tiav

Hello,

Would love advice for best hotels/resorts to stay for two 30 something single women who want to relax during the day at pool/beach/spas and then go out for fun in the evenings. Would also like to be in good proximity to some day adventures (eg. zipline, waterfall hikes, etc).

We're willing to pay the appropriate price for a nice, clean, safe beautiful resort that is also in a good proximity to restaurants for dinner and bars to have fun at night. Want to also be close to the "must see" touristy adventures. Don't want to be at a resort geared ONLY to honeymooners, families with children, or young springbreakers.

Appreciate any options people can offer. Thanks!!

volcanogirl

t, did you ever check out any of the hotels mentioned in your other threads? Nayara, The Springs Resort and Spa, and Tulemar Bungalows are all nice places to stay. What did you think of those?

tiav

Yes I did check it but my other gf wants to a small town/village besides the tourist things. we are hoping to do half tourist and half small town. Any suggestions?

rlpatterson05

What about Arenal area for the touristy stuff and choose a beach location like Samara or Santa Teresa/Mal pais/Montezuma area. There are a lot of nice beach locations that are not touristy like Manuel Antonio that have plenty of things to do. Dominical on the southern pacific coast may even be a good choice. A rental car would be good so you could explore the neighboring towns/villages from where ever you decide to stay. What month are you traveling? That may help you decide on what part of the country to focus on.

NandosWifey

Question -- going to Costa Rica with my husband -- is Costa Rica safe to go driving around local towns? Anyone know if we did rent a car where we should avoid? Is it easy to rent a car there? Or should we arrange with our travel agent ahead of time.........is there an option to hire a local to drive you around?

volcanogirl

N, you can hire a private driver to take you from the airport to your hotel or to go between towns if you don't want to drive. If you do organized tours, they'll usually pick you up and drop you back off at your hotel. If you rent a car, I wouldn't drive between cities at night; never leave anything in your rental car unattended.

volcanogirl

t, just a heads up that you're not going to find a ton of nightlife in Costa Rica. Things can get quiet at night. Manuel Antonio is clustered closer together with a lot of restaurants you can walk to. Arenal is more spread out. I'd pick one of those two for your more touristed area with lots of adventure activities and then pair it with a smaller beach town like rlp mentioned.

MichelleY

Tiav - volcano girl's recs are good for what you want. These Costa Rica tourist areas are not like, say, tourist areas in Mexico. Lower key and would provide you with a nice experience.

NandosWifey

V -- my travel agent arranged for transportation from airport to Resort.
Are the tours they do from the resorts really that bad???

tiav

Thanks for your suggestions. I will do more research. I am going to Costa Rica in late Aug. Is this a good time?

tiav

Should we do an AI or not? Where is the best place to see and max our time in Costa Rica. We are going 8/21- 8/29 is Aug a good month to go.

RAC

The vast majority of great places in Costa Rica are not AI. There's one, maybe two that people recommend.

volcanogirl

t, no I wouldn't do an AI. Costa Rica has a lot of places to get out and explore. It's fun to try the little open air restaurants. I would take a serious look at Manuel Antonio. Let us know if you think that's your style. Gaia, Tulemar, and Arenas del Mar are popular spots, also Si Como No and Costa Verde. If you want to add a second location, take a look at the hotels I mentioned for the Arenal area. Nayara and The Springs sound most like what you're looking for. You won't find a lot of AIs in Costa Rica; that's more popular in Mexico.

volcanogirl

Nandos, I'm not sure what you mean by are the tours that bad? Bad in what way?

NandosWifey

V -- meaning are they cheesey and overpriced????

We actually found a private driver --

The suggestions he made were as follows;
Palo Verde National Park 160 plus boat and lunch fees
Rincon De La Vieja National park 160 plus park entrance fee
Santa Rosa National Park 165
Arenal Volcano 245 Round TRip

I am extremely interested in nature and culture -- however, I am extremely afraid of heights........we are going for 7 nights -- so I don't want to do more than 4 tours because I would like to relax and enjoy the Palace as well........

What are your recommendations?? We love to hike -- but again -- extremes of elevations, etc would not be for me.

Thank you so much for all your help!!

I appreciate you
NW

volcanogirl

Nandos, I haven't stayed at the Riu, so I can't really speak to their tours or the quality of them. We usually book our tours ourselves. I research local tour companies and pick the ones with the best reviews and most recommendations and go with those. Sometimes hotels will charge a markup on those same services, so it can be more expensive, but not always, sometimes they charge the same price, just depends on who you are dealing with. I mentioned on your other thread that I love the Arenal area, but I would not do it as a day trip, way too long of a day; we usually stay there about three or four nights when we go.