Kimkim Trip Reviews for Costa Rica

This was a wonderful hotel. The rooms all had balconies with views of the Arenal Volcano. The thermal springs were amazing - there are at least a dozen places to enjoy the springs, all with varying temperatures. The morning buffet was extensive, as were both the restaurants in the hotel. The staff were so friendly and helpful. The hotel is located outside town, and there isn't a lot within walking distance, so you need to take a taxi or Uber if you want to explore the area. Would definitely recommend!

This is a cute hotel, located on the edge of town. There are a few aces to eat and shop nearby. Santa Elena is a few minutes walking distance. The restaurant was nice.

This hotel sits at the top of a hill, a little outside of town. It has a great view from the restaurant and pool. The rooms were nice, with great views from the patio.

We saw so many animals on this hike. The guide (Jason) was great. He kept the kids in our small group engaged. It was fun crossing the bridges.

Our guide belonged to an indigenous tribe from Costa Rica, and explained how a lot of the plants in the area have been used for years and years. We did the 3-mile loop, and had a really nice time.

Don't miss this one! On this guided tour, we saw so many types of birds, it was wonderful. We learned all about the cloud forest, the plants that live there, and what makes this area unique.

This was a highlight of our time in Monteverde. We were picked up at our hotel and driven to a small coffee farm. We first got to press some sugar cane and a lime, and had some to drink. Then we learned abut how coffee is grown, roasted and what gives it unique qualities. We sampled several roasts of coffee beans. We then ventured out into the forest when it got dark, with flashlights and nerves on edge! We saw a mother and baby sloth, armadillos, tarantula, a couple of snakes, and frogs. We purchased some coffee that had been grown there to bring home. Our guide, Junior, was knowledgeable, entertaining as heck, and passionate about growing coffee. This was one of the best experiences of our trip!

This trip involved a walk into the park, noticing the animals and birds that lived there. We saw sloths, snakes, birds, insects and monkeys. We had time at the beach to swim in the Pacific Ocean before heading back on a different path.

This hotel was above our expectations! The staff, the location, the tour guides, and the facilities were great! If one day I go to Tortuguero again, I would definitely stay in Mawamba Lodge. We saw all the animals we wanted on the first day in their garden.

We really think that this was the worst hotel we've ever stayed in our lives. The only good thing is the view from the room but I can make a long list about the negative experience we had in there. We noticed a leak in the toilet the first day, so we called the reception, someone who doesn't speak English came into the room to repair it. He said that it's all good and left. But we found out that he just put a towel on the floor around the toilet for the leak. It was written that they have wireless in the rooms but actually there wasn't. The room location was at the top of the mountain, very dark, and very far from the reception, restaurant and the rest of the facilities. So we could only reach to the room with a golf car. They changed our room on the next day with Priscila's help. The second room was all right but there was still no proper internet inside. We had to dine in the hotel's restaurant because the hotel seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The food arrived in 1.5 hours and it tasted really bad. They have poor breakfast as well. They offered us a spa to say sorry for the leak in the toilet. So we arranged a time for that with the reception. When we went to the spa area, we had to wait for half an hour for the massage therapist to finish their session with someone else. To summarize, I wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone!

Great hotel with great food. The location is close to many beaches and the wifi is great!

The driver who picked us up from the hotel to take us to the airport for Tortuguero left us in the international departure building, so we had to walk around 10 minutes with heavy luggage to the domestic airport.

This activity was unnecessarily long! 2-2.5 hours would be definitely enough. The restaurant wasn't great either. We didn't know what to do so we waited in the reception for an hour for the time we agreed with the driver and he was late!

The tour guide was late.

They have the best beach in there! But the time we spent in there wasn't enough. ( 30 minutes)

The tour guide gave us a really bad canoe comparing to the other peoples canoe in the tour, so we kept falling.

Amazing views, food, drink, and pools. Everything we needed and more.

The rooms themselves were pretty average but the hot springs were the standout! We spent a ton of time outside and enjoying the proximity to Fortuna.

So peaceful and attentive. Loved it.

This was our family's favorite activity!

The sloth exhibit was so impressive, as they were very active and right next to us. This was our daughter's favorite part of the trip.

So many wonderful surprises on this first night for us, especially the mother sloth carrying her baby across a power line in the dark. What great luck!

Located right downtown in the heart of LaFortuna. Lots of restaurants and activities nearby to soak up the local culture. Smaller rooms, but, in a perfect location for getting around town and exploring other areas.

Sloths were beautiful and the highlight. It was a short experience when compared to the transportation, lines and wait times. Visit the sloths at another location that isn't the Adventure park.

Fun adventure where we were able to see lots of insects and critters. Seeing the rainforest at night was a real treat and nice contrast to other the daytime hikes.

Fun experience with a different view of the cloud forest. Our guides was great for a bigger group ensuring he rotated through the front and back of the group. Climbing the ficus tree at the end was an unexpected and fun surprise!

Lovely location with lots of animals and we had an amazing guide!

Make sure to get a Beach Front room ( and not one next to the road). Our pickup time for San Jose got delayed. For one hour. The staff of the hotel helped to find out where the driver was. They arranged for a driver who took us a few miles and connected us to a van who drove us to San Jose. The driver of the van was an excellent driver!

Unfortunately: when we arrived we learned that the Hotel was booked for the following night ( the wrong night!). But the Hotel staff was helpful in arranging a room ( one of two rooms left to book for the night!). So it avoided a situation which could have been very disastrous for us since we had to leave at 4 am the following morning for the airport.

See our review

See review: second hike was cancelled. Guide was little motivated. Ecotermales was very good: better at daytime to see the environment

Wonderful place, but too many tourists and groups

Rainy day, hike cut short: just to Laguna.

We love wildlife and Tortuguero is full of animals. Our guide was also great and could spot animals which we would hardly spot by ourselves.

We have enjoyed the hike, unfortunately weather was not really on our side, so we could not see the Volcano peak for our entire stay in La Fortuna. Nevertheless we have enjoyed it a lot.

It was interesting experience, but due to rainy weather we didn't enjoy it as much as we could in case of good weather - but as our guide said - this is a rain forest and rain is good for nature :-) Because of weather, I also think we have not seen so many animals as we could see under different weather conditions. At the end of the tour there is half an hour session about the chocolate production with chocolate tasting. Since we have been visiting chocolate plantation already with really dedicated guided tour including tasting, this half an hour could not compete with proper chocolate tour, which we highly recommend.

It was a transportation from point A to point B with the lunch on the way, but due to very good guides (Lars in bus and Freddy on the boat) we have learned a lot about the country and nature and they have made the trip very interesting. Without them this would be a bit boring.

We like Monteverde a lot - it was not so hot in comparison with other locations, however mist and rain can occur at any time. Night Tour was a little bit overcrowded, but we had a great young guide who was able to keep distance from other groups by selecting different trails and was able to make this tour very pleasant. He could spot animals we would not be able to spot at all and he was also making pictures for us using his telescope - so overall great experience.

We were surprised by heavy crowds in the park - especially at the entrance. It took us at least 30 minutes to get through the gates and if we would not have a guide with us who knew what to do, we would spent there 1 hour easily. One of the reasons is that park rangers are checking backpacks and confiscating prohibited items (food, single used bottles, knifes, plastic, etc.). Park itself is great and despite of the people crowds, we could spot a lot of animals, which was the main purpose of our visit. Our guide was making pictures and videos through his telescope and he was sharing these pictures with the rest of the group. He was also able to spot animals which we wouldn't have chance to see - so I very recommend to have local guide there. There is one official place (in the big cage) where you can buy some meal and drinks, but everything has to be consumed inside of the cage. Unfortunately they are not very organized there and there is long queue to the cashier. Fortunately there are several spots in the park with drinkable water from the tap. There is also nice beach in the park, so it's possible to bring swimming suit and spend some time there.

Comfy beds and good breakfast

A stunning hotel with excellent good, service and tours.

Loved the hot springs

Informative guide and well paced

Outstanding guide, swimming in waterfall was great

Beautiful spot, the staff is so friendly and helpful. The free evening frog/bug walk is so great! Food was delicious. Highly recommend.

This is a nice hotel, looks big but does not feel big. Rooms are roomy and comfortable. Pool is very nice. Drinks are great. Staff is overall friendly. Breakfast is great, rest of the food is decent. Enjoyed our stay here. Property is steep but most of Manuel Antonio is! There is a nice private path on the hotel grounds to one of the best beaches, Biesanz Beach....I recommend!

Remarkable property! Our view was sublime.

VERY noisy. It was so big. The restaurant was one of the best however. The breakfast, one of the worst.

Great location, super interesting wildlife at the hotel.

We initially were put into a very small room - door had huge gaps, not really clean. My husband asked for another room and we were put into a much better, cleaner room with a door that closed.

This was not what we expected. Thought it would be more 'natural'. However, this was one of the most beautiful hotels we've seen. Just large and lots of people throughout. Glad we got to see the hotel but wanted a different Hot Springs experience.

We did see exceptional wildlife. though the experience is not as great given it's on a paved walkway with LOTS of other people trying to see the same animal.

Interesting just not outstanding.

It was wonderful to actually be hiking in this landscapes and get the feeling of what it's like. there were not as many people. I appreciated our guide. It was nice to take a vehicle out. I cannot imagine that kimkim would suggest taking the horses up that long hill out of the trail. It's arduous even in a vehicle not to mention the hardship on these poor horses.

It was fun but do NOT do this mid afternoon as we were scheduled. It's hot and BUGGY. Not sure why it was scheduled for this time.

Hard because there are so many people.

absolutely loved this part of our trip and frankly it was the highlight. beyond my expectations

Guide did not show up at the location and time we had listed. He asked someone else to come and take us on the tour. At this point in the day after our early morning tour of Corcovado, we were exhausted in the heat. Nice guide but it was really lackluster.

Very special locations. The Mangroves to the wildlife on the river.

Not the drivers fault but we were really tired. Our guide was good, he tried. But the restaurant was not good at all. This was not the guides fault. We were rushed for time due to a late flight out of Drake Bay.

Beautiful resort with lush greenery and epic view of the Arenal Volcano from the resort room. Staff was amazing and very friendly and always willing to help. I wish we had more english language channels for the TV and the hotel had shuttle services to the downtown area..

Location of this hotel is great, but everything else was just average.

Beautiful landscapes, comfortable stay, room was very nicely prepared for the stay

Well located for the market and old quarter. Good breakfast

In the middle of the rain forest with Sloth, monkeys and other wild animals around the grounds. Very nice breakfasts, efficient transfers along the waterways to/from the meeting point and well versed local guides taking us out on canoe/boat. Although the rooms around the gardens do not have aircon, the tranquility and ambience of the hotel gardens easily made up for that !

The hotel is luxurious and the on-site hot thermal springs are amazing both night and day. Lots of animals to observe around the grounds. The only downside is the cost of F&B. All the hotel cafes and restaurants were expensive, with little choice under $30 for a main course (plus sides/starters/deserts drinks) -so a family of four were spending $200 every night . However, food was excelllent and breakfast was fabulous and included of course.

Really nice hotel, located out of town (walkable) with gardens full of colourful noisy birds, their own farm, their own micro-brewery and great food. Cocktails at happy hour, admiring the views was a highlight!

Amazing hotel which felt like we were in the rain forest with monkeys, sloth, iguanas all around the grounds. We had a Vista Room with views of the sea and bay and forest.

Efficient transport to the meeting point at the docks. However, the organisors moved our pick forward from 6.45am to 6am and as first pick up, we were on the bus for 50 minutes before we even left the City and the roads were then busy for the first half hour. We were picked up at the dock by Mwamber Lodge boats and enjoyed an amazing trip down the estuary right to our hotel, passing monkeys and birds along the river bank. I would give this part of the journey 5 stars!

We saw so much wildlife ! We went on various canoe, kayak and boat tours to spot wild animals and colourful birds

Difficult to review as it was wet and cloudy but our guide was enthusiastic and engaging

Saw many sloths. The guide ensured we saw them through telescopes as they are often up high in the trees

13 Zip lines within and above the cloud forest, the final one being 1KM long. Great fun.

Good sightings of monkeys, deer, birds, sloths and finished with swim at the beach.

The room was so spacious, modern and clean. We overlooked the parking and the registration so that wasn't ideal, but the overall property was so lovely, it didn't matter. The lodge is tucked up in the mountains and has several paths to hike. The restaurant has beautiful views and delicious food. Saw a lot of birds and some other wildlife. Very relaxing stay in the cloud forest.

Food and service were great. We did not have a very nice room though. There was no privacy as the room was right above the restaurant. The door was a big sliding glass door and anyone walking by can see into the room. So we had to keep the curtains closed. There was only a tiny window so there was minimal light with the curtains closed. The bathroom could use an update. There are other more private rooms that would have been much nicer.

Great views of Arenal volcano. The pool area is nice. Easy walk to some tasty restaurants. Breakfast buffet was nice. The room was clean.

The walk was just ok. Nice views and learned a bit about the rain forest. The real highlight is the zip lining of course.

Not much to see here. Could have done without this.

So much fun and the guides are terrific. Great for kids. The rapids are fun but not super scary. The class 2 section is gorgeous.

Fun learning about coffee and chocolate. Good for kids. We did the night walk as well and it was fun searching for wildlife.

You definitely need a guide to see the animals. Don't expect a relaxing time though until you get to the beach. We were running from one place to the next trying to spot the birds and other wildlife. Our guide was very good at making opportunities for use to see animals, but there are so many guides and groups it feels like a competition. We saw a mother and baby sloth very close up which was awesome. The beach is lovely. Despite the crowds, this is definitely a must see place.

This was really fun. Our guide, Karla, from Toucanes tours was so funny and friendly! The food we helped cook was delicious and I am inspired to try making the dish at home. My son enjoyed cooking as well. It was just my son and I so we got all the attention.

The people here were really great. They made us feel welcome. I think we just had some bad luck with the room. The room was beautiful and much bigger than we expected. The major problem we had was that the air conditioning did not work in one of the bedrooms and it was really hot. We reported the problem, but it was not fixed. The food was mixed from day to day. We tend not to be picky eaters, but some of the dishes on the buffets were good, others not so much. On the flip side, the views of the volcano were amazing. The grounds were filled with beautiful plants and wildlife. It was a pleasure waking up and getting outside. To be honest, I think part of the problem was that we booked so late and there were limited options for our stay when we booked.

Pretty standard (quite nice) Radisson. We were only here overnight before heading to the airport early in the morning. Again, great staff.

Great place for our whole family. The food was amazing. The rooms were small, but comfortable (but, frankly, we spent very little time in our rooms). Views from the balcony of the room was amazing for ocean views and the sunset. The pools and amenities were great. We spend a good deal of time in the pools, played giant-sized chess, walked on the beach in the moonlight, and had a great time. The food was AMAZING. On our first day, we were limited to the "snack bar," which has burgers, hot dogs, nachos and other fast food. That was ok. But the breakfast and the other meals were fantastic. The only issue we ran into is there was some kind of miscommunication between their reservation specialist (with whom our travel agent, Priscila worked with) and the front desk staff. We were supposed to have an early check-in as we were arriving around 11 am. The young front staff knew nothing about it and said we had to wait until 3pm. Eventually, one of staff who helps with baggage and greets guests - who was older and had worked there for a while - intervened on our behalf and helped get us into a room after a bit. He was helping at the same time Priscila was on the phone with the reservation people. That was a minor set-back, but I wanted to include it because is just showed how often we ran into people who wanted to help and how awesome Priscila was.

First, the people who work here are AMAZING. Some of the nicest people we met in Costa Rica (and that says a lot because EVERYONE was nice!). The place was absolutely beautiful, the breakfast was delicious, the rooms were remarkably spacious, and the front desk staff were always there to help with all aspects of our visit. This would be the kind of place I could imagine staying for an entire week. Just outstanding all the way around. On top of that, the front lobby is an art gallery featuring original works by local artists. Several people even bought paintings while we were there and the front desk staff walked them though the whole process of having the paintings shipped back to their homes. If you are planning on visiting the Manuel Antonio area, seriously consider staying there!

Wonderful! My only suggestion is to either schedule the hanging bridge tour and zip lines as the ONLY activity for the day or plan them on separate days. We did not have enough time to do the hanging bridge guided walk because we had to get back to our hotel to meet up for our afternoon hike to Arenal.

Fantastic guide and great walk. The guide provided such great context and history of the volcano and the hike was invigorating and well-paced.

Our driver was amazing! There was not much else about this part of the trip other than the fact that there was some miscommunication about our reservations (no fault of our travel agent, it was an issue with internal communication at the hotel)

One of the coolest things we did on our trip. Amazing tour guide and boat captain. We got to swim in the bioluminescent algae and learned so much about the region and the science of the bioluminescence.

Unfortunately, we had to cancel this part of our trip. We were looking forward to this so much! But, we tried to pack in too much. We were exhausted from our previous activities and travel, so decided to spend the day in the pools at the resort. Please don't see the three stars as reflective of the experience, since we did not go on the trip. This review form just requires that I put in a rating before I can continue.

Another "don't miss" experience. We saw squirrel monkeys, white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, crocodiles, cool spiders and snakes, sloths (one mother with her baby!), and so much more. Our guide was amazing. He also helped us take cell phone pictures through his spotter scope - and we got some great shots! The hike ends with about 30 minutes free time to swim at the beach before heading back. I would have LOVED to spend more time swimming here, because it's so beautiful. But, its just the right amount of time to refresh and get ready for the hike back.

We're home!

AMAZING! The best parts were the hot-springs tubs piped directly into your hotel room, the gorgeous breakfast, volcano views and many hot and cool pools. 10/10 would live here if I could!

Great views and tasty food. Restaurant is small and wait staff are not accustomed to small kids.

We loved Juan Carols and Gonzalo sooooo much, we wanted to take them everywhere with us! My daughter was holding Gonzalo's hand and he was showing her all the birds. What a heavenly day!

SOOOO much fun! I cant even being to count the number of animals we saw.

Lots of great information! Yeri is clearly very highly educated!!! We all learned sooo much from her and the boat trip was very relaxing.

We saw some awesome animals! Jesus showed is so many things - my son's favorite was the click beetles, but we also saw a 2-toed sloth, palm viper and kinkajou.

FUN! Great wildlife guide Alex on the hanging bridges, and the fellas that did the ziplines were all so great and fun and very hard-working!

The hubby caught a 90lb yellowfin tuna and a large dorado, my mom and son smaller tuna. My husband had such a great time he wanted to go fishing again the next day!

First class service and accommodations, with unbelievably helpful and professional staff. Nothing but smiles all day every day and a willingness to make the vacation and hotel stay comfortable and wonderful. The hotel is beautiful, secluded, exclusive and enormous (when also considering the club rio aspect). The pools and hot springs are incredible as is the children’s game room and niceties like a helpful essentials type store and free laundry accommodations. The food wasn’t what we hoped for - it was not terrible by any means - but just not up to the expectations given the VERY high price. The sushi was good and the restaurant down near club rio activities was quite good but that’s about it. The morning buffet was very mediocre and we made sure to leave the hotel for breakfast after trying it twice. The hotel pizza and non sushi dinner options were not enjoyable either. Again, not horrendous just not what we’d expect given all the other incredible aspects of the hotel and the cost of course. We will certainly return, we just know we will mostly eat downtown in La Fortuna. Otherwise, absolutely wonderful in every way