LRL

My husband and I (29 and 30) just returned from a wonderful late-March eight-day trip to Costa Rica (Arenal - Lost Iguana; Monteverde - El Establo; Peace Lodge).

Arenal:
We stayed for three nights in a Deluxe Room at the Lost Iguana, to which we traveled by private transport (Carlos) from SJO arranged through the Lost Iguana. It took

between three and four hours and cost $120. We ate dinner at the hotel upon our arrival. We loved the Lost Iguana.

The first full day, after the delicious breakfast at the LI, we took a morning walk in the rain on the Arenal Hanging Bridges. We didn't mind the rain -- we were in a

rain forest after all. We had lots of fun. We then had a lunch of tortilla wraps at the LI and rested in our room and admired the view of the volcano from our balcony.

Because it was a clear afternoon, we signed up for a 3:30 hike to the volcano. They picked us up at the hotel. It was beautiful. We were lucky to have great views of

the lava. The guide pointed a toucan out to us, but my husband and I couldn't see it. We requested that the shuttle drop us off in La Fortuna instead of at the hotel,

and we explored a bit and had a very good dinner at La Choza de Laurel. My name is Laurel, so I was excited about that. We took a taxi back to LI for about $13.

The second day, we had a very early boxed breakfast at the LI (you can arrange for it the night before), and we were picked up at 7:00 for an excursion to Cano Negro.

This was a wonderful adventure. The bus ride there takes a couple of hours, but the guide was very informative and we learned a lot. At Cano Negro, we saw two species of

monkeys, many birds, caimens (like alligators), lizards, iguanas, and turtles. That evening we took a taxi to and from Ecotermales, where we ate dinner and enjoyed the

hot springs.

The next morning we took the jeep-boat-jeep to Monteverde.

Monteverde:
The jeep delivered us to El EStablo. We spoke to the person in the lobby who arranges tours. He was very pushy. We walked around a bit and had unch at Moon Shiva

(mediterranean) and then ice cream at Sabores. We took a horseback ride at 4:00. We were the only two people on the ride, which was nice. From the "rodeo." we walked to

Santa Elena and had dinner at Mar y Tierra. Then we took a taxi back to El Establo.

We had the included breakfast at the hotel and then did the 7:00 tour to Monteverde Cloud Forest. There were 8 people on the tour, and we learned quite a bit. We saw two

resplendent quetzals!! We had lunch at La Flora Vida, rested, and then had massages at El EStablo in the afternoon. We had already done lots of hiking! In the late

afternoon, we had more ice cream at Sabores and then did the night walk (using flashlights) at the Ecological Sanctuary. This was not recommended by El Establo (they were

pushing a different night walk), but we enjoyed it. The shuttle dropped us off at Johnny's Pizzaria, which was excellent, and then we took a taxi back to the hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel, we took a 7:50 shuttle to Selvatura for a walk of the hanging bridges. They also had a hummingbird garden there. We took a shuttle at 11:00

back to santa Elena, where we did a little shopping and had lunch at Morpho's. We walked to the Renario. We loved seeing so many species of frogs! We walked back to the

hotel and later went to dinner at Restaurante de Lucia. We returned to the Ranario at night (visitors may return again with their admission tickets to see the frogs more

active at night).

Peace Lodge:
After breakfast at the hotel, we had an 8:00 transfer set up through the Peace Lodge to transfer us there. It was a five hour drive. The driver was Carlos Soto and he

was great. He had to leave his house at 2:30 am to get us!! He stopped along the way to show us hummingbirds, a toucan, butterflies, and a very big souvenir shop. We had

lunch at the Peace Lodge and explored the grounds (hummingbird gardens, butterflies, ranario). We ate dinner on the premises. In fact, we never left the premises.

Our last full day was very relaxing. It rained all day. In the morning we did the hike to the waterfalls. In the afternoon, we looked around the grounds again. The

butterflies were fascinating -- they were at various stages of development, and we watched several butterflies hatch right out of their pupae!! We had construction of the

owner's new house going on right below our room, and when we complained about it, they gave us 20% off our room rate for both nights. We borrowed one of the 150 free

DVDs. We had a bird flying around our room, leaving droppings, and the staff came and got it out. It was pretty funny, and while it was otherwise difficult to

communicate with the staff, we were all laughing about the bird. The Peace Lodge was beautiful, although it did lack some of the natural/rustic beauty found elsewhere.

On the final morning, we had breakfast on our balcony (a free service upon request). We reflected on our week. We loved Costa Rica -- beautiful country with lovely

residents. If anybody has any questions, or wants more details about anything, please let us know!

nancygol

Welcome back. Sounds like you had a great trip.

My family-two teens will be in CR for two weeks in June. This will be our second trip. We have a two night reservation at Peace Lodge in the Monarch Villa. Peace Lodge has been getting terrible reviews on trip advisor. I am getting cold feet about stayi g here. Should I switch to Vista del Valle. Peace Lodge is quite expensive.

Thanks for your imput.

LRL

I am sorry -- I don't know much about Vista del Valle. I am glad we stayed at Peace Lodge despite its issues. It was a nice restful way to end the vacation. I was very curious to experience it after reading so much. I think the teens will love it!

baggyj

Stayed in the Monarch Villa with my family, 2 teens, a few months ago. It was the last stop on our trip and although the accomodations were not as natural as the others we had enjoyed, once we got passed that, we had a great stay. The bathrooms are a treat, the master bedroom had a great big comfy bed and the view from the balcony was lovely. The villa was lots of fun, the pools are plentiful and unique, and we enjoyed the breakfasts. It is a tour destination so does have a more commercial feel than anywhere else we stayed. I probably wouldn't stay there again, but I have very fond memories of our time there, as does my family, and I would recommend it to someone looking for a hotel in the area.

nancygol

Thanks so much for the advice. My kids are 18 and 16 and I don't know how many more trips we will be travelling together. I have been agonizing over this trip. We will also be staying at Rafiki Lodge ,which will be a totally different experience.

I much prefer a more natural experience,but my children will probably love this over the top hotel

Thanks again

Jandk

baggyj, was the construction near the Monarch Villa? We are staying there next week and had heard that the construction was away from the rooms, but recent reviews have not been very positive regarding noise.

Nancy, I'll post our thoughts when we return. My husband and I and our two sons will be staying in the Monarch Villa for our first two nights. We figured it would be a great place to unwind since we will be leaving home at 3:30 a.m. to catch our flight! We plan on Poas (hopefully) and Doka and enjoying the waterfalls and trails at Peace Lodge before heading to Mal Pais early on our third day. We're going the the surf camp in Mal Pais - that should be a completely different experience than Peace Lodge!

nancygol

Jandk,

Hope you have a great trip. Can't wait to see your report. I am still considering changing to Vista del Valle. All of the bad reports on PL are making me nervous. It is VERY EXPENSIVE. I don't want disney.

Thanks

LRL

The construction was directly in front of our room, Appias Drusilla (something like that). We got a 20% discount after we got there and complained.

baggyj

jandk,
Although the construction was somewhat in front of the villa, it was set down below us, as the villas are on a hill. If we looked down, we would see it. The noise was not an issue as we weren't in our rooms much during the day and when we were, the workers were very quiet. We were there in the begining of December so perhaps the majority of the work is completed. I believe they were constructing the new butterfly observatory.
I tend to be VERY picky about where I stay and this really didn't bother me.
No harm in asking for a discount on your room though, once you're there.
Hope I've helped.