Melissa5

Wow, have you seen the new prices for 2005? Green season prices for Hotel Si Como No 2005 are $170 for a superior room and $190 for a deluxe room (and that's for only 2 people). Makanda is even higher!

I do want to book one splurge hotel for my family on this vacation. I think my family, including teens, would enjoy Hotel Si Como No, but can anyone who has stayed there tell me whether they think it is worth the increased prices?

Prices are relative...rooms in Maui are even more expensive for example! But there are less expensive places available in Manuel Antonio. I don't mind splurging if we end up feeling it was worthwhile.

Thanks for your thought and opinions on this, especially interested in hearing from anyone who has stayed there in the past at lower prices.

faithie

Melissa , I am curious , how much did they increase ? Costa Verde increased by 5.00 per room , not tooo bad .... ??? Faith

Melissa5

Faithie, I am just comparing si como no's current prices to what Shillmac mentioned paying...she paid $140 but I'm not sure how long ago. Also the prices I mention are low season prices...high season prices are even higher. (Faithie, I have also noticed that many of the hotel web-sites show their prices for 2004 and 2005, so you can see the increase...some of them have increased by $20 or $30 per room. For the high-end ones this keeps adding up.)

As I mentioned sometimes it's fun to splurge if it's worth it, and other times you feel good when you find a great place for a good deal.

shillmac

Melissa, it was a 2003 green season rate. Wow--that's quite an increase. If I wanted to splurge again at Manuel Antonio, I think I might do it at Tulemar.

faithie

Tulemar gets super reviews . Cute little beach down its hill as well !

poss

This feels so weird-- and fun!-- to actually be responding to a post rather than looking for info. The board was very helpful to me, so I'm determined to stick around for a while and try to be helpful to others now. We're just back from our 10 day trip, and I plan to post a report.

Meanwhile, I wanted to respond to your inquiry about Makanda. (We had wanted to stay at Si Como No, but then I was told that they had no non-smoking rooms, so adios Si Como No.) Makanda was our LEAST favorite of all the places we stayed (Peace Lodge, Arenal Observatory Ldoge, Villa Caletas and Xandari being the others-- all GREAT) The views from our Makanda villa (#5) were very fine, and the villa itself was great-- huge and comfortable and handsome. The thing we disliked was that it was noisy (quiet is really important to us). From our villa (which is supposedly one of the best -- free-standing, no one above or below, very private, etc), you could hear lots and lots of road traffic; and because the road was a steep hill, one heard the gear shifting,grinding, etc. In addition, the employees at Makanda were excessively loud-- the guys at the security gate, the grounds people, housekeeping staff, etc etc. There was no genuine courtesy or helpfulness towards guests as there absolutely was at all the other places. Plus there was construction going on (on the hill to the beach)-- noisy all day long. Another drawback of Makanda is that there's no real beach-- or rather, there is a small one, but the climb down to it isn't worth it. At Caletas there was a shuttle, plus chairs, shade, refreshments-- a much much better beach situation (tho that's not what what we went to CR for) We thought the food at Makanda was pretty good, not great (found the food in CR fairly mediocre for the most part). And Makanda (unlike Si Como e.g.) is down a long hill, narrow road, dark, mucho cars-- so that one couldn't go easily into town to other restaurants. In short, it's the one place we stayed that I absolutely would not recommend.

poss

After posting, I realized I forgot to mention one of the other major drawbacks for us at Makanda. We enjoy staying places where there's lots of walking/hiking right at the property. All the other places (not so much Caletas, but those grounds were so gorgeous) had spectacular trails where one could wander happily for hours. At Makanda, there was nowhere to go on the property other than the pool (which was pleasant).

greenfieldhunter

I would say yes to Si Como No- we paid $140 during the green season in 2003. We thought the hotel was very well done and like no other place you will ever stay. Saw tons of wildlife on the grounds and thought their envioronmental policies deserved support.
I do not think the prices have been raised too much and if I find myself in MA will stay at SCN again. Makanda is a nice place to have a drink at sunset but seemed overpriced.

storm

My family, including two teenagers, will be staying at Si Como No for spring break. We stayed there several years ago and had a wonderful time. We are paying a premium since they charge for children over a certain age, although they didn't charge us the last time.

I wouldn't stay anywhere else. Their breakfasts are amazing and included in the price of the room. The kids love the pool and the swim up bar. The people are great and there is a shuttle to the park all day long.

I was a little shell shocked by the price but since we are using frequent flyer miles to get to Costa Rica I am not as reluctant to spend the money as I might.

The included breakfast makes up for alot since 2 teenage boys can eat $$$$$$.