OlliePow

Hi,

I highly recommend that you stay away from using travel by jen (aka jet set vacations); as they do not disclose the appropriate information about travel times, car upgrades, hotel security ect; which in the end costs you more money, time, and a huge amount of stress!
Afterwards, they want to put the full blame on you for not getting the correct forms or doing appropriate research on the places and car agency rentals.
Sorry to say I thought that is what a travel agent was supposed to do by making things easier, safer and simple.
It seems they just want your money, and then they listen to your complaints only to use that information towards future clients to make themselves sound more legit.
They DO NOT offer compensation only excuses! They have a guy named Robert that writes to you for days on end getting detailed information on the issues and all the while disputing everything you say and trying to justify his own experience (which apparently supersedes our experience.For example, Robert states"Driving to Arenal takes me 2 and a half hours...I have been there 12 times in the past 19 months" (like right we knew we would be driving up a winding narrow mountain in complete darkness with fog, and it would take almost 4hours??).
As i said before, it seems they want to utilize the information to add to their repertoire of flowery sounding salesmanship on their ads to make more sales. Not once have we been offered an apology or compensation of any sort "I will try to get you compensation".
As for one of the upgraded hotels, we purchased, it was not far from safe. I misplaced my key card, yet I was able to take out a window and put my hand through the ground level balcony door and enter!! Thank goodness we did not get anything stolen on this trip, but I proved that it could easily be done!
When you see their Ads it seems like they are very reasonable, but if you choose to use them in the end you will be sorry and more in debt!
See my link posting on tripadvisor for a more detailed report!
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-...osta_Rica.html
I do hope this information can save you the troubles that we encountered!!
Ollie

volcanogirl

Sorry you had such a terrible experience. I think people who are familiar with the roads take a lot less time to drive them than the rest of us. One of our drivers did get us to Arenal in 2.5 hours, but we would never have been able to do that on our own. The drive usually takes about three, but the roads are twisty and there can be fog and rain. Seems like they should have prepared you for that.

OlliePow

@volcanogirl,
thanks for taking the time to read and comment. Yes, it would have been nice to know what we were heading for, as we would have more than likely opted to stay in town until the morning. It truly was a frightening experience, and I want others to know in advance so that they can make informed decisions.
Peace,
Ollie

MsJAG

That hotel you were referring to was at Punta Leona near Jaco. The "Selvamar Rooms" which is an upgrade, offers easy access to rooms by anyone who feels so inclined. NOT SAFE.

OlliePow

@MsJag,
yes it was the Selvamar room at Punta Leona. Please do not stay there...or if you do stay there DO NOT leave valuables in the room!!
Thanks for naming the hotel.
Ollie