has gone up about $100 a night(!) on this other website from the prices I saw last week on Flor Blanca's own site. I wonder what's going on? Anyway, Thanks again.

Bill & Irene

kimschulze

We just got back from a 4 night stay at Flor Blanca. It is a beautiful spot and the beach is great! It was not the difficult to get to (but we like the adventure). We flew Sansa into Tambor and the hotel sent a driver for us. 40 minute drive to hotel. That left us with no car, tho, and a car would have been a nice convenience. They do have a super nice guy you can hire to drive you into the little surf town. The pool is so pretty, rooms are great, food is great, staff is friendly. (I've had better service, tho.) We waffled back and forth between Caletas and here, also.