I am planning on staying in Manuel Antonio during Christmas week. The availability of hotels are limited. We discovered that Hotel-California and Costa Verde have availablity. I would appreciate any comments on these hotels.

Go with Hotel California! I'm surprised they even have availability at Christmas. It's a much smaller, more intimate place than Coste Verde!

Dear Harvey,<BR>Hi! We just got back from two weeks in Costa Rica. Manuel Antonio was our finale. We stayed at the Si Como No which was perfect for us. It was beautiful and the food was great. However, each evening around 5:00 PM we visited Costa Verde which was just down the street. Dozens of monkeys congregate there during happy hour and play and entertain the guests. The view is beautiful and the property looked really nice. From what I've seen and read, it would be my second choice. Have fun!<BR>Kathy

Just a note to everyone:<BR>We are noticing that the Christmas hoilday is booking up far earlier than normal here in Manuel Antonio. Generally we aren't booked 100% until about October....However, we have been trying to find a block of rooms for a travel agency that needs some extra rooms and are fnding very little availability.<BR>If you are thinking of Manuel Antonio I would book the rooms for the Christmas holidays as soon as possible. Half the places we have tied to find the block of rooms are already sold out!<BR>Best wishes!<BR>Robbie

I spent 3 nights at Costa Verde last January and really loved it. The rooms have kitchen areas and are large and open - we shared it with a couple of lizards and a lot of ants and other assorted creatures. One side overlooked the water and one side overlooked the jungle. We were awoken every morning at 4:30am by a parade of spider monkeys swinging through the trees, jumping down to our balcony, and running across the other side and back into the trees. It took us a while to figure out what this swoosh-swoosh-thump-pitter-patter sound was the first night, but our fear quickly turned to delight and we jumped out of bed every morning to watch them. They reversed this path every afternoon, too.<BR><BR>We walked to the park every day, which is a big advantage to some of the other locations. The food was very good, although, I did get sick my last day there. All in all I wouldn't hesitate to go back.<BR><BR>

Why is it that you think the monkeys are hanging around? It is because they are being fed by the hotel! Do not stay there as they are perpetuating the reliance of the monkey population on human handouts. That place is well known for their practice of using the monkeys to get guests. We stayed at Si Como No while we were there, with no regrets. If you want to see the monkeys, go to Manuel Antonio, but do not support Costa Verde's pratices.