lorrie2404

I'm just about to make our reservations at our hotels and I was wondering if I should make them all through Costa Rica Expeditions (they're doing our Monteverde Lodge one) or do most of you just make them yourselves over the internet. Everyone wants me to fax my credit card info to them, and I'm wondering if it's just safer to fax it to one supplier (CRE). We'll be going to Villa Lapas, Monteverde Lodge, Lost Iguana, Selva Verde, Peace Lodge, and two nights (first & last) in San Jose. The only one I haven't been able to get ahold of is Villa Lapas, so I may use CRE for them too.

Thank you!

guanacaste

why not check prices on the internet first if its cheaper book on the internet?
i book all flights and most hotels either on the internet with hotels.com. travelocity etc the hotels not on there like the smaller ones i email confirmation week before but i never fax credit card details,not safe!!!

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/costa_...ome/index.html

lorrie2404

But all the hotels we're looking at are asking for our credit card info to put a deposit down. How have you put your deposit down to hold the hotel?

guanacaste

ive never put down a deposit, never needed to, turn up in town sometimes ive booked a hotel, sometimes not.
apart from easter week, december and i week in july u can almost always get a room.
places like arenal lodge etc may be booked but u can book them thru expedia etc etc!!!

Suzie2

I have used CRE several times. I have also made a lot of my own reservations by faxing my CC. The hotels you are looking at are reputable and CRE is also reputable. We only had a problem once about 13 years ago but not by any of the people you will be dealing with and not due to faxing our number. Somebody tried to double charge us for an item we had bought with our cc. It is pretty much standard procedure to hold a room by cc. A lot of places that we stay in these days will just hold a room for us because we like to pay cash and they know we are good for it.

Even after so many years I still prefer having one person take care of my reservations down there. Particularly if it is a shorter trip and we don't have the flexibility that we do on longer ones. I can't tell you how many times we have had to adjust timing at various places to conform to the availability of other places. It is much easier for a person down there to make calls and get instant connections than it is for us miles and miles away to wait, sometimes for days, for a reply on availability in a place only to find out that they can't fit us at that time but can a couple of days later/sooner and so we go back and have to contact the other places to rearrange. If you are going at a time that isn't too busy then you probably won't have a problem but you just never know.

I think it should be up to your own comfort, and patience, level. My pura vida doesn't kick in until I am actually in sight of CR.

I have stayed at Monteverde Lodge, Selva Verde, Villa Lapas, and Peace Lodge. Of those Monteverde Lodge was probably my least favorite but it is clean and well run by CRE. Also in a pretty good location. We used CRE for our trips 3-4 times and didn't have any problems with them at all.

lorrie2404

Thanks Suzie2--what hotel is your favorite in Monteverde? Villa Lapas hasn't answered any emails yet and they don't have an toll free number that I can find--I'm not sure how much it would cost to call them on my own. How did you book them?

tully

I've always booked my hotels in advance in CR and always had to put a CC deposit down (they don't charge you anything unless you fail to show up). Many places in CR are small and can't have people just making reservations and then not showing up, so the CC is a hedge against that.

If you book with CRE, before you pay I would just take everything they give you and then price it yourself and see what the difference is. If it's small, maybe then that's worth it to have someone else book everything for you. I just know personally when I asked them for a quote 2 years ago it was way above and beyond if I had booked it myself (a couple hundred). So I would just check to make sure you're getting a fair deal, to be on the safe side.

jkheigle

Lorrie,

I think it is hard to get around the faxed signed authorization form in CR... but maybe one method of security is to only fax the first 8 digits, and all other necessary info and signature. Then email the "missing numbers." In a perfect world, only the reservationist would have access to your whole number.... and that very important 3 digit number on the back of the card. I do make the phone calls, at least one -- about 2 minutes for $4.00 -- priceless.

Also, I contact my credit card company and tell them about my hotel planning, and to flag my account for extra security. I let them know where and when I will be travelling.
Every once in a while, every three days or so, I'll call to check for charges and pending charges....

One time I did intercept a charge -- it had not been paid and was "pending" . I simply told the card company it was not an authorized charge, and I cancelled my card. A new one was reissued within 48 hours for a $15.00 fee.

All other pending, but authorized charges, ie. reservations / deposits were transferred to my new account number per my verbal authorization, without any inconvenience to me or the hotels.

BTW, The pending charge was not totally fraudulent... the card number had been requested to confirm reservation if there was availability. They got my request, then processed authorization, but not payment. Had I not called the credit card company I would not have known/realized that I had confirmed the reservation with my credit card (remember I was just asking if there was availability...) If I didn't show up (and I wasn't going to because I reserved elsewher) they would have put the "authorized charge" through..... A close call. Politely, I emailed the hotel and let them know that my reservation had been "confirmed" by mistake and that I would not be there. They returned my email with a polite "thank you, reservation cancelled, no fees charged...." (This was Italy)

Lesson learned: keep a running list of "to whom you've given your card number, how, when, and why"..... Much easier to "follow up" just prior to departure, or at any other time....

I would prefer to pay as I go, but unfortunately I travel alot during peak seasons and always at the last minute it seems, and I find it stressful to not have guaranteed reservations. I much prefer credit card deposits to wiring funds!

I don't know if this sounds all too difficult... but it works for me.

I think tour companies will ease the worry a bit, but I still don't go that route totally, and I don't know why.

Good luck! and Peace of Mind to ya!
I'm off to CR next Thursday! So excited!

shillmac

Lorrie,
We call Costa Rica frequently, so opted to pay a $2.95 charge per month (AT&T). It gets us $0.30 per minute on our calls. Definitely worth it you are a frequent caller.

joeschmo

To Shillmac:

How did you work out that deal with AT&T?
I have a calling card so my calls to CR are only 29 cents/min. but it does not work for my fax machine.
Can you start it up and stop it or is there a charge each time?

Suzie2

Yes, CRE can be more expensive but we really appreciated the well trained and very knowledgeable drivers and guides that we had. There were always two people from the company in the car, one to drive and one to explain everything we were seeing as we drove. That does come with a price. At the time we were using them there weren't nearly as many options as there are these days.

These days there are so many private transports with good drivers that you can make your own reservations (or not)and have a good driver without using a whole tour company.

If you are uncomfortable with sending your number, we have done the split number email. Just this past Feb I sent our cc number divided into 3 emails when making reservations in Guatemala. We have also done it in CR. A company like arenal.net could do the same thing that CRE does, most likely for less, if you just want a driver and hotel reservations.

Monteverde Lodge isn't a bad place. Like I mentioned, it is clean. It also has lovely gardens and easy access to Finca Ecologica to go hiking. We have seen some good wildlife and birds there. You can walk into town. The place itself is just a little too motel like for us. It just doesn't have the feel that we look for down there. Heliconia is nice but it gets a lot of big tours and has gotten expensive. You can just walk out the drive and down the street to the butterfly farm and DeLucia Inn has very good food on that same road. You can also walk into town. It is a bit of a hike but taxis are available if you prefer. Further out is the Fonda Vela. A lovely place but you will need transportation for getting to most places. I have only visited there. I have stayed at the Heliconia twice, Monteverde Lodge once, and a couple of very small pensions. El Sapo Dorado gets mixed reviews. Most on the favorable side.

As far as Villa Lapas goes....we had the private driver that we use, who is also a licensed travel agent, make the reservations for us. It is not the fanciest place but the setting is lovely and there are great birds right on the property.

guanacaste

i like el sapo dorado!
in monteverde best places to eat are Lucias, Sophias and Johnnys Pizzeria!
bar amigos in the center of santa elena does great bar food, ceviches etc for about USD2.

http://monteverde.typepad.com/montev...rde/index.html

shillmac

lorrie, it's been a few years, but I think I just called AT&T (could probably set it up online--we have an AT&T account online for billing and payments). It was very simple, believe me, or I'd remember more about it! I figure, so what, $2.95 a month? Nice to have when you need it. It is SO expensive to call Costa Rica. Even with the international on my AT&T plan, it's still 30 cents a minute. I can call Germany for 6 or 7 cents a minute with the plan. Seems odd to me, but that's the way it is.