Hotel Costa Verde and tours
 

we are booked for a 6-day stay in bldg B at Hotel Costa Verde. if you've stayed there, please share details about what to expect from the rooms (studio and studio+), beach access, restaurants, helpful hints etc. Did you do any of the tour packages (canopy,rafting,sunset sail,etc) offered through CV or is there a better, more economical way to do the same things?

Same questions for us we will be there Sept.6-8. Booked a studio-which building and the advantage of studio+ Which rooms least climbing of steps or hills?

I just stayed at CV the first week of June & loved it. My view was incredible and worth every penny. I had a studio plus, bldg B room 7. I think the only real difference btwn studio & studio plus is the view. Best I can remember there are 16 rooms per bldg, 8 facing the water & MA park and the other 8 facing the road & trees. The room I had was huge, with a large balcony, sink, fridge, tv. Could've probably used a closet but what I had was sufficient as I was traveling alone. There isn't beach access at the hotel, you can either take the bus to MA park (the bus stop is right next to the La Cantina grill) or walk down to the Karahe hotel, about 10 minutes. I would say bldgs C & B have the least amount of walking/steps to & from the reception, restaurant, etc. I ate at the Anacondo several times & La Cantina twice, enjoyed them both & had very good service. I also used their laundry service which was very cheap & well worth it. I saw several troops of monkies over several days, and never saw anyone feeding them; their was also a sloth right by the Anaconda & an iguana who hangs out by the kitchen. I booked 3 tours thru CV: Canopy Safari (which I loved!!), the MA park (ditto) and the horseback riding tour (which was good, only downside was I was the only person on the tour). The day after I did the MA park tour I went back by myself; it helped from the day before a guide to know what to look for & where. If you'd like to see some pics of the CV, I took several of the property, you can see them here: http://www.pls.photosite.com/ Have a great time! :)

What a wonderful album!! Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us. I know I want a room like you were in. Is there a choice or should I email to get a particular room? I know I have a confirmation for a studio room. The studio+ room from your pictures looks like the ones with the beautiful view.
I am so excited about this trip after seeing your pictures.

One other question, Tully. Does this room Studio+ blg B room 7 have airconditioning?
Thanks for yor help.

maryanne - it wouldn't hurt to request a specific room. As I mentioned mine was B7, so the one beside & the 2 above would be good bet as far as the view. My AC worked a little too well actually, the first night I had to steal the sheets & spread off the other bed just to stop shivering. After that I'd only run it til I turned in for the night. Thanks for your comments on my pics! I have a tendancy to take the same pics over & over but with that view it was hard to resist!

tully, did you walk to the beach near the hotel and then taxi back or taxi both ways? what does the taxi cost to beach/quepos etc.? was the pool nice? anyone else stayed at this hotel?

Tully,
I have upgraded to Studio + room. I mentioned I had seen pictures of the view from the room and realized that is the kind of room I want. So thanks again for your help.

tully, i was not able to find your trip pictures. the www address you list just sends me to the main photosite.com address. do i have to join to view your pictures?

Tully, thanks so much for posting your pictures. They were so beautiful, made me "other home sick"! You really captured the beauty, and I loved the one of you (?)on horseback! More of us should post our photos. I don't have a clue how! :)

maryanne - that's great, I know you'll enjoy the view, it's definitely worth it. Hope you enjoy the place as I did. Sitting in a rocker, sipping an Imperial, keeping an eye out for wildlife.

sactomama - I didn't walk all the way to the beach at MA park but did walk to the the beach behind Karahe Hotel - easy on the way there (down), much harder on the way back (up). The pool is very nice, twice I was only the only one out there, save for an iguana who inspected me & found me of little value. I caught the bus to & from MA park, it costs next to nothing, about a quarter. Very easy to use, they run constantly. I took a taxi to run me around a little...to the atm, the Super Josette for soda & beer, it was a little less than $10. But I would use the bus to get around in hindsight. I'm not sure why you can't get to my photos, here it is again: www.pls.photosite.com You don't need to join anything to see the pics.

shillmac - thank you and yes that's me and my stubborn little horse! We did his tour, I had no say it in at all!

tully, thank you SO much for sharing your experiences and pictures. it helps so much in planning a trip! i was finally able to find the pictures (i had been putting the address in search instead of url spot.) Thought of another question: how far in advance do you need to book the CV tours? anything you wish you would have brought with you on the trip?

sactomama - I booked all my tours the night before. It was in June, so if you're going at a busier time, you might want to book them 2 or more days before. All tours required a $20-$25 cash deposit when booked, then you paid the balance to the tour company. I had pretty much had everything I needed (at a Sansa approved 22 lbs:)!) I used a lot of tips from this board & luckily had everything I needed. A couple things I brought that (personally) never used: sunscreen, benedryl, pepto-bismal tablets & 2 prs. of flip-flops. Wait! I just thought of something...my trip to Poas I had to borrow a jacket as it was cool, but if you're staying in MA only you should be fine.

Tully, I enjoyed your pictures! It brought me back to my trip a few years ago... plus I'm almost certain I stayed in the same room as you at Costa Verde! :-)

Carol

tully, some posts mention that there are ants/insects at all costa rican hotels (in the rooms). you mentioned ants on your feet while walking on CV grounds. did you find any in the rooms? (yikes!) is that why you didn't use the 2pr. flip-flops? =)

Though your question is directed at Tully, Ill answer too.
Just got back from Coste Verde. We stayed in a bungalow in area A. We DID have ants inside the room. We couldn't get rid of them for the life of us. Our bungalow was up by itself and nothing like Building B that you are talking about staying in. We also had a frog in our room one night and a gecko another.

We really liked our time at Costa Verde. La Cantina has Chicken Kabobs that are amazing and great drinks too!


Enjoy your time there!
Its a neat place!! And there really are "Still more monkeys then people"

sactomama - I think I had, like, 3 little critters in my room but no ants (one looked like a mini-grasshopper that I spared the life of, the other 2....:( ). Since the AC was too cool for me I mostly kept the glass door wide open with just the screen door closed, which is where they came from. Trust me, I'm very skittish about bugs and I didn't have any problems; nothing more than I face here daily in FL. :) The flip-flops just weren't very useful, I wore my teva-like sandals just about everywhere.

tully: are there hair dryers in the rooms? did you pay tour deposit (hotel) and balance (tour company) in dollars? is there a place nearby (or at the hotel) to buy/borrow boogie boards or beach gear? thanks again for all your help!

sactomama - no hair dryers at CV. I bought an $8 mini one at Target & it worked fine, as did a curling iron. I usually paid the tour deposit to the hotel in USD, paid the balance to the tour co. twice on a credit card & once with colones. I'm sure they'll take USD, but you can ask when the CV reception takes your balance, they call & book it right then. They're very helpful at the reception desk, even the one called Frasier (he seemed at odds with the computer system the whole time I was there, lol). Sorry but I don't know about the beach stuff, maybe someone else here has some experience with that.

For the MA park tour, we took the bus and got the guide at the entrance. I think it was probably cheaper. We had planned to book Damas Mangrove tour through the hotel, but while at MA the guide mentioned that these same guides also offer the Damas tour. We took our chances, left a $20 deposit when we finished the MA tour. The next am 5min early we were picked up to go.I forget now exactly how much, but again it was considerably cheaper. These guides are all well-trained and have some sort of certification. Living up north, we really enjoyed the Damas tour and that's where you definitly see the monkeys!Joyce