Amazing Upgraded Costa Rica Roundtrip – Stunning Nature, Exceptional Guide, but Mixed Hotels
We’ve just returned from a wonderful roundtrip through Costa Rica and overall had a good experience. The itinerary was well designed, the landscapes were breathtaking, and our guide was truly outstanding. His knowledge of wildlife, culture, and local history added so much depth to the journey, and he handled every situation with professionalism and warmth. He was easily one of the best guides we have ever had. The only improvement to suggest would be to involve additional local guides at all locations like competitors do. Local knowledge is unbeatable and we had the best animal sightings on this trip when local guides where involved.
The accommodation, however, was a mixed bag. Several of the hotels were genuinely five star quality — beautiful rooms, great service, and excellent facilities that made us feel spoiled after long days of exploring. Unfortunately, a couple of the other hotels were closer to two star level.
In detail:
Studio Hotel, San Jose: a self-styled five-star hotel. In Europe it would be closer to three-star level; with three-star food.
Casa Turire, Turialba: a solid four-star hotel with nearly four-star food.
Pachira Lodge, Tortuguero. The rooms were very basic, not clean and in need of refurbishment. Very small bar for the number of rooms. Overcrowded in the evening. The food maximum school canteen level with only two choices per meal and repetitive each day at lunch and dinner. Also served like in a school canteen. Unfortunately, no restaurant close by. Luckily, we had some muesli bars.
Arenal Springs Resort and Spa, San Carlos: good four-star hotel with good food choices. Unfortunately, they had abolished their bar and there was no place for fellow travellers to gather for a drink.
Sibo Lodge, Monteverde: we had very small rooms, no place for clothes, not a single towel hook in the bathroom. What they show on their website is much better than what we had. Max 2 stars for the rooms. Food on the other site was very good in a very nice restaurant. This was four-star level.
Cristal Ballena, Dominical: an absolute gem. The best and largest rooms we had on our trip, wonderful pool and huge grounds with their own nature path where we could spot a lot of animals. Their food was the highlight of our trip. By far the best we had in Costa Rica. This was real five-star level and a great way to finish a trip which had some ups and down.
Despite the inconsistency in hotels, the overall experience was still memorable and absolutely worth it. Costa Rica is an incredible country, and the combination of wildlife, scenery, and our exceptional guide Diego made this a trip we will always remember. With a bit more attention to hotel selection and food quality, this would easily be a five star tour from start to finish.
Would still recommend — just go in with realistic expectations about the accommodation mix.
