Honeymoon Help in Manuel Antonio!
 

My fiancee are planning our honeymoon in January 2007. I have read of several recommended resorts on this site, such as the Tulemar Bungalows, Si Como No, Hotel Parador, Buena Vista Villas and Mango Moon. Any other recommendations?

Also, how much shoule we budget for food? For the resorts that include a kitchenette, is there a market or grocery store nearby? Are restaurants close by? We were not planning on renting a car... are taxis and shuttles readily available?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

We stayed at the Buena Vista Villas & Casas @ Tulemar in Manuel Antonio for 4 days 3 nights last month. We had a 3 bedroom house that was fantastic. You can check out their website at www.buenavistavillas.net I highly recommend it. Don't confuse the Bungalows from the Villas & Casas. They are vey different.

In addition we spent 2 nights each in Arenal @ Tabacon Resort and in Monterde @ El Sapo Dorado.

We did the Canopy Tour @ Selvatura in Arenal, horseback riding in Monteverde and ATV in Manuel Antonio.

Wonderful and exciting vacation.

I am going to Costa Rica as well for my honeymoon at the end of January/beginning of February. We are staying at the Gaia Hotel and Reserve in Manuel Antonio. They have a shuttle that goes back and forth to the Park, I think--we are assuming that we will always be able to call a taxi from the hotel if we need one. We are not renting a car.

Happy planning!

You really need to get moving on the reservations. I just booked a trip for a family in early January, and all three hotels they wanted to go to were booked. We found good alternatives, but that's a very busy time.

Sandy

Thank you so much for your help!

Do you have any comments for/against the bungalows? The villas look amazing, but are out of our budget. We felt the bungalows were a great alternative to just the deluxe bedrooms offered with the villas... What do you think?

Julie:

You'll have a great time at the bunagalow. The Villas & Casas and the Bungalow's share the same private beach. I came across the following comments in Tripadvisor.com about the Bungalow's.

I am writing with the idea of helping other people realize the
difference between the 2 companies that are running business inside
Tulemar's property; one is Tulemar Bungalows and Villas and another is
Buena Vista Villas, unfortunately we thought it was the same: big mistake!
Couple of friends made reservations with Tulemar Bungalows and we tried
to do so, but they were sold out (no wonder why), so after trying
several times, we finally could reserved with Buena Vista Villas (if it
wasn't because my friends already had reservations there, I would have
gone somewhere else)
When we arrived, my friends were driven to their bungalows after check
in, when the receptionist explained everything about the property we
were there too because Buena Vista's driver who was supposed to pick us
up didn't show up, the receptionist had to call several times to check what was going on; finally we got a ride down, where some keys were given but no further information from the beginning to the end...fortunately our friends were staying with Tulemar so we had all the information and assistance that we needed with their friendly and helpful staff.
My friends and I had a great time and we all are thinking of coming back
but only to TULEMAR BUNGALOWS!.

Good Luck.

Funny that that was the Trip Advisor review that you chose to copy. Since the general concensus is that the Villas are much nicer than the Bungalows, I assumed that the staff wrote that review.

Here is my reivew of the bungalows, posted on Trip Advisor (the construction should certainly be done by your visit):

Our family of five stayed at the Tulemar Bungalows March 15-18, 2006. I had heard that there was construction and had been assured that it would be completed before we arrived. The construction is no where near complete.

I asked for a bungalow away from the construction and was told that the only one available was the one NEAREST the construction...and oh, sorry, but the air conditioner is broken, too (Bungalow #110-avoid it). The construction workers were literally right outside our windows and yes, they do start work at 6 am. They offered to move us the next day, which they did (to #112, which was fine). I was very irritable that whole first day because I couldn't unpack and it was very unpleasant to have to root around in suitcases for everything we needed. (They did give us a discount for our trouble, which was fair.)

After our move, I started to really enjoy the place. The bungalows are dated, colorless, but roomy and cute. It would have been nice to have been able to have all the windows open, but it was too hot for that. The air conditioning units were VERY VERY noisy, and I really missed being able to hear the birds and other wildlife from our bungalow.

The private beach is much rockier than at the National Park, but it was still a nice feature of the place. We drove our own car down every time, so I have no idea how the shuttle service works.

Breakfast was adequate but not great. The one thing that really really bothered me was that they had the loud "pool/bar" music on all the time...even at breakfast. No listening to the birds in the morning...just loud music (often with lyrics inappropriate for the ears of children). There are a couple of very large lizards that hang out in the restaurant; it can be either alarming or fun (or both) when you find one under your table!

The pool was small (no hot tub) and it was very difficult to get towels. One afternoon at 3:30 pm, my husband got the "last towel." After an hour, they brought out two more towels...and there were 6 of us that needed them. Your reward for the less than ideal pool is that sometimes at sunset, dozens of monkeys travel overhead.

I could see the attraction of Tulemar, but the serenity of the place is currently marred by the sound of lots of heavy construction vehicles lumbering up and down the roads. I'd stay there again, as long as all the construction was done (probably about 4 months from now, from the looks of it).

Thank you all so much! Another question... has anyone stayed at Si Como No? That's the next best option so far... we'll look into Gaia too...

Thanks again!

julie

Hey guys. I have been to Manuel Antonio three or four times and lived in San Jose for almost four months. I actually had to book reservations for a group of students that traveled to Costa Rica for a summer study abroad program. The hotel that the group leader requested was Hotel Tres Banderas, which is located on the only road between Manuel Antonio National Park and the town of Quepos. I can't speak for the rest, but Tres Banderas looked excellent to me. It is situated, like everything in the area, in lush tropical forest, and seems very charming. There's an outdoor bar and hot tub, with a beautiful pool (possibly fed by a fountain, can't remember). I do believe the staff serves food, but can't quite remember that either. The rooms are simple but fairly elegant (Hilton level). The price was a remarkably low $55/night/person in the July 2005. I found this out only after I had reserved two nights in another, more expensive, much less elegant and scenic hotel in Quepos. The owner of Banderas is a Polish guy named Andy, who speaks English perfectly. He and I spoke quite a lot over the phone and once in person as we were working out the details of this group reservation. Anyway, I think there's a website.

Food in Manuel Antonio/Quepos is plentiful. Quepos has a small grocery and several restaurants, but you'll probably prefer something on the beach (Quepos isn't very scenic at all). Prices are considerably higher on the Manuel Antonio end of the road, which runs about 6km between the town and the park. On that end prices may be about the same as you would pay at Applebee's or Chile's or something like that. In town, prices are more standard ($4-6 a meal) and food is more traditional. Grocery items are pretty cheap by American standards. Oh yeah, and there's a little store with basic groceries between the two locations.

Taxis run all day between Quepos and MA until about midnight. Buses run daily every 45 minutes or so and cost just over 100 colones (about 20 cents).

Sorry for rambling on so much, but I have all of this stuff stored up and it might as well be used. One thing to remember: wherever you are in Manuel Antonio, you're in paradise. Ask if you need to know anything else.

Both People that posted here about Tulemar have merit about the Villas and Tulemar. When we were there, we absolutely loved staying there in #119. The air conditioning was not loud, the construction wasn't bad...hammering only but we were not close to it. We felt Tulemar/Villas was the best place for us...especially after morning runs to check out the other "best" hotels. We had lunch at Si Como No and it is very closed in, lots of kids ( including mine on one day) and not much room around the pool. I assume the adult pool would be better.

Back to Tulemar...we had drinks and dinner with the owner of the Villas from DC and breakfast one day as well. He was trying to structure separating Tulemar and the Villas...Like making the Villa pool only for Villa guests...that was lame and he thought so too. The Villas are nicer but sleep less people. They are wonderful for a honeymoon. The best in the area!

Tulemar Bungalows location is better and the bungalows are dated but make more sense in their layout. They do not have the decks that the Villas have and I was worried about that. However, the Bungalows are in the trees and when openning the windows you feel like you are in a treehouse, in fact, you are often eye to eye with monkeys in the morning and afternoon. Many Villa guests only saw the monkeys at breakfast when they came up to Tulemar. Tuelmar is very clean. I think the separation mainly hurts the Villas service because Tulemar is more established.

For a honeymoon, the Villas are more romantic, if these places are too expensive the Mariposa had breathtaking views and was very romantic. The Makanda by the Sea was very nice and no kids allowed but no windows and quite expensive. Cool pool area though!

The people at Tulemar are wonderful if you give them a chance. The front desk people are nice but guarded at first, after a day everyone is very friendly and thoughtful.

Good Luck!

It appeared that Si Como No was the most "happening" of the places we saw.

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has posted their thoughts! We have decided to go with Si Como No, Deluxe Suite. We are really excited and can't wait to try out all of the excursions!

julie

i stay at costa verde, plenty of restaurants nearby but everything is a short taxi ride away:

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

Well, here's what I found about Buena Vista Villas... http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...untarenas.html
http://www.govisitcostarica.com/list....asp?coid=1144
I specially like the Go Visit Costa Rica one, as the manager is doing a good job by answering and listing his phone number to clear up any doubts.

We enjoyed Si Como No a few years ago. Their restaurants are especially good, a nice bonus.

we like Costa Verde too..if you get one of the rooms over the pool the view is fantastic, tons of monkeys and decent sized kitchen and good restuarants walking distance...but for groceries you need to go into quepos...have fun pura vida!

We also enjoyed Costa Verde. We were in Costa Verde I and had friends staying in Costa Verde II (adutls only). Both rooms had fabulous views. No AC in Costa Verde II. It didn't seem to bother our friends much, but my husband and I prefer air if we can get it!

The room in CVII was quite a bit larger than ours, however. That said, we had 2 queens and an infant bed set up and it didn't seem too small. I didn't consider the front desk staff to be very helpful or friendly (unusual in CR), but we would stay there again because it was a very good value.

Be sure and let them know that you'd like a great view. Studio plus, I think they call it. We were about 3 levels up.

There is a new villa @ Tulemar ( NOT Buena
Vista) called Villa Mot Mot. It looks to be along the same lines as the the design of the Buena Vista villas but for less money.

We stayed at a BVV in 2004 before it was BVV and was managed by Tulemar. Very nice places...but a word of warning for those booking BVV...they do not have the brekfast buffet that Tulemar has, just fruit & coffee delivered to your room since the management switch.

I'd say give Mot Mot a try

www.tulemar.com