Punta Islita hotel vs. Marriott's Los Suenos
 

Going to CR in May to celebrate an anniversary. Active couple in their early 30's. Want relaxation and some adventure. Both speak spanish. Undecided between Punta Islita hotel and Marriott's Los Suenos. I know to get to Punta Islita from SJ we will have someone from the hotel pick us up and on our return to SJ take a flight from nature air or sansa. Cannot flight into punta islita as we arrive at noon and all flights leave in the morning. However if we decide on Los Suenos, don't know how to get there from SJ or how complicated it can be. Which one would be the best hotel to relax and do some adventure as well as easier to get to and close to some activities. And any suggestions on how to get to them (transportation).

I can't give you any info on Punta Islita, but I can tell you that it is not difficult to get to Los Suenos. The hotel can arrange a driver for you, or you can arrange for a driver yourself. We used Wilson Rojas for our entire trip last year and are using him again this year. [email protected]. Los Suenos is about 2 hrs from San Jose. It is a lovely resort hotel, with a fabulous pool and a marina next door with more restaurants. The beach isn't very nice, but the view is great. We didn't eat on property much, as we preferred to eat at more local spots. It is about 45 minutes or so (depending on the bridge traffic) to Manuel Antonio. Wilson took us to MA one day and then we rented a car one day to go to Quepos for a fishing trip. The hotel can arrange tours for you as well.

We're going back in June and are staying in MA this year.

thank you for your reply. Are there interesting things to do around the property, we are thinking a day of golf, and maybe 1 or 2 days out doing activities. Is the region where Los Suenos is located very different from the region of Guanacaste?

Los Suenos is located on the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica...about 2 hours by car from Juan Santamaria International Airport...is a high end hotel/resort...great golf course...if you have a Costa Rica map...is next to Jaco Beach...in Herradura beach... easy to get a car...or private transfer...

Punta Islita is located on the Northern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica ...about 3 hours from Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia or 5 and half hours by car from Juan Santamaria International Airport...nice romantic place...but kind of isolated...great accomodations...very exclusive...

Luis GPS Costa Rica

So far leaning towards the Marriott just because is close to some of the rain forest activities we are looking to do. Does anyone know if Punta Islita has rain forest activities similar to those around Jaco?

Punta Islita is located on a LOW LAND PACIFIC FOREST...the vegetation is a little different than the one around Los Suenos...you will have more choices of adventure tours in Los Suenos.

Luis GPS

Our original plans last year were to stay the entire time at Los Suenos, as we were using points. We ended up deciding to break it up and stay 2 nights in Arenal and 4 nights at Los Suenos, as we wanted to see the volcano. It is too far to take the one day tour from the Marriott. We had a great time and were glad we chose not to stay the entire time at the Marriott.

We were thinking of splitting our trip but it is too much of a hassle to split the trip since we are only going for 4 nights. I want to stay at the most accessible place in order to do canopy/rain forest tours and other adventures.

You might try Hotel Ama Tierra. We are staying there one night on our way to MA from Arenal this year, just to break it up. They are very centrally located and the owners are very nice. It's not on the beach, but read their review on TripAdvisor and you won't find one negative comment.