Great, but...

Costa Rica | Oct 19 - Oct 26, 2024

Alex is an amazing driver! Long rides went fast due to his knowledge and experiences in life. Some other things need improvement though.

Accommodations were very good except at the Lapas Jungle Lodge. While the atmosphere was great, the rooms and meals were below average. Room had a hot water issue, hot tub was not hot and only 1 of 7 jets worked, ongoing construction, and staff morale seemed low. I would not use this hotel until the new ownership has finished refurbish.

Most excursions were awesome, but the descriptions could be better. Even their websites are pretty vague. The night walk was great but our guide was not engaging and seemed impatient. Same with the ATV guide. While nice people, it felt like they were just going through the motions.

The 2nd half of our itinerary was lacking in accurate (or at all) descriptions. We made it work, but wanted to bring it up for future guests.

Finally, Bryan's attention to detail needs improvement. He miscommunicated several times on, what I thought, were some pretty easy tasks. I'm sure it's a fast paced job, but this was the down season.

Overall we loved our trip but would not book through Serendipity again.

Hotel Reviews

Volcano Lodge, Hotel & Thermal Experience

San Carlos, Alajuela

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Villa Lapas Rainforest Eco-Resort

Tárcoles

They are in the middle of new ownership and they need to finish their construction before I would recommend. The grounds are great though!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Celeste Mountain Lodge

Bijagua

This is more like a B&B, but that is what's charming about it. Very clean and well maintained. The food is great, and an excellent value! We ate all but one of our meals there.

Authenticity & Character

Very relaxing atmosphere

Location

Don't miss out on their private hiking path, it was the highlight of our trip!

Staff

The staff seemed like family and all did a wonderful job.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Super clean and orderly. Quiet and relaxing, I recommend a fan if you are not used to an open air room without A/C, we did just fine with a 10" fan on the days without a breeze. And we slept really well enjoying the night sounds.

Activity Reviews

Safari Float on the Peñas Blancas River

Arenal/La Fortuna

Nice float and our raft guide was excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal ATV Adventure

Arenal/La Fortuna

It was fun and we'd do it again with a different trail(s). We could have done without the "back 40" mud drive, it was not very big and not that interesting. Once in the mountains, the views were amazing, but not much of a chance to enjoy (eg slow down, pull over, etc. It was more about the ride than the scenery.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Staff was great, especially the young lady at reception, our guide was nice but could have been more attentive.

Transport

Driver was fun and engaging, in fact he was the one who noticed my phone/rain issue...well done!

Tapir Valley Nature Reserve Night Walk

Bijagua / Rio Celeste

Fantastic experience, the nature reserve has well maintained paths and structures.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide seemed overly focused on moving rather than enjoying. Not all tourists want to run at night, in a hot climate, to maybe see an animal. Many of us just want to be out there soaking up the atmosphere. Perhaps ask your group what they value.

Transport

Serendipity manager fumbled the transport. Many thanks to our hotel hosts for finding a alternate driver quickly. But this set off a chain reaction where our tour guide seemed annoyed and in a rush.

River Tubing, Río Celeste

Bijagua / Rio Celeste

Great guide, very patient and upbeat.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fun guys, went out of their way to give extra time and effort. Well done, gentlemen!

Jungle Crocodile Safari

Costa Rica

We can't review because our Serendipity manager was not very attentive, he seemed disengaged and not too effective at his job.