flycatcher06

It looks like from the website that for a family of 3 it would be $450. per day - not sure i am reading correctly - it seems expensive what would be your second choice in the area? thanks!

petite43

I have the same question. We're a family of 6 & this hotel looks great but it's definitely out of my price range. The houses they have available look perfect but I wouldn't want to cook because I enjoy the local food so much and it doesn't sound like there are any restaurants nearby. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Brian

I believe you can eat in their restaurant if you stay in one of the houses. I'm not sure of the extra cost however.

tully

flycatcher - yes, $450 would be for 3 people (adults or kids over 12) in the high season. Yellow Coco may be a bit less, but you'd still have the cooking/food issue. I think Iguana Lodge runs about the same amount of money as BdC. There are some houses down in the Matapalo area you can rent, but the food issue comes up again.

I will say this - Bosque definitely gives the most/best bang for your buck imho.

costaricalover

Have you looked at El Remanso? It is right next door to Bosque, and we had a fabulous time there this past February. It is less $ than Bosque,but it is still a lovely spot and the hosts, Adriana and Daniel are amazing! The food was excellent and is included in the price. We stayed in the 2 storey open air "la vainilla" cabin, which has a view over the Pacific and rainforest. The grounds are not quite as lush as at Bosque, but it is still a very beautiful spot. You should check it out for sure.

glover

I know you said you don't want to cook, but you should at least check out the 3 or 4 houses mentioned at www.casabambu.com (among the houses mentioned above that are located in Matapalo- about half way between Puerto Jimenez and Bosque del Cabo (off the the same road).

We stayed 5 nights at Casa Linda last April and just loved it. You're probably about 30 yards from the beach there. Nice and helpful on site caretaker (lives across a large lot from the house). We didn't have a car. We bought some simple groceries in PJ and brought them with us. We ate lots of great fruit for breakfast and sometimes cooked some eggs. Something simple like tuna salad or pbj for lunch and, often, chicken on the grill with some grilledo r steamed veggies for dinner. Sat on the porch which is so fabulous you might not want to leave anyway. There are a couple restaurants in the "neighborhood" and its somewhat of an adventure to visit them. You can venture up to the very fancy Lapa Rios for lunch for example. (a 15 or 20 minute uphill walk). I believe you can arrange to eat at BDC too. Or you can walk down the road the opposite direction and have dinner at the very fun Buena Esperanza - funky open air restaurant with very good cheap food. And then you can walk back on the road in the dark. . . There's another low key resort nearby too - I'm blanking on the name at the moment - where you might eat. All these places are mentioned on the Casa Bambu site I think. Scarlet macaws were in the trees next to our house everyday. Several kinds of monkeys came through daily. Lots of other birds.
Lots of wildlife to see just walking on the road to Matapalo and/or in direction of Bosque or PJ.

volcanogirl

petite, you can add the meal plan at Bosque del Cabo even if you stay in one of the cabins.

sumi

I remember looking at so many places and don't remember them all but I did seriously consider Iguana Lodge (about $350 vs. $500 for 2 adults/1 child but no lunch) and Lookout Inn.

bellaboo

This thread interests us as well because we really want to see The Osa & Bosque seems to be "the" place to stay.....BUT, it's really, really out of our price range no matter how you break it down. Food, house, own cooking, whatever....

We were leaning towards Lookout Inn as well.

aqualime

How about a combination of Black Turtle Lodge and El Remanso. Black Turtle lodge is right by Iguana Lodge but is less expensive and includes meals (simple, but good).
I haven't been to El Remanso, but it is close to BDC so should enjoy the same wildlife and access to the Pacific Beach that you see in pictures from BDC. It would be much less expensive but still a very memorable vacation.

flycatcher06

El Remanso looks just as expensive as BDC. Maybe I should write exactly what we are looking for. This is going to be our 7th trip to Costa Rica - now do not laugh but I want to wake up to monkeys on my roof. My husband would like a TV. We like to have wine with dinner and we do not want to cook. We want to be on the beach. Can anyone think of anything in the OSA that would be appropriate. Just as reference to what we like we love the Diria in Tamarindo and we adored Si Como No even tough there was no TV but there was a casino in town to keep him busy - anyone? Thank you!

volcanogirl

flycatcher, you might have a hard time finding t.v. on the Osa; we couldn't even use blow dryers there because of the power situation. The funny thing is when I was reading your last post, I was going to suggest Manuel Antonio for you, but I see you've already been there. I hope you find what you're looking for.

tully

Can't think of a place that would have a tv, being off the grid would make powering it hard by solar. You can look into Playa Nicuesa (near Golfito) or Lookout Inn as well, have stayed at both, both were nice yet places I probably would not return to like I do to BdC. Both are on the beach pretty much, good food, though a lack of monkeys at Nicuesa (at least when I was there). Compared to places like Diri & Si Como No, most places on the Osa are going to seem very rustic (but that's a great thing).

petite43

Thanks everyone for all of the suggestions! I've started checking into some of them & so far Yellow Coco looks like it might work for us. An option they offer is hiring someone to cook for us if we rent the house and I'd consider that for a few meals. The trip I'm planning isn't until May 09 so I have plenty of time to figure things out. It's hard trying to please everyone. My oldest will be graduating
from an environmental college & is not one for hanging out on the beach, he'd rather be camping & hiking through the forest somewhere enjoying the wildlife, my husband NEEDS to surf, my 19 yr old requires only a hammock, my 15 yr old would love a TV, Xbox, fast food but...NOT going to happen. He's actually pretty good..goes with the flow but antibiotics & bug spray are requirements for him...the bugs think he's a gourmet meal and he always comes down with a fever on our vacations. My 11 yr old daughter and I are pretty easy to please...great beach & some horses make us happy. Now if the 2 girlfriends come that only adds to the challenge! But planning the trip is half the fun for me.

tully

petite - yeah Yellow Coco may work for you with all those different requirements, wow! You'll have the beach but the Matapalo/Corcovado area is close enough where you will have hiking available as well.

flycatcher06

OK - if we give up on the TV idea - what else is there? Also does anyone know if you can fly from Liberia? Thanks for all our help.
We realize it is going to be rustic
that is what we want and we really want to see as many animals as possible. I am always a little disappointed at Manual Antonio because for the most part now all the animals are in the park. That is why I want to go somewhere that has not been developed yet.

volcanogirl

flycatcher, I agree with you. The animals in the park were so tame that it seemed a little unnatural to us. On the Osa, I sat on our front porch and watched troops of monkeys swinging by, scarlet macaws, toucans - all very natural and in their element; it really was amazing. It's a shame that the remoteness makes everything expensive.

shillmac

faithie, I know it's expensive as heck. It is way out of our price range as well and we sacrifice in some way or another to go there. We are NOT people of money!

That said, it is worth whatever kind of deal you can work out. Your family would be perfect candidates for Casa Blanca on the BdC property. You remind me of another poster, Golondrina, whom we met at BdC on our first visit there. She was the life of the party among the guests at dinnertime. Their family only had dinner at the hotel each day and fended for themselves for the other two meals. I'd hate to miss out on those Banana Pancakes, though!

All I can say, (and you know you can trust Tully and I--she will tell you then same, and Vgirl), FIND A WAY!

bellaboo

Indeed....I guess we'll have to. We'll figure a way!!!!

Thanx for the advice.

Faith

tully

I do agree with shillmac, I do! On the rest of my trip I'm staying at Bosque de Paz ($125 a nite including food), Horizon in Santa Teresa ($80 a nite) and got awesome 'loco' rates on Nature Air (SJO-Puerto Jimenez $72 round trip! I usually pay $180!). I just follow Tim Gunn's advice - make it work!

flycatcher - not sure if you'd be able to go LIR-PJ without hitting SJO first. Have you looked into Black Turtle Lodge, Lookout Inn, Playa Nicuesa, El Remanso, Luna Lodge?