Hello,
We are going to CR on June 26 for 10 days with our two kids. Did much of the itinerary planning with help from this board, thank you SO much! We are flying into SJO, 1 night Vista del Valle (VdV), 4 nights Lost Iguana, 4 nights Villa Mot Mot in M.A.
Questions:
1) We were going to have a driver from VdV to Arenal and then rent a car in Arenal but now we are thinking we might like to get a rental car at VdV and drive ourselves to Arenal. Can I arrange for a rental car to be dropped at VdV by calling the rental car agency or must I arrange this through the hotel? The price quoted by the hotel seems to be much higher than what I'm finding online. Anyone have ideas on the best one or two rental agencies we should be looking at for pick up outside of SJO (or dropped at our hoteL) and then dropping in Arenal?
2) Should we get a 4x4 for Arenal?
3) If we do airport car rental pickup instead of delivery to the hotel, is this a big hassle? We'll have our two kids in tow so thats something to consider.
4) I'm reading on posts that excursions in Arenal are cheaper when booked "in town" (vs thru Lost Iguana, say). Is there a specific place we need to go in the town to book tours?
5) When I read that Eco Thermales needs to be booked in advance, does that mean just a few days in advance? ie we have 4 nights in Arenal, can I wait until we get there to decide which night to do Eco or should I book before we go? If before we go, how should I book this? So far I've only found it on arenal.net, don't know if that is the best option.

I know thats a lot of questions, thank you in advance for any advice on any of these topics.
Laura

I haven't rented a car yet, so I can't comment on that, however Tri-Color tends to get good reviews and you should coordinate the hotel drop through the rental agency. It's true that hotels make some commission on the tour companies they promote so it's possible to get better deals in town. Arenal.net is the best place to book Eco-Thermales. Chance are one of your 4 nights there will be availability, however since you know you want to go I would just book ahead and have it be done.

Have a great trip!

I look at it differently than Marina. If you rent at the airport, there is an additional airport tax added to your car rental, and you are paying for an additional day's rental. I would think with 2 kids, it would be easier and quicker to have a driver waiting for you. You can arrange for any car company to drop the car at VdeV. Most companies include the drop off for free. How much was the hotel quoting you, and for what kind of car?

We met people on our last trip to Arenal that couldn't get into Eco Termales on any of the nights of their stay. They ended up going to Baldi and were very disappointed in it. It can't hurt you to book ahead if it interests you. We booked ours through Sunset Tours in combination with a volcano hike.

Thank you for all the great info. I will book Ecothermales before we go. As for the car rental, Shoole you must have kids because that was my thinking, that it would be much easier to have a driver waiting for us than go thru the airport car rental process after a long flight with kids. The hotel was quoting me $250 for an SUV (Grand Vitara) for 4 days,including insurance, delivery to the hotel, and drop in Arenal. Is that a competitive price?