We did 2 nights in Arenal and felt like it was long enough. Another night would have been nice, of course, but we didn't feel rushed. But we did do 2 in Monteverde, also, and 1 night might feel like you're hurried to see everything.

You don't want to do one night in Monteverde - not worth the long drive to stay such a short amount of time. Check out the Lost Iguana resort; it's a beautiful property with great private balconies. You might check out the new Springs resort too.

Wow! Thanks for all the quick responses!
Ok so we won't do Monteverde.

But here's my question, and I hope I don't sound like a total snob. Is the Lost Iguana really nice? The pictures don't look great or maybe its just that the website isn't that great. Do they have a good pool/bar/nice rooms? Is it usually overrun with kids?

Can someone tell me more about it? Im going to look into it more too, but if anyone has stayed there...thanks!!

shutterbug85 -- Sorry to disagree, but there's no way you could see or do everything in either Arenal or Monteverde in that amount of time!

I think it's nice. I don't know what your standard is for REALLY nice though, so I'd advise you to go look over at tripadvisor and read the reviews and look at pics to see if it's your kind of spot. The rooms are nice; they have a big bed placed in the center of the room so you can see the volcano from your bed, and it's on the lava side currently. Floor to ceiling windows with great volcano views. The luxury suites we stay in have big private balconies with a jacuzzi tub on them, candles, bath salts, etc. There's a sink and small frig in the room. Huge acreage with lots of hiking, a river that runs through the property, pretty landscaping, and open air restaurant with volcano view, a small cool pool and small heated pool, and a bar area. It hasn't been overrun with kids when we've been there - it's more of a romantic spot. The service is nice. They have signs posted about asking people to keep their voices down so everyone can enjoy the jungle. The last time we stayed there, they left fresh flowers and a bottle of wine in our room to thank us for being repeat customers. They've also recently added a nice gift shop and a spa. Did you check out the Springs? That's probably one of the poshest new hotels in the area, but not all that authentically Costa Rican. I can answer any more LI questions you have, but think you should look at pics and reviews to see what you think. I love LI and feel very comfortable there.

I did see the Springs and the Tabacon, and both seem a little to "giant resort" to me.
I like the idea of a smaller, more authentic place.
I just spent the last hour reading reviews on TripAdviosr of Lost Iguana and it does seem to be very well liked! I also emailed them, and they already emailed back with availability!

The one negative seems to be that the food isn't great. Any input on this?
Also, if we wanted to go somewhere else for dinner how difficult would that be? I hear its about 20min to town, but are there other hotels we could go to for a nicer dinner if we wanted?

I probably wouldn't go to any hotel for dinner; hotels aren't known for their great food. Our favorite spot is Don Rufino - really good food there and a cute atmosphere. Most of the restaurants in town will be very casual and open air, some without walls. We like El Novillo for steaks, La Choza de Laurel, and for cheap good food Soda La Parada. The restaurant at the LI is nice - open air with nice furniture and beautiful volcano views, nice dishes, candlelight. We've had average food and good food there - depends on what you order. The food has improved over the years. One night we just wanted to stay in and watch the volcano, so we ordered in burgers and homemade chips and homemade guacamole with a couple of Imperials, and really it was great. To me, their casual food is best. One night, my husband had fish, and it was dry and overcooked. Their free breakfasts are good. If you have a car, I'd guess it's about a 20 minute drive to town - depends where you go as there are places scattered along the road. There's really only one road into town, and it's smooth and well-paved and a pretty drive. We've taken their employee shuttle into town a few times since it heads in around dinner time and then just caught taxis back. I'd say your best bet for a nice dinner is Don Rufino but even that is pretty casual, as are most of the restaurants in CR. When you mention "fancy" dinners, I just don't think that's all that common in CR.

Here's a link to Don Rufino.
http://www.donrufino.com/en/

Hey, about the hot springs, remember if you're pregnant you can't go in hot tubs or hot springs. Don't want to cook the little one!

Agree with vgirl about forgetting about other hotel restaurants. There are better choices. However, we thought the restaurant at Silencio del Campo was excellent. The chef gives you personal attention as it's a smaller, locally owned lodge and it was always delicious.

The only place in CR that we've ever had foodie quality food is at Tortuga Lodge - kind of weird since it's so isolated, but wow, their food was outstanding. Grano de Oro in San Jose is also good. hip, good to know that SdC has excellent food - I've never heard that before. They seem to really take pride in their lodge.

vgirl -- I wouldn't go so far to say SDC is "foodie" food, but it was very delicious. :-)

I'd like to piggyback on your thread since we are also hoping to travel to Costa Rica this spring. That way similar questions would be together for people searching in the future.

We plan to go to Jaco, Costa Rica for a wedding in late April.

1. Someone suggested that we take some sort of shuttle from SJO to Jaco because the roads would be too difficult for us to drive. Does anyone have any comments on that?

2. Also they suggested that we avoid Mexicana Airlines. I did a search on them here and didn't see any negative comments - just a positive one.

3. If our plane gets in fairly late, I thought we might stay in San Jose and then go to Jaco the next day. They suggested that we should get in early enough to go to Jaco and avoid staying in San Jose. I'd think that since it's the capital, there would be points of interest there and an overnight stay so that we'd have time to see the city might be good.

Thanks for your help.

Good to know, hip - food doesn't have to be foodie food to be good!

I agree with all that Volcanogirl has said. Been there and done it! Forget Monteverde. You should be just fine with being pregnant. It is never a good idea to fly in the last trimester.

Travler 2005
Roads in CR are not good but driving to Jaco is not all that bad unless your are in really bad rain. Stay in SJ and get up early the next day to head to Jaco.

Thanks dcory

traveler, I think you might have better luck with a new post. Sometimes a post buried at the end of another post doesn't get much attention. If you get in late and want to stay near SJO, we like both Grano de Oro and Xandari as spots to stay.

Different point of view. We have driven all over the country, and generally find the roads to be quite decent, certainly between San Jose and Jaco! I guess it is a matter of perspective, and of course they aren't freeways. But generally, as I said, quite decent and certainly do-able without problems.

shillmac,

The road to Jaco is not bad but I hit a terrible rain in the hilly part. Not fun and not the rainy season. The road from Quepos toward Domincale is one long and huge pothole. I would hate to be on that road during a heavy rain. I find the bad roads to be an adventure, except in the rain and mud. Can't wait to go back.

Thanks everyone again so much for your input!!!

Looks like we will be staying at Nayara (they had a cancellation) and then Makanda!

We are really excited -- only downer is that we had to cut the trip by one day (only 7 days now), So I think we'll be cutting one day out of Manuel Antonio. That gives us 3 nights in Arenal, 3 in Manuel Antonio and 1 in San Jose.

Sounds good to me; friends of ours went to Makanda for their honeymoon and enjoyed it.