Hi, my friend and I'm going to spend 6 days in Costa Rica in early July. Have been to Arenal, Tortuguero in our last trip. This time we feel like to stay in one place only so as to avoid tiring travel (both of us are prone to motion sickness). We like jungle and wildlife, or at least to be near a forest. We also like to stroll around to expereince the Costa Rican life and explore markets and grocery stores. Vista del Valle sounds great to us but we want to look at more options. Any suggestion please?

I stayed at Vista del Valle for the first two nights of my honeymoon. The views we had from our room were amazing and the dinner there was the best in three weeks of travelling around CR. I still think about the black bean soup they served our first night!

That said, I think I might go batty if I was to spend 6 whole nights there. We stayed in one of the Exotic Wood suites. Those are the ones with great views. There are (or were, in 2004) 4 of them--but they are semi-detached (2 and 2). The walls are paper thin. There was no one staying in the unit adjacent to ours, but there was a couple with a baby in the other unit about 20 or 30 feet from us, and we could hear the baby crying day and night.

Also, the room, while elegantly rustic, wasn't very big compared to other rooms we stayed in in CR.

Nor was the room bright. Since there wasn't much night time activity there, we would retire to the room to read, but it was pretty difficult given the light (or lack thereof).

I did really like the bathrooms, though. There were in stone and filled with fresh air and natural light. I can't really explain what they look like, but one day, when I build my mansion, I'm modelling my bathrooms on the ones at VDV.

We spent our last night (or 2? can't remember) at Xandari, which is even closer to Alajuela and the airport than VDV.

For the same price (or thereabout), we had a room the size of our apartment at home! At the time there were two different room types (big and bigger). We stayed in the smaller of the two and it was huge!

In fairness, the walls at Xandari were also very thin. The units are also semi-detached (meaning a shared wall) and I can tell you that our neighbours had much, much better sex than we did, and for more times than I can count!

We also liked the grounds better at Xandari. The views were probably a little more spectacular at VDV (our room overlooked the canyon through which flows the Rio Grande) but we enjoyed walking through the orange orchards, the small farm, the bamboo thickets and the waterfalls at Xandari. (OK, to be fair, VDV has a waterfall, too. We tried visiting it on our first day there, AFTER we had daquiris that looked suspiciously like simple fruit smoothies. Let's just say it was a steep walk down to the waterfall and we just couldn't make it.)

Also, if you think you might get a little cabin fever, Xandari has a well lit main building with games, a small library and *cough* *cough* *choke* *choke*, a tv/movie room.

Dinner was mediocre at Xandari, but the view from the dining patio has something to be said for it. Xandari sits on a hill (mountain?) several miles away and above the airport. There is something very graceful in watching plane after plane land in the darkness of Alajuela. Sounds silly, but I'm sure others can confirm this.

There are other views from Xandari, too: hills and coffee plantations, and more.

Both are located close enough to Poas volcano and coffee plantations that you might visit, so there is certainly a lot to do around each.

Xandari is just outside the town of Alajuela, which is a larger, decidedly more urban town than most of the other towns there. (Urban is the wrong word. But it is bigger, with more shops, more variety, but no less local flavour.) We didn't get a chance to walk around Alajuela, but wish we had. It certainly would have been an interesting change from the two-street towns like La Fortuna and Quepos (not that there is anything wrong with those towns, Costa Rica lovers!)

Anyway, that's my two-cents worth. Like I said, we were there in 2004. Maybe things have changed. Others who have been to these places more recently may be able to shed some more pertinent information.

Happy travels!

Thanks MonaManuel, we have only 6 days in Costa Rica. What if we spend 2 days in MA? We love nature and beach (we've been to Madives and we love shore snorkeling). What we concern most is the weather in MA in July. And how is the road condition from SJ to MA? Thanks.

The drive from San Jose to Manuel Antonio is gruesome! The road is the national highway, so it is paved and on hills, there generally are passing lanes. Otherwise, it is single laned. Should you be behind a lorry carting sugar cane, a likely circumstance, your drive will slow to almost a crawl and there will be many many cars poking along in front of and behind yours.
Another option is to fly, either with Nature Air or Sansa and pick up a car in Quepos.
Carol L

Thanks Carolll. Flying is the last option because my friend is scared about flying smaller passenger freight. Most probably we'll take a Interbus. But how about the weather issue? Will it be very hot and humid? If it rains frequently, the chance of seeing animals will be slim. We didnt see much animals last time visitng Tortuguero because of the heavy rain. If staying at Vista del Valle or Xandari or even Peace Lodge will provide enoguh chance to view animals, we'll be simply sticking to one place.

Nothing wrong with hunkering in at one place. I prefer to do it that way too. I'll be traveling with my mother in July. 3 nights Vista del Valle, 3 nights La Mansion (in Arenal), 4 nights Villas Kalimba(in Samara) and 3 nights Villas Nicolas (Manuel Antonio). Whew!! Personally, I prefer to stay in one place and explore from there. My 79 yr. YOUNG mother likes to be on the go and doing things.
I think Vista del Valle looks like an ideal spot to spend a week. Great location and the reviews are excellent. LOTS of exploring to do from there. But I havent' been to Costa Rica - just giving you my two cents worth.
Have fun!
Carrie