Just back....Trip Report
 

First and foremost, my thanks to many on these forums for all their advice which helped immensely in planning our trip on a lifetime.

Itinerary May 20-27th Travelling with husband and two kids ages 9 &11

2 nights Peace Lodge
Poas Volcano/Coffee Tour
La Paz Waterfall Gardens
2 nights Tabacon
SkyTram/SkyTrek ziplining
PureTrek Canyoning
Hanging Bridges
Hot Springs
3 nights Paradisius Playa Conchal (fly out of Liberia)

Arrive from East Coast in San Jose. Arranged all trip transportation through vacationcity.com (by the way, all drivers were great and always on time!)

Arrive Peace Lodge late afternoon for two nights. Can't say enough about our Peace Lodge experience! Though a bit Disneyish as many people have said, it is just a piece of paradise. The kids loved fishing in Trout Lake and even though they offerred to cook our catch we stuck with a few cocktails and resonably priced sandwiches from the Trout Bar. Then it was straight to the balcony jacuzzi (my kids were so excited we all managed to squeeze in together and my husband is 6'3")! The rooms are amazing, the property is amazing and every detail is attended to!

Day 2: Early walk through butterfly observatory. Wow the smell! The butterflies! We felt like we were standing in a flower bouquet. The foilage and beautiful butterflies were a sight to behold! Next onto the Poas Volcano/Doka Coffee Tour. We were the only ones on the tour so we got extra special personal attention and loved our driver Michael. As cool as the Volcano was, my kids enjoyed stopping on the roadside for the sweetest strawberries and stopping for an authentic Costa Rican lunch with our guide at a spot he recommended. The coffee tour was really interesting to all and although it wasn't picking season, the smell of the coffee "trees" was intoxicatingly wonderful! Upon our return we headed over to the waterfall gardens and hiked along the wonderous waterfalls. We joked how we were waiting for Tarzan to swing in on a vine at any minute! Dinner at Peace Lodge (just ok and pricey)

Day 3: Room service for breakfast on our balcony (highly recommend this! What a treat! They were timely (infact early) and set up the balcony table with linens and all)
9am Pick-up for our transfer to Arenal.
Did the drive in 1hr 45min with lead foot driver at the wheel. Drive was neat with all the twists and turns, hairpin turns coming down and around the mountains. Arrive Tabacon and first dissappointment was that our Junior Suite had no Volcano view. Make note of this people! None of the Junior suite rooms have a view! Your are better with a standard room. After a call to vacationcity, Tabacon offerred to change our room on the second night to a superior suite for the second night that offerred a volcano view (it was building 5 and had a great view). My daughter's 1st impression was that Tabacon looked like the Polynesian in Walt Disney World. I got what she was saying. We had lunch down by the HotSprings and I'd recommend the guacamole. The chef comes and prepares it at your table. It was really neat! Next onto Skytram/Skytrek.

We boarded our tram with a guide who was really informative about the rainforest, trees and animals. He did spot a howler monkey and stopped the tram for our viewing. At the top, we got our safety talk and instructions and were on our way. Both my kids weigh less than 100lbs. Because of this, they were unable to zip by themselves (they would get stuck). So they went tandem with the guides on all but 3 of the lines. For those fearful of zipping, I thought it was great that the 1st two lines are super short and low to the ground so that you can practice and gain a comfort level. My kids did these two lines themselves and then were ready to go! How exhilerating! Don't miss this for anything!

For dinner we ventured down the road a short distance to El Novillo. We had a good cheap dinner with the volcano as our entertainment. The lava flow is fully visible from hear and was amazing!

Day 4: Buffet breakfast (quite yummy I might add). Note: I saw something that sometime soon, breakfast will no longer be included. Such a shame.

7am pick-up for PureTrek Canyoning. It was a glorious day with bright blue skies and the most amazing view of the volcano. On our way up the mountain to the canyon, we say the volcano erupt with a plume of smoke! Awesome. I can't say enough about the guides at puretrek. The tour sounds like it is an "extreme" tour but it's really not. Yes, a bit scary but such a thrill. Both my kids rappelled by themselves! Nothing like dropping down a 165ft canyon next to a waterfall with the water spraying you (and that was one of the drier rappels!). It was definitely a lifetime memory.

For dinner, we chose to do room service and hang in so we could pack-up again for our 6am pick-up to Playa Conchal.

Day5: The hostess at the buffet was nice enough to get us some take out cartons so we hit the buffet and hopped in our tour van for the drive to Playa Conchal.

We had heard that the road around the Arenal Lake had recently been paved so we suggested to the driver to take that route. It is supposed to make the drive 25min or so shorter but moreso it is a really nice view. We made a couple stops along the way to view a monkey, check out some toucans and hit the restroom. 5hours later we arrived at the Paradisius.

We chose the Royal Service which was unbelievable! Once at the check-in desk, we were informed that Royal Service has the Royal check-in. Within moments were we greated by our royal service person who whisked us away to the royal service area in our own royal golf cart. Over cocktails and in airconditioning we were told the many benefits of our royal service. We were upgraded to a Bali Suite from a Royal Suite. I believe the Bali Suite rooms have a better location. We had a great room, beachfront and close to the pool and restaurants and theater.

As a whole, my review of the Paradisius is that it is a 3star. The strangest thing for me was that the beach was virtually invisible. Meaning it could barely be seen from wherever you were in the resort and I had an oceanfront room! I am just used to lounge chairs with shaded huts on the beach, staring out at the ocean, etc. I guess since CR beaches are public they grow hedges and have walls around the property for security. Basically the resort's focus is the pool. The sad thing is the beach is quite beautiful. The food was hit or miss. I should say that being from the northeast, I am hard to please when it comes to food and I never go away thinking I am going to get gourmet fare. That said, I hated the lunch buffet and we preferred being served from our pool guy from the snack menu (quesadillas, burgers, ceasar salad, chicken fingers, etc.) Breakfasts were ok as well but seemed a little short on variety compared to other all-inclusives we have been to. We ate at the ala carte restaurants for dinner. Some things were quite good and others terrible. Don't go here if food is your thing. Next, the entertainment. It was terrible! I was recently in Jamaica at the Riu Ocho Rios and the entertainment there was unbelievable! Even our kids thought the show and kids show were both bad. We were content to turn in eary so we could be up early and take advantage of the day's activities. The resort was filled with honeymooners and our kids were probably two of the six that were there so there were no organized kid activities during the day (bummer). Our kids did enjoy the horseback riding (the horses trot the whole time! Bring jeans, ouch!), ziplining over the pool, swimming in the huge pool, snorkeling and one day my son and hubby rented atv's. Overall, it was the Royal Service that made our stay here great otherwise I would have been really disappointed.

My biggest recommendation is.....take your kids to Costa Rica. We so thoroughly enjoyed the Costa Rican people, speaking spanish (even though we were terrible at it), seeing the beautiful and changings landscape as we drove through the country, experiencing the power of the Arenal Volcano, pushing our limits ziplining and canyoning, and best of all experiencing all of these firsts together as a family!

Enjoy to all!

What a great report--very informative in lots of areas. So glad your children had a wonderful time. CR truly is a paradise for children. All of the adventure activities coupled with the wildlife--what a thrill!

I was so disappointed to hear your remarks about Paradisus Playa Conchal--particularly the entertainment. I've spent a couple of weekends per year there for the past 3 years, and it has always been excellent. I know that the lead dancer left at the first of the year. He had been with them for 3 years. Several others had left in the few months before that. They really had it going on for awhile. It probably peaked in 2004 when there were a group of dancers from Venezuela there. They returned home after a year or so. At that time, I thought it was about as close to Broadway quality as one could probably find in Central America! :)

And it IS a shame that that gorgeous beach isn't part of the scenery. It truly is one of the prettiest beaches in Costa Rica.

Do you think you'll return?

It sounds wonderful :)

Thanks for telling us about your trip!

Can I ask you what kind of transportation you received? Was it by driver or by some sort of bus?

Did they charge you per person or per trip? And were you allowed to make any stops you wanted along the way to your destination?

My husband and I can't decide whether to rent a 4x4 or to hire a driver to transfer us from place to place

(Poas/La Paz, Arenal, Monteverde, Manual Antonio (stop at Tarcoles along the way), Day trips around San Jose - Sarchi/Grechi and then Orosi Valley area and butterfly garden)

Gailching- To answer your transportation questions, we booked our trip and transportation through vacationcity. The prices were based on a per trip fee. In total I think we spent less than $500 for trip from San Jose to Peace Lodge (about 1 hr), Peace Lodge to Arenal (about 2hrs), Arenal to Playa Conchal (5hrs) and Playa Conchal to Liberia airport (little over an hour). For the short drives we had no desire to stop along the way. For the long drive around Arenal lake, our driver was great and made sure to find us Toucan's (he stopped and let us use his binoculars!), he stopped for us to view a monkey on the electrical lines and he stopped about half way at a restaurant/souvenier shop for a pit stop in a clean bathroom. As for additional stops, I think if you pay them a little they would be very accomodating.

I know that alot of people go for renting a car which we didn't consider at all since we were travelling with our kids. Having experienced the roads and conditions (rain, dense clouds and fog, unmarked roads, and especially outside of SanJose the mountain roads are crazy) I was thrilled we went with a driver. We actually met a couple in Arenal who had a terrible time driving. They got lost (the rental company didn't provide the promised map) and were driving bleery eyed at 4 am! Scary. Consider your options carefully. We had private transportation in excellent vehicles with air conditioning and very informative english speaking drivers! Good Luck!

shillmac- It is a shame about the entertainment at Paradisius. Hopefully they will get things together.

As for returning to CR, I truly loved it there for soooo many reasons and from all my reading, I realize that this trip merely scratched the surface. At the same time, there are so many places I'd love my family to see and experience that I don't think CR is in our future. You seem well travelled....suggestions for alternative destinations? P.S. have always enjoyed reading your posts. Thank you, you have helped us with this trip probably more than you know!

kcshoe

Nice report ,too bad about the experience at Paradisus... I have been there but not stayed there.

I went to size up the golf course.

I know what you mean about the swinging vines at the La Paz Waterfall..... I grab one and was almost going to swing on it... I said almost !!

I can also understand your comment about returning to Costa Rica....

I love Costa Rica, but I just have to see other parts of the world... yet I try to sneak away for a short trip to Costa Rica ( just to get the fix!!)

I wanted to go to Costa Rica for a quick trip in July....... but the Minister of Tourism in Costa Rica told me that shillmac is coming and that Costa Rica could not handle both of us at the same time!!

Go figure. I was a bit ticked off but oh well.. let shillmac go ,I hope it rains (LOL) !!

Thanks for a great report.

Percy

Percy, shame on you! I hope it rains, too! Last year, you put in an order for "no rain" and it was too darned hot with no relief! So, this year, you just keep on hoping for rain! We'll take those nice afternoon showers! :)

Ah, kcshoe, we're not so well traveled at all. Our experiences are fairly limited--several trips to the Bahamas over the years and Hawaii and Alaska. And we've picked up Puerto Rico lately with a child (and soon to be 2 children--our son is moving there) to visit.

I've told myself more times than you can imagine that we should be branching out a bit more (we could've been SO many places with the time and $$ we've spent in Costa Rica), but we get tremendous enjoyment out of our time there (we have quite a comfort zone now--feels like home--and lots of friends) that I guess we can't be too far off base--at least for us. And there are places there we've yet to see!

We'll be spending a week in the BVI's (Tortola) in June. Our daughter is getting married there, and we are excited about that--the travel AND the wedding!

In fact, I'll be leaving next Monday, the 5th, for Puerto Rico to spend a few days with her before we sail over to Tortola for the wedding. She lives on a sailboat with her fiance, so I'm excited about doing that long sail with them. This is an amazing thing for a gal (me) who has NEVER been comfortable with water! The kids will be working all week, so I plan to lay around on the boat, read novels, and watch movies. Be a vegetable, more or less.. . .lay like broccoli, as Julia Roberts would put it! :)

I'm pretty sure I won't have much time for Fodor's this summer--we're getting back from the BVI on the 20th, and leaving for CR on the 22nd! I'll miss all you guys this summer!

Percy, behave yourself.

Okay shillmac if you want good weather again...let me know.

I just do not know why I spoil you like I do.!!!

Good Night all

Percy

Kcshoe
Sorry to hear you didn't like the Paradisus. We really enjoyed it. We didn't really stay and watch much of the entertainment at night but watched one of the bands playing one night and they were okay. We went outside the resort almost everyday for tours so I found that I was up early (as I stayed on our time-zone) and to bed early. I didn't find the food bad but again when we were there we ate lunch at the snack bar almost all the time and if not were gone and ate outside the resort. I guess it is what you go in expecting. I was happy for edible food. How did your birthday dinner go by the way?

Welcome back Kcshoe...

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I am getting ready to head out in July and I am getting quite excited. We are doing:
1 Night at Peace Lodge
2 Nights at the Tabacon
4 Nights at Paradisius w/ royal service
It was a chore to get bf to agree to the 1 night at peace and 2 at tabacon.

I do have a couple questions for you.

1. At the Peace Lodge, was room service for breakfast extra? I know we get a breakfast with our room, but was not sure how that worked.
2. When you were at the Tabacon, did you book your tours through them? And did you do the hanging bridges on your own or with a guide?
3. Was the El Noville restaurant close enough to walk, or did you get a cab?
4. Did you ever leave the Paradisius and see sights around there? If so, anything you would recommend?

Any information offered would be greatly appreciated.
I wish I could do the ziplining and Canyoning your family did but, with having neck surgery I can't even enjoy a horseback ride anymore. I don't dare take any chances.
I am looking forward to the skytram, I won't trek down though. The hanging bridges, and thinking of doing a volcano hike. Haven't really decided on that yet. There are a few more I have been looking at, so will see.
Thanks again for your report, and glad you made it home safe and had a great time.
MsWenchie