This was the first time I had travelled in my...
Costa Rica | Mar 21 - Mar 31, 2023

Tobi
Tobi S.
Canada | Reviewed on Apr 01, 2023

This was the first time I had travelled in my ow like this, I am extremely grateful there were no glitches and everything was perfectly planned.

There are a couple things I learned for next time and I am looking forward to planning my next trip with KimKim!

Hotel Reviews
Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort
Fortuna

I would give this hotel a 3.5, the facility was beautiful and the hot springs were very nice, but we couldn’t sleep here for a few of reasons: our a/c unit would not stay running I had advised the hotel, but they indicated there was nothing they could do, we had to get up multiple times in the night to reset it. The beds were quite uncomfortable for me, I would wake up multiple time in the night because my hips would get sore, worked out though so I could reset the a/c 😂. Also we were on a main floor and someone was above us, this isn’t the hotels fault, but the people above us stomped around from 6 am until 2am we had to call the front desk, so as a tip ask for a second floor room.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Clean, just not comfortable for me.
Hotel Ficus
Monteverde Costa Rica

Loved this hotel it was quite amazing. It was beautiful and well taken care of, it was also easy walking access to shops and restaurants. The restaurant was also very good for breakfast. 2 things I would note for other travellers: 1 - there is no a/c (I did ask specifically about this and was told there was a/c but there is not.) thankfully it cools down there quite nicely at night but my girls didn’t want me to open the windows because there are no screens and they were worried about bugs coming in. 2nd - there is no pool, I didn’t ask about this, I just assumed there was, if it was just me travelling, it would have been fine but I had a child with me and it’s always best to have a pool when travelling with children, from my experience.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Tamarindo Diria Beach Resort
Tamarindo

This was a great hotel for us, close to the beach, great facilities, beautiful pools. As a tip, we had a room near the back of the hotel facing the pool but backing on to a street, it was quite loud due to the music playing at the restaurants, across the way, it was also near the entrance to the pools so we would often hear people in the hallway, yelling, playing, or trying to access the pool (there was a loud buzzer). Also, I’m not sure why but we had difficulty getting towels in our room, we had to constantly ask for them to be replaced and replaced in an amount for all of us.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Activity Reviews
Selvatura Park: The Sloth Sanctuary
Selvatura Park: The Sloth Sanctuary
Monteverde

We loved our time with the sloths and we were lucky to see them moving about and eating, it was shot but sufficient. This should be a self drive activity.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall, and Arenal Volcano
Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall, and Arenal Volcano
Arenal/La Fortuna

Such a great day, the guide and driver were awesome and very accommodating!

Quality of Experience
Food
Guides, Drivers and Staff
So great!! Funny and engaging!
Transport
Sky Adventures Zip Lines
Sky Adventures Zip Lines
Arenal/La Fortuna

Probably one of the top highlights of our trip!

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike
Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike
Monteverde

This was a nice hike but, there was a lot of stopping looking for birds, which is not really our thing. The guide was very knowledgeable and kind but was not engaging for my daughters. We would have just preferred to hike and stop when there was actually something to see. I know the people we were with were very interested in the birds so I’m sure it was good for them .

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Night Walk in the Children's Eternal Forest
Night Walk in the Children's Eternal Forest
Monteverde

This was cool, however, I was disappointed we didn’t see too much. I did expect to see more, but I guess it’s the luck of the draw :)

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Tamarindo Mangrove & Estuary Boat Tour
Tamarindo Mangrove & Estuary Boat Tour
Tamarindo

This is not a reflection of the guide or the tour, however, this tour was filled up by a group of Swiss travellers, who made this tour uncomfortable for us. We saw several birds and some crocodiles! Maybe not a trip for a tween, she was a little bored and then when she talked, they other tourists shhh’d her 😳🙄.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Enjoy the Thermal Hotsprings at your hotel
Enjoy the Thermal Hotsprings at your hotel
Arenal/La Fortuna

The hot springs were nice! We really enjoyed having access at our hotel!

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
We had issues getting towels, there was often a wait as no staff were available.
Local specialist: Sergio Bolaños
Sergio
Sergio Bolaños
Local specialist in Limon, Costa Rica | Replied on Apr 05, 2023

Hi Tobi, it is great to hear that your first solo travel experience went smoothly and without any glitches! It's great to know that the planning process was perfectly executed, making for a stress-free trip. Thank you for choosing us for your first solo trip, and we look forward to helping you plan many more in the future!