nyctravel

We are planning to spend our October honeymoon in Costa Rica. We are drawn to CR for the ocean, the rainforest, the adventure, but also a little bit of pampering (hence, the hotels we have chosen). We are planning to rent a small SUV to get us around the country. We plan to figure out our activities when we arrive in each place, but will likely do a lot of hiking, a canopy tour, maybe some kayaking, a coffee tour, spend time at the beach/pool, and FI may want to golf once or twice. I would love your feedback on our itinerary.

Day 1: Arrive in San Jose late morning
Nights 1 & 2: Xandari in Alajuela
Day 3: Drive to La Fortuna/Arenal
Nights 3 & 4: Tabacon Resort
Day 5: Drive to Tarcoles/Jaco
Nights 5 & 6: Villa Caletas
Day 7: Drive to Manuel Antonio
Nights 7-10: Makanda or Si Como No
Day 11: Drive to San Jose to fly home (5:45 pm flight)

ebrener

Hi:

I would make a couple of changes. First of all, I wouldn't stay 2 nights in San Jose, there's really not much to do, unless you take a tour to the country (such as the La Paz waterfalls and butterfly habitat). Also, I don't know the hotel, but I can recommend the Grano de Oro as an alternative.

Also, 2 nights at Tabacon is fine, and the other hotels are great too. I would probably go with Si Como No in Manuel Antonio.

I can recommend a couple of operators to arrange the packages. Send me an e-mail if you're interested.

Regards,

Enrique
[email protected]

oonarose

Your itinerary sounds wonderful. It looks like you'll have a lot of driving, but if you can be relaxed about inevitable potholes and delays, you'll enjoy it.
I've heard good things about the Xandari. But there's one place we stayed a few years ago that I thought had the perfect master suite for a honeymoon. The hotel is the Finca Rosa y Blanca, not too far from San Jose. The owners are wonderful, and the place is an architectural marvel. Here's the website: http://www.finca-rblanca.co.cr/rooms/suite.shtml

Happy honeymoon!

Iza

Good choices of hotels and good itinerary! We loved Xandari, it will be a great place to start your honeymoon. In Manuel Antonio, Makanda does not allow kids so the atmosphere will be probably more romantic than Si Como No. Si Como No is also a great place and the location is probably better (it's easier to walk to various places or catch a bus from Si Como No)but I think it will feel busier than Makanda.

nyctravel

Thank you for the feedback so far. If others have comments, they are definitely welcomed!

carolc

I agree with the person who recommended Grano de Oro in San Jose. I was there in March and loved that hotel. Terrific food and nice people.
I also stayed at Villa Caletas; had a wonderful junior suite with an awesome view. Frankly the food was not great.
Suggest you try dinner at Rancho Monteray about 35 minutes south. Ask the concierge about it (Carolina). It is great Italien and resonably priced. (It's good you will have a vehicle there.)

JeanH

We stayed at both Grano de Oro and Xandari on our trip to CR this past February. Two completely different types of hotels. We enjoyed both, but on a honeymoon, I would opt for Xandari. We were there for two nights and had to move from one of the 'cheap' rooms to the more expensive ones because of availability. Both were stunning. Our 'cheap' room appeared to be a 'one of a king', it was the only one that I noticed with a thatched roof. Very tall thatched roof, I might add. Very interesting room. The bed was pretty much right in the middle, with glass most of the way around. No city view from there, but pleasant, none the less. I'm not sure I'd want to stay for long though, it sure didn't seem very private. The upgraded room was awesome. Huge. Great views of San Jose, especially so at night. We did enjoy the on-site hikes to some very lovely waterfalls. We, unfortunately, didn't enjoy the restaurant.

I've stayed at both Si Como No and Makanda, and would probably recommend Makanda for a honeymoon. The rooms are somewhat similar (once again we were in the cheaper studio type). Villa number One was in the same building, and it's open air. I couldn't help but overhear a distraught woman complaining bitterly about the bugs. There had been an out of season rain storm the night before which had hatched thousands of little white flying insects, which had apparently invaded their room. Although I couldn't see their room very well, (things are really private), it does appear that there would be no way to close the villa off completely from the out of doors. Just something to keep in mind. Some of the villas are airconditioned, so in those it wouldn't be a problem. Our studio was air conditioned as well.

This is too long. Feel free to e-mail with questions: [email protected]

nyctravel

Thanks, Carol & Jean. I have also heard that the food at both Xandari and Villa Caletas is not great. We try to stay away from hotel restaurants anyway in order to get into town & mix with the locals.

nyctravel

topping-- in hopes of getting even more helpful feedback!

Ally

I agree with others on Xandari and Makanda By The Sea. Both excellent for a honeymoon, as is Villa Caletas. I had a friend honeymoon at Caletas and they LOVED it. If not happy with the hotel food, just go into Jaco! I stayed at Grand De Oro once and while it was nice and had good food, our room was very small and it's in a pretty busy part of San Jose. I think Xandari is MUCH more romantic.
While in Manuel Antonio, eat at Karolas. Great food and can be romantic in the early evening, then the bar can get busy and fun!
Karolas is at the end of the road from Makanda, next to the main road. Just across the street from there is Mariposa. A GREAT place for sunset happy hour!