Lost Iguana
 

We just returned from the Lost Iguana last week. Many people were concerned about conflicting reviews on this forum and Trip Advisor. I thought I'd give some quick impressions. First off, the service was great and cheerful. The people at the front desk were concerned and told us to ask for "anything at all." There were golf carts to take us around and they came right away. We needed an extra reading lamp by the bed and they brought a new halogen floor lamp immediately.

The food was average but the atmosphere was terrific in the open air restaurant. The service was slow even for Costa Rica but we always enjoyed ourselves. We also ate appetizers including delicious "Super Nachos" at the pool bar a few times and enjoyed the atmosphere there too.

The swimming pools were lovely. One cool and one really hot with a swim up bar. They played soft, instrumental music. There were quite a few children.

The grounds are wonderful and the views of the Volcano magnificent. However, as Missiepie noted in one of her posts, the steep walk to the room gets old really fast. Think of the Lost Iguana as a "V" with the reception at the bottom point and the rooms up steep hills on the tops of the V. The restaurant and pool are on the lower right side of the V. There's a ravine between the two sides of the V. Fortunately, there's a footpath (not well marked)that connects the two sides. If you don't use that footpath, you'll really be tired. Even with the footpath, you'll pant a bit.

My husband and I are hikers but that steep walk was really inconvenient and I don't think we'd stay there again because of it. We saw a few people out of shape or with canes and they'd have to call for a cart every time they want to move around.

The 1-3/4 hour hike around the property is beautiful but pretty steep. You'll get a workout but it's worth it. You'll walk over bridges, rivers and through beautiful forests. The walk is shaded under the canopy with cool breezes.

We didn't have any problems with overcharging. I thought we got ripped off a bit on the taxi to Tabacon. It was $16 to get there and $14 back. The Manager at the front desk thought that was high because it was supposed to be about $16 all the way into town. She said that if we wanted to go there again, she'd have us driven over at no charge because "it isn't that far and no trouble." Actually, it was quite a distance and about 10 minutes one-way because of the poor roads. We didn't go back to Tabacon but they did drive us up to the entrance to Hanging Bridges and that saved us a steep 25 minute walk to get there (the walk back was easy).

We had the smaller room. It was quite fine although we were spoiled by the huge Ultra Villas at Xandari. Our patio had two leather rocking chairs looking right up at the volcano. We also had a pond with a bamboo waterfall and nice landscaping. If I were going to stay there again, I'd get the larger room primarily because there is very little light (and no windows) in the smaller bathroom. The larger rooms have huge rock showers with natural light.

The Lost Iguana is expanding rapidly. They're building a new reception building, a new spa, new store and new guest rooms. There was some construction on the "right" side of the property but we couldn't hear it from our room, the restaurant or pool.

JeannetteC, I agree that the LI is truly beautiful. I really think the big factor in whether people love it or hate it is whether or not they have to make the steep climb to their room, pool, etc. on foot.

The other thing people complain a lot about there is the service. We had a little experience with that. The microwave in our room didn't work on "high" so it took about 25 minutes to make a batch of microwave popcorn. We called a guy who came and looked at it and agreed that the microwave didn't work on high...no resolution of the issue. But of course, who is going to complain about a microwave when Paradise is right outside the door?

We had a driver who made a very interesting remark. He was talking about how the hotels had become very expensive and that that was very bad because "We are not raised to be servants." He said they are very outgoing people, but when it comes to the type of service that Americans expect at an expensive hotel, they just don't deliver that.

The problem with a bad microwave is that there's no way they can fix it. They're far from a major city and it's probably more likely that they'll have to buy a new one. The cappuccino machine might take months to repair -- maybe a year. We're paying high prices but you just can't expect top service in the remote areas. Overall, I thought they did a great job.

I thank you both for your reviews. We are only there two nights, so I think we can huff it. I really did not want to change my hotel because besides the little things that may be going wrong, everyone agrees that it is a beautiful place and that's was my main motivation for wanting to stay there in the first place. That and a possible "view" of the volcano.

JeannetteC, I think your comment that "you can't expect top service in remote areas" hits the nail on the head as far as all the terrible Trip Advisor reviews of the LI are concerned. People go there and they DO expect the same type of service as if they were staying at the Fairmont in Dallas, or whereever. That's why our driver's comment was so on-target. If you charge what the nice American resorts chart, many people are going to expect what they get at the American resorts.

I thought that the LI was what Disney's Polynesian Resort is trying to be...but if your coffeemaker breaks at the Polynesian, you call and they go to a room where they have stored 50 other coffee makers and they come and replace it in an hour. If you expect that at the LI (or probably almost anywhere in CR), you'll be disappointed.

I was continually surprised in talking to other Americans how little research some people did before their trips. There were the folks who were delayed by three days because they didn't know that their kids needed passports. There were the folks who had to drive at the last minute between locations instead of fly, because they didn't know about the 25 lb. luggage weight limit. There was the lady who kept taking her kids to Tabacon because she didn't know what else to do around Arenal.

I have tentatively booked the Lost Iguana for two nights in June since the Tabacon is booked. Do you think I should stay there or try another place? Any other recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

I thought the LI was beautiful. the view was like nothing I've ever had before.