Costa Rica, need more feedback on new tentative itinerary
 

Thanks to great replies to a previous post I left, we have come up with a more refined plan for our vacation in late March/early April and would like some more opinions/suggestions. <BR><BR>Now our plan is to fly into Liberia, spend 3-4 days in Guanacaste, 2 days in Monteverde area, 2 days around Arenal, another 3-4 days in Tamarindo, then fly out of Liberia to home. (We will just have to come back at another time to see all of the other places that sound so interesting).<BR><BR>Keeping in mind that we want to stay right on the beach and also be walking distance to restaurants, bars, etc, here are hotels we are considering:<BR><BR>Guanacaste hotels: Villa del Sue&ntilde;o, Hotel El Velero, Sol Playa Hermosa or Hotel Vista Mar.<BR><BR>Tamarindo hotels: Hotel Capitan Suizo, Casa Cook or Hotel Las Tortugas<BR><BR>Need to do more research on hotels at Monteverde &amp; Arenal. Any suggestions?<BR><BR>Thank you, Terri<BR>

Regarding accommodation in Monteverde. Don't even think about staying in the Trapp Family Lodge

Villa del Sueno isn't right on the beach ( 10 min walk) but is the nicest place. Vista Mar is in Coco at the north end of the beach and about a 15 min walk to town, restaurants, bars etc. Even Sol Playa Hermosa is a 5 min walk to the beach from the complex or a short shuttle ride. Hermosa is the best beach in the area with some good restaurants, bars and a small grocery store. <BR>Mike<BR>www.spanishdancercharters.com

I would highly recommend Hotel Capitan Suizo which is located right on the beach within walking distance of restaurants (15-20 minute walk to the center of the town). Capitan Suizo was definitely our favorite hotel in all of Costa Rica. <BR>Your itinerary sounds fine to me. In Arenal we stayed at Arenal Paraiso which was fine for the price we paid but not great. Next time we go there we will try either Montana de Fuego or Tabacon Lodge.

I agree about trapp lodge. It was a trap!

Terri,<BR><BR>I was in Monteverde and Arenal in November. In Montevrede we stayed at the Fonda Vela. The rooms were beautiful and large. I would definitly recommend it. Will you are there make sure you stop at the Frog Pond. It is small aquarium - all frogs. It was very informative and well done. Also make sure you stop at the humming bird shop right outside the national park. It was very cool the birds were zipping all around our heads.<BR>We stayed at the Tabacon Resort. I would recommend staying somewere else the resort is nice but fills with tour buses every night. It is quite hectic. The only positive was we could drink at the Spa and walk back to our room. Driving at night is OK but I would not recommend it after the hot springs and a drink.<BR>Have fun!<BR>A<BR>

Hola Terri,<BR>We stayed at Hotel Montana (which is very comfortable)in Monteverde and at Arenal Observatory, which was fantastic as we had a view of the volcano that was incredible and were able to take the walking tour of the volcano from there.<BR>Enjoy the roads in both areas. If you go to the hot springs go to the one across from the Tabacon Resort - half the price.<BR>Marilynn

We stayed at Arenal Paraiso recently and were disappointed - the staff was not that friendly and the rooms were kind of dank. We visited Montana del Fuego (next door), which is much nicer, as is Arenal Lodge. I wouldn't stay at Tabacon - very touristy.