Costa Rica Review

By SamsonitePackingJetSettingGlobeTrotter ⋅ July 18, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Costa Rica…”The Rich Coast”, “The Big Pineapple”, “The Switzerland of the Americas”…the rainiest country we’ve ever visited!Chrissy gave you the basic rundown of how we got there and what we did. So now I’m going to tell you exactly how I felt about the services we received and sites visited. Introducing our new rating system!













Here goes…Latin Destinations - An online travel agency that we used to plan our vacation. They are pretty cool. They have a variety of trips to choose from and many ways to arrange it based on your schedule and preferences. They sent our travel itinerary as soon as it was confirmed, sent reminder e-mails and were overall very efficient.

American Airlines - *Takes a deep breath* If you’ve ever read our blog you know that “these people” have had so many problems in 2008 that they are falling out of our good graces. On international flights you have to fill out customs forms….well we were sleep when they passed them out…so they just didn’t give them to us WTF?! They Suck!!

Swiss Travel Services - We arranged for airport/hotel shuttles through Latin Destinations. And as soon as we cleared customs a Swiss Travel representative (english speaking) was right there waiting with a sign. We received vouchers upon arrival for each pick-up service and the driver was always right on time and very courteous. We used the same ervice to travel from San Jose hotel to Arenal (4 hour ride) and from Arenal to Tamarindo (6 hour ride).

Hotel Britannia - Located in downtown San Jose. Far from the airport but an easy 30 minute ride away. The room was sapcious enough for the two of us and very clean. The bathroom was huge, as far as hotel bathrooms go. Cleaning service was on time everyday and they work in crews of 3 so it takes them about 10 minutes to do your entire room. The tropical breakfast buffet left much to be desired…unless you like fruit like that, then I suppose it would have been perfect for you. The concierge at the hotel was not very helpful, but since everything else with the hotel went so well we’ll chalk their lack of assistance up to the language barrier.

El Pueblo - A multi-plex with restaurants, clubs, gift shops, cigar shops etc. We ate lunch at Lukas Restaurant & Bar, where the food was o.k. and the service left much to be desired, and dinner at Papa Pez where the service and the food more than made up for lunch. The shopping plaza is small and doesnt necessarily have to be on your must see list. It is also home to Ebony 56 a club we went to our first night which deserves its own review.

Ebony 56 - Hey, the place as the same name as me, so we HAD to go, right? Wrong. It was terrible. But only 2000 colons to enter and ladies drink free. You can’t beat a $4 club night. It was like dance groups with hype men doing routines in uniform. Not only were they not percise but we watched 2 groups dance and yell in the mic for an hour each and they each shoul dhave gotten the ‘Gong’. But everyone else seemed to like it. And if you don’t speak Spanish you can ‘forget about it’ in here. However, since it is possible that I was tired (but we had slept for like 3 hours before we went, so I don’t think thats the case) I’m going to give it……instead of the one it deserves

Mercado Central - A cab ride from El Pueblo to Mercado Central was about 15 minutes (due to traffic) but it was only like $3. (Sidebar: Take a cab everywhere!) When you think of this place think of the local flea market in any U.S. city, the Straw Market in the Bahamas, or Central Row in Puerto Rico. Anything you need to buy you can find it here. (San Jose was less expensive overall than the other cities. As you get closer to the coast, prices rise.) Souvenirs are much more affordable in Mercado Central and you have the ability to haggle. Keep in mind the aisles are small and due to a multitude of seafood shops, the smell pungent, but you can’t beat the prices.

Arenal Paraiso Resort and Spa - Pretty darn cool. It was at the base of a live volcano, it was erupting on the other side though, so we saw no lava. The resort is set up like duplex houses…one on each side…we had our own porch with glass doors, two rocking chairs and a drive-way. After check-in the concierge puts your luggage in a shuttle van and drives you to your home. The resort offered many optional tours so there is no need to sign-up in advance especially if you want to visit a hot springs because guess what…its right there! And its FREE! Aside from the ants that infiltrated the bathroom, and I was so unhappy to find them in my contact lense case, the resort was great.….because of the ants

Canopy Tour - ‘Zip-Lining’ Mz Travel Diva’s favorite activity. (Laughing on the inside…I’m breathing now….and ready to continue) The Arenal Paraiso Resort had a zip-line tour right there on the property. Talk about perfect. The tour was about 2 hours long and they give plenty of instructions…and even when you don’t follow them….they help you out without getting upset. Isn’t that right Chris?

Tamarindo Diria Hotel - I have no idea what the people on Travel Advisor were talking about. This was the best hotel we stayed at by far! It was centrally located in Tamarindo and walking distance to the hottest clubs, shopping, and most eateries. Our beachfront property was white sand and picture perfect. The room was newly remodeled and decorated and except for the crab that jumped out on Chrissy in the room, everything was Wonderful!

Babylon - Local nightclub about 10 minutes walking distance from our hotel. I was kind of nervous because most roads in this town are unpaved so they kind of pop up everywhere. Well the dirt path that leads to this place takes you behind some well lit buildings into darkness and then lights emerge and there it is. I was for sure we were being led into a trap. The night we visited The Funky People Online, from NYC, were hosting so the music was mixed DJ and a live Reggaeton Band. This place beat out Ebony 56 hands down!





I’m afraid that if I go any further into deciphering our trip I might either ruin Costa Rica for you or make you want to move there! Remember, every experience is different and unique. Go forth and discover!Ever been to Costa Rica? Share your experience with us in The JetSet Community.