Wonderful planning of Costa Rica trip

Costa Rica | Mar 17 - Mar 29, 2025

We stayed at this hotel because it was the site of a destination wedding to which we were invited. This hotel is situated on a hill and extends pretty much from top to bottom, counting the restaurants. There are numerous room areas (designated A through E) that are scattered from reception (near the top) to the bottom of the hill. A is at the top and E, where we stayed, was at the bottom. Some units are part of a larger building, bungalows (which we had) look more like singles. The hotel has an aeronautic theme, so some rooms include the nose of a plane. Staying at area E meant that we were close to the lovely beach, but a bit of a distance from other areas, including reception. The hotel readily provides transport from area to area on demand, but my husband and I walked most of the time. That meant a fairly steep walk up to pool areas or to reception or to the restaurants. Despite our ages (70s) we were able to do it successfully. This hotel is not meant for those with mobility issues. Our unit had a balcony overlooking the beach. It would have been idyllic, but the noise from the main road below was very intrusive. We were able to tune out regular car noise, but there were many busses, trucks, motorcycles and vehicles with no mufflers. That was highly annoying. Each room has a kitchen. Although they claim the kitchen is fully stocked, we did not consider ours 'fully stocked'. Minimally is how I would describe it, though there was a cook top and refrigerator and microwave, some silverware and dishes. The biggest problem was the very weak light in the kitchen. We like to cook our own breakfasts and one could barely see in that kitchen even when the other lights in the unit were on. However, the rooms were large and comfortable and very clean. Maids come daily. Despite our hanging up our towels, the towels were changed every day. I found that surprising considering the ecological bent of Costa Rica. The only restaurant we used was Anaconda for lunch. We found it a very pleasant restaurant with good food. We especially enjoyed the lox sandwich. We only used the adults only pool which was half way between our room and reception. It was a very nice pool with a bar attached. It had great views all around it. There is a path for a short hike shown on the map but don't try to take it. It's largely impassable and not worth the trouble. One gets enough exercise hiking the regular hills in this hotel just to get to reception, restaurants, etc. All that said, the views from anywhere on the hotel property are exceptional. The foliage is lovely. We saw many birds, especially macaws and kiskadees and green parakeets. There were also white-faced monkeys and, somewhere off the premises, a howler monkey. It was only a short walk from our unit to the beach, which is a very beautiful beach. We can recommend this hotel, but with the stated reservations.

Hotel Lomas del Volcan was an excellent hotel. The rooms were spacious and clean. The bathroom was large and luxurious. There was no refrigerator in the room but there was really no need for one. The breakfast buffet was included and provided a wide choice of food. Service was excellent. For dinner, one could eat at the bar, the pool, or the restaurant if one wanted more formal, bigger dinners. The food was good. My husband and I especially appreciated the fabulous landscaping at the property. It was obvious a great deal of care went into it. There were beautiful flowers, trees and shrubs everywhere. There were a fair amount of birds and many people joined birdwatching groups to admire the birds. We also enjoyed the monkeys. Mostly there were spider monkeys which one could see best in the early morning or evening. We never saw the howler monkey but its howls reverberated early in the morning and in the evening. I was fascinated by it so it never bothered me. The service at the hotel was excellent in general and they were highly responsive if we needed something. The hotel is situated a bit far from the town. You would have to get a taxi if you wanted to go into town for anything, but we didn't really need to. We had a local tour every day and were occupied when we returned to the hotel. There is a walking trail that one can take, but we didn't see anything special on it. It's best to walk the main grounds of the hotel and admire the foliage and the bird population. All in all, we recommend the hotel.

My husband and I enjoyed this experience. Los Pinos is not a 'traditional' hotel. Guests have their own cabin; our cabin was clean and comfortable and had a rustic-look. We had a 'junior' cabin, which meant that we had one queen-sized bed. Some cabins were a bit smaller but most were larger and could accommodate families. Each cabin has a fully-stocked kitchen. Ours was stocked with vinegar and oil for salads, salt and pepper, coffee and tea. There was a toaster oven, a cook top, refrigerator and plenty of dishes and pots and pans. We looked upon this hotel as 'glamping'. Los Pinos was situated on its own preserve on a hill. Monteverde is, of course, very hilly. Having no car, we had a short uphill walk to our cabin from the registration area. Our suitcases were transported to our cabin. The site was private and wooded, just as we like. There was a picnic table and chair outside the cabin on the porch but it was generally too chilly for us to make good use of them. We were there in late March. The cabin was very spacious and warm indoors. Some might be put off by the fact that one could not put toilet paper down the toilet, but it didn't bother us terribly. It was, however, very difficult to remember to do so as habit is so strong. The bathroom was well ventilated and there was no bad smell. Maid service came every day and removed the trash. We very much enjoyed the ecological point of view espoused in Costa Rica. The person working in reception was always most helpful even though we required little. There is a private reserve with a trail that one can hike but we found nothing of note on the hike . We do not really recommend this activity. It was fine for the exercise. There is a nice lookout at the top, but the day we were there it was quite cloudy. Best to walk to Curi Cancha and walk around that lovely park. Be sure to eat at Stella's on the way.

It was a beautiful hot springs. We had the dinner and it was very good. We aren't ones for sitting in water for long periods of time nor for drinking extensively in the pool, so it was not a long experience for us. It was, however, very relaxing.

The guide was friendly and knowledgeable. The hike was excellent. The guide told us a lot about the area and pointed out interesting animals and birds, particularly the birds. It was a group hike and it was interesting meeting the various travelers. The waterfall experience was a bit less so for us. We were the only ones on this part of the trip and had no idea what to expect. It turns out that the waterfall is 500 steps down and 500 back up. You can swim in the pool but one has to clamber over huge rocks to get there. After we got back to the top we were taken to a private farm to table lunch at a restaurant owned by the tour company. It was a lovely secluded site, but the food was so-so. We enjoyed the day, however.

My husband and I enjoyed this activity start to finish. It gave one a perspective on the life of the indigenous peoples back in time which gave way to present days issues. The demonstrations were fascinating. They demonstrated a wedding ceremony, how they made their clothes and how they made bows and arrows. I actually shot an arrow and hit the target. Big win for me. The lunch was delicious. We highly recommend.

It was an interesting excursion. The bridges were sturdy and easy to walk. The views were excellent. It was worthwhile. We took the ride to the top, but it was so very cloudy and rainy that we couldn't see too much. We were grateful that we did not do the zip lining in the cold rain. Our guide was very good, though and enjoyable.

This is a great activity. We had a private tour. The guide was friendly and fun. We saw at least 20 birds, including the elusive quetzal. It was a great activity, probably the best of our trip.

We very much enjoyed this tour. It took about 45 minutes to get there from our hotel, but the surroundings were interesting to watch during the ride. The guide at the farm was excellent. We learned a lot about vanilla and saw examples of the plants and orchids. The guide showed us many spice trees and plants on the farm and described in good detail how each was harvested. We learned a lot. Best yet, we got to sample some of the vanilla and chocolate in drinks, cake and ice cream. It was a lovely tour.

This tour focused heavily on the plants and the cloud forest itself, rather than the birds and all of the animals. The guide was excellent and his passion for the environment was evident. We really enjoyed our time with him. Although he focused on plants, he identified a few birds for us and teased a tarantula out of its hole so that we could get a good look. We gained a lot from this tour and highly recommend it to others.

My husband I like to kayak but this trip fell a bit short. We took the trip in the late morning and that may have made a difference. It was very hot and anything interesting was probably hidden away. There ended up being two guides for us two people. One, the secondary guide, was quite interesting and talked a lot to us. The main guide was informative during the ride, but got quieter during the trip. Basically, we paddled through mangrove trees for an hour or so. It gets very repetitive. The best part was the last 10 minutes when we actually saw two interesting birds. It wasn't our best trip. The kayaks are not propelled by paddles as we are used to. They are propelled by pedaling, as in a reclining bicycle. Steering them is also very different from our norm, and it took a few minutes to get used to. I would not really recommend this tour, but it could be better at a different time of day.