I have to recommend checking out Santa Teresa. There is a gorgeous resort there, Red Palm Villas (www.redpalmvillas.com), where you can enjoy the peace of a private beach. Enjoy your trip!

EcoTermales is not crowded since they limit the number in and you must make a reservation. It is reasonably priced compared to Tabacon. I recommend splitting your time at two locations: Arenal/ Manuel Antonio or Arenal and another beach location- have not been to Santa Teresa,so cannot comment.

Now aren't you sorry you asked?!

We liked both Arenal and Monteverde and did the jeep-boat-jeep between the too. The ride across the lake was one of hubby's favorite parts of the trip!

You might want to look at Silencio del Campo in Arenal...you can walk from there to Eco Termales and Baldi Hot Springs. They have very nice individual cabins and it's much more reasonable than some of the other places. It is small and there is no swim up bar, but we loved it.

I didn't see ET because you couldn't get in (we chose to skip Hot Springs on this trip - there was a single pool at Silencio for free), but we did peek in at Baldi because we went to their gift shop looking for a bathing suit (can you believe my husband forgot to bring one). Based on the research I did prior to our trip, I would have gone to Eco. Baldi would definitely not be my choice; they were playing very loud music and it seemed like more of a party atmoshphere.

Lol volcanogirl, i'm not sorry i asked. Im thankful for all of the advice! I am weighing everyone's opinion very much!

This is what im coming to. Fly in to san jose tuesday morning at 5 am, take cab to peace lodge or eco/tabacon for 1 day and then i definitely cant miss out on monte verde now that i hear all these beautiful things (was just worried about the accessibility of the place) Glad to hear that the jeep boat jeep is cool so we will do that. Stay there 2 days After that its up in the air. I would like to go to nicoya peninsula and check out montezuma or santa teresa. It's either that or manual antonio. just need a beach for the last few days before heading back to sanjose on monday to fly out tuesday. So yea, i pretty much have no clue what we are doing yet. hahaha

Not sure you really want to include MV if you really mean 2 days (1 night). As much as I loved it you need at least 2 nights.

For you last night in CR, check out Xandari or Casa Bella Rita.

Okay, since you're not tired of us yet - lol! I wouldn't go to Arenal for just one night or Monteverde for just one night. I'm reading it the same way Deb did. Most people do Arenal for three nights and Monteverde for two or three nights. You'll want to be able to relax and enjoy the places after spending time on the roads. Other than the Peace Lodge or San Jose, I wouldn't stay anywhere for such a short time frame. Since it sounds like you're leaning towards Monteverde now, I'd definitely recommend Sky Trek if you don't do it in Arenal. The night hike at Hidden Valley was fun too.

And I agree with Deb - Xandari is wonderful for a last night if you can swing the cost.

Just for kicks, I pulled out my Lost Iguana receipt. They charged me $165 per night for a luxury suite. I believe that room normally goes for $275 per night, so when I say they have good deals I guess I didn't realize what great deals they have!