Down to the wire hotel choices
 

Which would you choose travelling with kids -- Lost Iguana or Arenal Paraiso? I like that Arenal has good volcano views and is more centrally located. But, I like the fact that the Lost Iguana is newer(=cleaner?) and has outdoor showers. I would normally always be the kind of person to choose Tabacon Hot Springs or whatever is the most deluxe property. However, this trip I have decided to go with smaller hotels.

Also, which would you do in MA with kids 10&8, Costa Verde, Tulemar, Mango Moom or Si Como No? I'm leaning towards Tulemar because of the private beach.

Misha, have you gone on Lost Iguanas website? Because I think they are alot more luxurious than Tabacon. Also, I have heard several people say that they did not like some things about Tabacon, at least as a guest staying there. Check the threads for Tabacon comments.
The only thing that I am disappointed with, since I am also considering Lost Iguana, is that the only room that accomodates my family of 4 is the largest suite, which is like $300/nt. And that's because there is a bedroom in that one. They said they can bring in a rollaway bed but 2 rollaways in the standard (?) rm. would make it too cramped, which I find hard to believe because the room looks and sounds quite large. I certainly don't want to rent 2 rooms at two hundred something each. (standard or mid-stream rooms). Let me know, if you would, what you find out.
Oh, also on the zip-line subject, I have heard that there is a new one which is supposed to be real good and you do not have to control the braking yourself (which is the only thing I didn't like about the others). I think they call it the "superman" zip and it's possibly at Sky Trek Arenal?? I plan on researching this as soon as I MAKE SOME LODGING RESERVATIONS SOMEWHERE!! LOL!

Beena, I haven't made my reservations yet at Lost Iguana. The site did look wonderful. I would be willng to put up with cramped to save a couple of hundred a night:)

The zipline that I know of that has a better brake system is at Turubari Park. We're considering doing that since there are all sorts of tours at the same place for , I think, oneprice. So, we might make it our adventure day.

What itinerary did you finally decide on?

Just back from Cr including stay in Arenal at Tabacon. Unlike other reports, we had an excellent experience at Tabacon. As for Lost Iguana, we drove by it and it looked nice. I can say that the volcano is erupting on the side facing Lost Iguana. Fantastic views the night we drove over to Lost Iguana at dusk.

Just want to clarify a few things. We were in CR last summer with our kids (then 11 & 9). We stayed at Arenal Paraiso. As I have posted before, this place is very, very clean. The staff is alway cleaning! Even my very meticulous German MIL was impressed! The kids had lots of fun at the pool at AP. We were very fortunate to see a lot of the top of the volcano during our stay.

The Lost Iguana looks great too. I'm just not so sure how geared they are for families.

We looked into Tulemar also. They looked great and get great reviews, but I read that you have to go outside of the unit and down the stairs to access the 2nd bedroom. Great if you have teens, but it might not be ideal for smaller kids.

Zip-lines: We did the ones at AP and at Turubari. The AP ones had the "old-fashioned" braking system. Turubari has the new system. Turubari (www.turubari.com) is where the "superman" zip line is--one kilometer over a canyon. They also have conventional zip lines. Sky trek at Arenal (there is also one at Monteverde) also uses the newer braking system, but does not have a "superman" zip line.

I hope this helps. Have a great trip!

THANK YOU IVK! I will make a note of this also so that hopefully I won't forget this time! So the Turubari is in the Arenal area also, I presume? And I think you are probably right about the Iguana Lodge not being as geared toward children as some others. It just seems that it's intended for romance and relaxation over adventure and fun. It should be fine for our older teenagers tho.

Check Turubari.com , about 90 min. from San Jose and maybe 4 hrs or so from Arenal. We are planning on spending the night in that area on our way from Arenal to Manuel Antonio, There is a beautiful hotel in that area La Finca que Ama costaricafinca.com, the couple that own it are great. Check it out!!

Oh, It's THAT far from Arenal??

Oh geez, don't mind me-I'm ALL screwed up! I just realized my description of the Lost Iguana and it's prices and room accomodations isn't accurate. It's actually a combination of PEACE LODGE and LOST IGUANA I described. OK, I'm going to bed now!!

My husband, daughter, 11 year old grandson, and I spent two nights recently at the Lost Iguana. We had the Owner's Villa and it was very nice. It did not have two bedrooms but there was a sofa bed in the living room and they brought up an extra mattress for us. They do have a pool and we thought the food was good! There is a path just across the road from the Owner's Villa that leads onto the Hanging Bridges trail. We had a wonderful view of the volcano from our balcony.
It was not too long of a drive over to the Arenal Observatory Lodge and then on to the Sky Tram-Sky Trek zip line. My husband and I just rode up and down the mountain on the tram but our daughter and grandson did the zip line. They really liked it even though it was very high and long! Hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did!

Thank you all for your sugggestions. I guess the pictures of the Lost Iguana is so attractive I find myslef drawn to it. Though a big part of me tells me the Paraiso is the most logical way to go. How bad is it dealing with the location? Do tour companies charge you extra to pick you up from there? Any advice from someone who did not rent a car?