Wonderful trip!
Costa Rica | Mar 4 - Mar 13, 2025

M
Madeline G.
Dallas, TX | Reviewed on Mar 14, 2025

Planning and booking our trip to Costa Rica was very easy, as planning always is on kimkim. Olman was fantastic but upon traveling, we were passed to someone else who wasn't as responsive. We had a few questions/issues and needed a quick response and waited a bit for those.

Our trip was really great except we were quite disappointed in one of our hotels. (In Monteverde.) The hotel overall was old and outdated, it overall felt outdated and we weren't even comfortable showering there. The staff was quite unwelcoming and parking was horrible at that hotel. It made our time in Monteverde frustrating.

We had a few kinks in our trip that we just didn't catch until we were already traveling (we had a 4 hour national park tour on the day we were also set to drive 4 hours to San Jose and late checkout wasn't set up) but overall it was an amazing trip and we will continue to use kimkim for future trips.

Hotel Reviews
Parque del Lago Boutique Hotel
San José

Staff was friendly, beds were comfortable. Room felt very small and was quite noisy.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Seemed to be in the middle of the city with a lot around it.
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Dreams Lodge Monteverde
Santa Elena

We really didn't enjoy this hotel. The room was very small, as was the bathroom. It also felt very old and like it needed a good deep clean and maintenance. The bathroom was very, very small and didn't feel clean. It was a "don't walk barefoot on the floor" kind of a hotel. The staff wasn't friendly or welcoming at all and parking was terrible. We disliked this hotel so much that within 2 hours of arriving, we were looking for other accommodations to pay for outside of our package. We ended up staying because the other hotels were sold out.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Hotel Lomas del Volcán
Fortuna

This hotel was INCREDIBLE! The staff was so friendly and welcoming and made us all feel like we were VIP guests. The location is just amazing and the view from our room was stunning. The grounds of the property are lush and beautiful and the pool was also lovely. Breakfast with a view every morning was a huge plus and it was quite delicious. Our room and bathroom were really spacious and we could spread out and were quite comfortable. The patio was spacious and we never, ever felt cramped or crowded. We had an absolutely wonderful time at this hotel and actually wished our whole trip was focused here because of this hotel. We would recommend this hotel to anyone staying near La Fortuna.

Authenticity & Character
We loved everything about this hotel. It's very well maintained while being true to the natural setting.
Location
If you love nature, animals, tropical vegetation and a volcano view...then this is the location for you! Going into town was 5-10 min and an easy, easy drive.
Staff
Every member of the staff we encountered was so friendly and accommodating.
Cleanliness & Comfort
Room/bathroom was very spacious. The room was clean and beds were comfortable. AC worked wonderfully and the whole cabin was very clean. There were many spots for bugs/spiders to be if the cabin wasn't maintained and we saw none.
Karahé Beach Hotel
Manuel Antonio

Nice hotel in a good location. The only issue we had is that we were given a beachfront room but it's not at all beachfront. It's a walk to beach and no view of the beach, which was a bit disappointing. Breakfast was also a bit disappointing with exactly the same thing served daily. The room was very spacious and comfortable enough and was cleaned daily. Staff was friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character
Location
Staff
Cleanliness & Comfort
Activity Reviews
Sloth Trail Watching Tour
Sloth Trail Watching Tour
Arenal/La Fortuna

Fantastic tour! We were able to see/observe several sloths. I believe we encounter 8 on this tour. Our guide was very, very patient with us and made sure that our 9 year old had a chance to observe everything as well. This meant he had to constantly lower the telescope for her and he was so patient and accommodating. He spent time explaining details about all of the animals we saw, answering questions we had and pointing out all sorts of other animals to us. This was a wonderful tour and one we will not soon forget.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Rainforest Chocolate Tour
Rainforest Chocolate Tour
Arenal/La Fortuna

Nice tour, very informative. Was able to taste chocolate and guides were very friendly and helpful. We saw several animals on the tour and had a great time!

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike
Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike
Costa Rica

We loved this tour! We saw plenty of animals and enjoyed our time immensely. There are some things we wish we would have known prior to going.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Our guide Lisandro was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!1
Transport
El Silencio Hike & Visit to Ecotermales Hot Springs
El Silencio Hike & Visit to Ecotermales Hot Springs
Arenal/La Fortuna

This was good experience but it was different than we expected. It was listed as a 0.6 mile hike but it absolutely felt longer and was solid uphill. When we looked the trail up online, it said it was an easy hike but it felt a little harder than easy. If we did this trip again, we would skip the hike and do just the hot springs. We didn't like the food on the buffet, at all.

Quality of Experience
Food
The food just wasn't good. It was poor quality, not hot and wasn't a good selection.
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Our pickup transport was great and so friendly. We weren't aware we would have a different driver after the springs and that driver wasn't friendly at all. His car was tiny and we actually weren't sure he was really our driver at first.
Proyecto Asis Wildlife Rehabilitation Center - Volunteer Experience
Proyecto Asis Wildlife Rehabilitation Center - Volunteer Experience
Arenal/La Fortuna

We loved this experience and had a great time! Our guide was very informative and patient.

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Visit El Choyin Thermal River Hot Springs
Visit El Choyin Thermal River Hot Springs
Arenal/La Fortuna

We chose to skip this experience and simply rest.

Night Excursion at the Wildlife Refuge in Monteverde
Night Excursion at the Wildlife Refuge in Monteverde
Monteverde

Wonderful experience and saw a lot of really fun animals and plants. The walk was easy enough and we had no issues. The guide was really wonderful and very patient with our group. (We were paired with a couple that had a 3 and 5 year old.)

Quality of Experience
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
Local specialist: Olman Romero
Olman
Olman Romero
Local specialist in San Jose, Costa Rica | Replied on Mar 14, 2025
Dear Madeline, Thank you so much for your feedback! I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. I'm so glad that you found the trip planning process easy with kimkim and that overall your time in Costa Rica was great. I’m sorry to hear about the experience with the hotel in Monteverde, as well as the delays in communication after you were handed off. I completely understand how frustrating that must have been, and I’ll make sure to address these points to improve... Read more

Dear Madeline,

Thank you so much for your feedback! I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. I'm so glad that you found the trip planning process easy with kimkim and that overall your time in Costa Rica was great.

I’m sorry to hear about the experience with the hotel in Monteverde, as well as the delays in communication after you were handed off. I completely understand how frustrating that must have been, and I’ll make sure to address these points to improve future travel experiences.

I also apologize for the mix-ups with the national park tour and late checkout. I’ll look into how we can better coordinate those details to ensure a smoother experience moving forward.

Thank you again for your feedback, and I’m thrilled to hear that despite the kinks, you had an amazing trip! We truly appreciate your continued trust in kimkim, and we look forward to assisting with any future travels.

Best regards,
Olman