Hi everyone!!! I am a new member on this site and will be visiting CR in November. I will be staying in a junior suite at the Tabacon Hotel. I have read all the mixed reviews and it seems like you either love this place or hate it. I'm going out on a limb and hoping that I end up liking it. For any Tabacon supporters out there, can you offer some helpful info on the best rooms, the restaurants, availability of taxis, and the layout. I have read that the hotel and springs are not actually on the same site. So what does the hotel look like? Does it resemble the web site at all? Are the grounds nice? As you can see, any info to ease my worries after reading some of these posts will be appreciated. Also, I have read about a restaurant in town called El Novillo. Any info on it? Thanks for taking time to help me out.

The springs and the hotel are on different sides of the street. Haven't stayed there so can't really help you out there except to say that it looked nice enough from the road. The springs are amazing and except for all the people I really enjoyed myself. There are beautiful walkways with several different hot pools to sit in. they are different temperatures and are marked as to how hot they are. There is also a swim up bar with a waterslide.
Regarding El Novillo, it is not in town but is on the road that runs between town and Tabacon. From Tabacon, when you see Montana de Fuego Lodge, it is just beyond it. If you are in town heading back towards tabacon it is right after the Arenal Paraiso. It doesn't look like much but the food is very good.

Thanks Suzie2. I really appreciate your help. Sounds nice enough.

Stayed at Tabacon last summer. The hotel is nice enough but nothing special. The rooms are typical American chain hotel style, bathrooms are nicely tiled. The staircases and the balconies leading to the rooms are all in open air and with the lights on in the evening were covered with moths and other insects - not a very inviting entrance to the building! The grounds of the hotel are nicely landscaped and pretty.
The hot springs are across the street and a bit down the road (you can walk easily or take the hotel shuttle). As to the layout, just make sure you request a room with volcano view - otherwise you may end in a building at the back of the complex with no view at all. Breakfast is a huge buffet that will satisfy anyone.
The best part about staying at Tabacon is free access to the hot springs which are beautiful and worth visiting. Their spa is also very good. People do not recommend eating at the hot springs restaurant though. We checked out the dinner buffet and my husband decided that it didn't look very good. So instead we went out to El Novillo and can report that the food was delicious with quick service and while eating we observed red rocks rolling down the volcano.

Does anyone know about a spa at tabacon, I am traveling with 2 female friends who have expressed interest in a "lava mud bath" and facials, etc. I am staying at Montana de Fuego in March.

Just check out the web site. There is a section on what the spa offers.

The spa at the Tabacon Hot Springs is lovely. I got a great massage there last August during a tremendous thunderstorm (the treatment rooms are open to the nature so that you can hear the waterfalls - but of course I could hear the storm too). It was great.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Is it easy to get to El Novillo? How much does a taxi cost? Isn't there another restaurant too?

I have wondered lately if the good folks at Tabacon Resort have any idea that their restaurant (upstairs at the springs) gets such bad reviews. We were visiting the hot springs for the day late in December and as we stood outside looking at the menu and wondering if we should eat there, someone who was leaving the restaurant walked past and quietly informed us that we would not want to eat there. Too bad that the restaurant keeps this resort from appealing to a lot of folks because, otherwise, it seems to be a nice place. The spa gets rave reviews. I've never used it, but it is really a treat to spend a couple of hours at the springs themselves and the pool bar. It DOES make for an expensive day, however. That is the main advantage, as others have said, to staying at the T. Resort. The springs are included!

Just wondering if we don't get a room with volcano view, does the back side of the resort have a view of the rainforest? I heard that although the volcano view rooms were nice, they are also closest to the road. Wouldn't this be noisy and less private? Just curious.

Wolfiesmom,
We stayed at the Tabacon about a month ago. I posted a trip report and helpful hints about Tabacon and the Arenal area (search under Costa Rica- the report was Costa Rica #2 Arenal etc.). We really enjoyed being able to come and go from the Hot Springs. It was great in the evening after our walks during the day! (= There is more info. on my post but don't worry about taxis- the hotel will call you one and you can just ask to see how much it will be roundtrip before you decide. They also have a free shuttle at times during the evening to La Fortuna (the main town nearby). The breakfast buffet is great-with fresh fruit and omelets! (= We did not stay in a junior suite but our room had a view of the volcano and a little flower/grass area below. It was in the #328 range. Since you are not going until November email them with your preference for view based on the junior suite choices and they probably will help you. They seemed really helpful! We decided to sightsee ourselves instead of booking one of the tours and the person at the desk was really helpful!! Hope this helps!

Thanks alot TVL. This is what I was looking for. I appreciate your reply and will search for your trip report as well. I feel better about staying there now.

You are most welcome! This board was great in planning our trip! In my opinion, you will be glad to have the flexibility of going to the Hot Springs. The people on the tours always looked rushed in the locker room and I overheard a lot say they wished they had more time. At the time it was around $17 per person to get in ( I think I read it is $26 now!). If you walk around the springs keep your eyes open- the landscaping is pretty and I walked by a tree full of Toucans (sp?)- I came back the next few days w/my camera and couldn't find them (= but they were really neat to see. I also saw the prettiest hummingbirds and a pretty crane! Have a great time!

TVL- Is the restaurant on the hotel grounds an ala carte restaurant or buffet? What was the food like in your opinion? And how were the drinks? Do you remember any prices? Thanks. Most of my trip will be prepaid so I am trying to figure out how much I will need for food and drinks.

Also, for anyone who stayed at the hotel, where did you eat dinner? Is the grocery store nearby. Since we are arriving by private transfer and won't have our own car, I will have to ask the driver to stop so we can get some drinks, snacks etc. I heard the drinks at Tabacon were pricey.

Well, we're "foodies" and had a very nice lunch at the restaurant at the springs. It was from a menu. I had black bean soup and my huband had chicken fajitas. We had a stupendous view, so that helps.
In the area, we had a really nice dinner at the Volcano Lodge. Has anyone stayed there? The place looked nice.

Wolfiesmom,
The restaurant on the actual hotel grounds is ala carte for dinner. I think it ranged from $10 to around $25 per entree. The breakfast will be served each morning at the same location. Although we did not eat there, we heard that the meals were pretty good. I would recommend looking at the menu when you get there. The other restaurant was in the location of the hot springs. It is ONLY a buffet at dinner ($18 per person). They do serve an ala carte lunch ($6-$15). We heard the lunch was good. In our opinion, the buffet wasn't very good. We only ate the pasta. There was fish/ rice/ salad etc. but we were not impressed. There were lots of people eating there so I would recommend taking a look before you decide (the buffet started at 5 PM). The hot springs bar had a happy hour 2X1 while we were there. I believe the drinks w/alcohol. were around $8 (after tip). I'm not sure about non-alcoholic drinks. I wish we would have investigated other options for dinner but we thought eating at the hot springs was just easier. The closest town is La Fortuna (around $10 per taxi) but the hotel has a shuttle (I think) starting around 12:00 pm. It is not far by shuttle. I hope this helps!

Thanks for the great information TVL. Since we will be there 2 nights we willl probably eat there one day and venture into town the next. I am not really a 3 meal a day person so it will probably be only dinner and drinks that I have to worry about. Thanks again

Did anyone go fishing in the arenal area or take the cruise on the arenal lake?