Charming resort in a great location

Villas Sol is a charming resort that is located in a great spot within a small town- there are restaurants and grocery stores along with a couple of little shops within walking distance outside the front gates for those that want to explore a little. The main hotel rooms are a little bit dated but very clean. This resort is built within the side of a mountain, so the shuttle service that loops the grounds regularly will get you to the beach and back without hassle, as the roads within this res [... read more]ort have many steep inclines. The views of the ocean are absolutely spectacular- and the beach is beautiful. This resort is only walkable for the physically fit! As the shuttle service does not run 24 hours, if you happen to rent a villa up in the top of the mountain and it's after 10 pm, there is no shuttle operating! -When booking an all-inclusive experience, it is not all-inclusive everywhere within the hotel grounds. Although there is more than one restaurant on the grounds, the other restaurants as well as snacks at the pool bar have to be paid for. Alcoholic beverages are also included with an all-in package at the pool bar and the buffet. Only the buffet is provided at no-charge with an all-inclusive package, and the hotel definitely needs to work on the food quality as the buffet isn't that great. The food quality has been better in places like Cuba. Breakfast was the only meal we were eating on the resort, as they do make eggs your way fresh to order and the standard breakfast options. Lunch and dinner gets a little rough and repetitive. However, there are a few restaurant options just outside the gates of the resort that range in price and have excellent food. -There isn't any shade seating at the pool near the buffet. -The beach is beautiful, however the resort needs to work on providing some dedicated lounge chairs in a dedicated area on the beach, as the chairs that are down there for resort guests tend to get taken over by locals, and majority of them are all reaching their expiry date and are all stretched out and barely useable. The staff are all wonderful, everybody is extremely friendly and happy to take care of you! As far as tipping goes- I recommend bringing lots of smaller currency with you, either USD or Costa Rican Colones. Unlike some other countries like D.R, Mexico, etc. they are more than happy with their own currency. USD isn't absolutely necessary which to me is a plus! It is challenging to get smaller bills for tipping, so I strongly recommend to be prepared. Tipping isn't mandatory, but it is always appreciated and definitely makes service improve even more! Overall, we would go back to the Villas Sol should we come across a great vacation deal again. It is a very safe area, and a charming resort overall.

Amazing resort!

Our stay at the Villas Sol hotel has exceeded our expectations. From its prime location to exquisite dining and immaculate cleanliness, everything was exceptional. The staff is both friendly and professional. Although one of the three nearby beaches was just a few minutes from our hotel, the shuttle service was convenient and available throughout the day. Additionally, the onsite car rental service was a delightful bonus to our experience.

Good resort

In the forest, next to the beach. Aaaaaaaa Bbbbbbbbb Bbbbbbbbb Bbbbbbbbb Cccccccccccc Cccccccccccc Ddddddddddddd Dddddddddddddddddddddddd Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwweewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwswwwwwwww

Fair Resort (for the price)

The re-sort was Good ** Food--had variety of Choices to choose from ** Rooms Cleaned ***Staff ---Good ****Surrounding area-Pool--cafeteria--was Clean *** Scuttle busses--VeryTimely My only Comments *** Not Enough chairs at the beach(Only 10) *** Foods--There was No bananas-no Oranges- No fish (Sounds Strange) But All Is WELL Definitely RECOMMEND

Two wonderful weeks

This is our 4th time at Villas Sol since 2017. We stayed in deluxe rooms in main building. They've made some upgrades to rooms and pool since 2020. The food is great and so is the staff. The beach is beautiful, i do wish they had some drinks available at the beach. I don't mind using the shuttle. Great for families, couples and friends. Not preferable for those with walking or mobility issues, hotel is on a hill. No problem for us. There is some great activities and live music some nights. Th [... read more]ey did play music late some evenings. Overall great resort and value for your money. It has the most beautiful view and sunset.

Good hotel

It is a 3star hotel, so you cannot expect luxury, however the food was excellent, lot of choices, the view from the hill is stunning, the beach is not white sand but dark sand, rooms are clean and lots of choices for excursions. The closest shopping area is Coco Beach, shuttle is 10.US $ You can buy souvenirs and it has as small Casino on ground I would recommend this hotel to friends

Great resort

I really loved the resort. Room was really nice and clean. The view is beautiful. The resort is on a hill. The food was good but only has 2 restaurants which was fine by me. It has a relaxing vibe. The beach is nice and I saw howler monkeys in the trees. I would defininely go back.

As fare as we are concerned Willa-sol resort comes in as the best holiday we ever had many thanks to all

as fare as we are concerned Willa-sol resort comes in as the best holiday we ever had many thanks to all our first time in Costa rica so the experiences we had at villa-sol opens the door for another visit to your country , only thing no need to purchase any items in the stores ; its way overpriced we can buy the same in canada for half the price.

Not for everyone or maybe anyone.

Spent most of my time waiting for the shuttle bus-like cattle, to take you around this private public resort. NOT recommended for people with mobility issues for sure. Told WiFi included. Was not, cost big. For some reason the resort had nowhere too access cash, had to go to a town 20 minutes plus -away to access a bank or ATM. The beach is a full of sellers of Time Share properties, even if they don't call it that!! My dress was bleached from the chemicals used in the pool. Towels at one pool  [... read more]and not the other and such a pain to get to either pool, which is used by the family of the owners. No entertainment, your stranded in that any trips to rainforest, is hours away. There is one restaurant to eat in, so if you are hungry or want something to drink after hours forget it. The rooms were clean. Not recommended if you are a smoker, have to wait for a shuttle bus to have a smoke, which is either at the beach or outside the gate. Could take up too half hour to get to either. Has turned me off Costa Rica all together.

Enjoyed our stay

Lovely hotel with fantastic view, and good food. The reservation restaurant was outstanding. The excursion arranged by the hotel was great. The only sour note was the meeting we thought would be a hotel orientation turned out to be a three hour long infomercial for the Wanderlust travel club. I would recommend the hotel to a friend but with the proviso that they avoid the introductory meeting.

Villas Sol

We met some great people at Villas Sol who were guests, and the staff in the bars and restaurants were great, but were very disappointed in the staff working in the reception area of the hotel. Certainly not a good choice for anyone who has difficulty walking (lots of stairs and hills). We found better deals on excursions in Coco Beach with more variety than offered at Villas Sol. However, staff make you sign a waiver if waiting outside the gate for an external tour company - no big deal!

Relaxing getaway.

Other reviews are not kidding, the grounds are very steep, but the frequent shuttles are very helpful for those not willing to walk the hills. It is an older resort, but well maintained. The food was great, the service was excellent, and the scenery was beautiful. We had rooms overlooking the ocean and directly over the smaller of the two pools, and the location was perfect. It was very peaceful and just the relaxing vacation we were looking for. If you are looking for a wild party place this wo [... read more]uld not be a good choice, but if you are looking for a place to simply chill this is it.

As expected

Rooms clean, staff accommodating and friendly, food same most days, everything as expected for the price. Got great excursions on the beach with Gilbert and Junior Loved the country, lots of wild life on site Stayed Nov 2-9, 2017

Good Quality Resort

Thank you very much Tripcentral for providing me an opportunity to write a review on our recent stay at Villas Sol Hotel and resort at Costa Rica. I would give 3.5 star to this Hotel/Villas. Our stay was amazing and pretty well comfortable. Hotel: The overall Hotel view/looks and location was Good as we had ocean facing view. Pools: pools were small and ok. Food court: Everything was made on room temperature. No fridge or cold iteams(Milk, cake, coffee)availability. Staff: was very frien [... read more]dly and supportive but they know only Spanish. Hard time communicating with them.

Your money's worth

You are paying for a 3 Star and getting a 3 Star. This is an older resort but has been maintained and in very good condition. The staff are very good, helpful and friendly. Smaller selection of foods on buffet, than expected. Overall good value and your money's worth.

Just OK

You can't beat the views at this resort! Any time of day, but especially at sunset, the view to the ocean was breathtaking. We stayed in the hotel rather than the villas, which I was very glad of once I got there and saw the steepness of the hillside they're perched on. The rooms were a good size, had a balcony and were clean. One thing we found disappointing was that the fridge wasn't stocked. Not even with water. This is the first time we've stayed anywhere that didn't supply a couple bottles  [... read more]of beer, pop and water. The other big disappointment was the food. There was very little choice and it was the same things over and over again, none of it very good. The internet is also not free here. Our one complaint about the staff was our check in. We were handed the keys and a towel card and that was it. No information on even how to get to our room. No info on the internet availability. No 'ticket' for the a la carte restaurant. The guy was very unfriendly as well. When we went down a couple of days later when we found out we were supposed to have a ticket for the a la carte, the woman that we dealt with was very nice and helpful. On a positive note, the beach is beautiful and huge, great for walking. One side is lava rock which is fun to explore at low tide, looking for creatures in the pools. The rest is sand, stretching a couple of kilometers, with several restaurants along the way. The shuttle runs every couple of minutes, between the beach, reception and hotel, so there's never long to wait. The 2 pools are clean and we never had any trouble getting a lounger. The staff are all very friendly and being a small resort, it's easy to meet people. Although we had a great time, it's not a resort I would go back to or one I would recommend to friends.

Great Resort

The hotel was very nice and clean. The staff were very friendly and fun. The food was pretty good for a buffet. There was a shuttle bus that took us to the beach and it was always on time. The maids cleaned you room for you every morning with fresh blankets and towels. The view was amazing from our balcony. The resort was great for families with kids and older couples. There was always activities going on at one of the pools with games and prizes. Overall it was a great resort and we had a great [... read more] time there with no problems!

Costa Rica - Villas Sol

Very happy with Trip Central but extremely unhappy with Sunwing - upgraded to Elite Plus but only got leg room - no first-off plane, or first in line-ups, or first-off luggage - all promised but nothing - waste of 50.00 - got earphones but my seat system was broken - sunwing rep in CR only concerned about selling excursions and did nothing to help us with questions like where to bank, or where to go for shopping etc....the people at the hotel pressuring (big time) for tours of the hotel in excha [... read more]nge for 100.00 towards excursions/spa - timesharing....awful. The hotel itself was incredible but over-shadowed for sure by sunwing experience and hotel harrassment. Beach was 'ok' but the pool was beautiful - the landscape and the beauty was inexplicable - so beautiful! The excursion we went on, booked thru TripCentral - Vandara Expedition was amazing and highly recommend that you take this. Hotel built into mountain so had to take shuttles to the beach and reception - just loved it!

Villas Sol, Liberia Costa Rica

My daughter and I just got back and the experience, overall, was amazing. However, I was extremely disappointed with Sunwing. After Julie, at TripCentral, did such an amazing job with the booking of the trip, as well as the excursion (which was incredible!), Sunwing left such a bad taste. At the airport in Toronto, in line-up to check our bags, we were approached about upgrading to Elite Plus for 50.00 (a discount, apparently) - we were told that we would have more leg-room, first on/off the  [... read more]plane, priority lineups in TO and Costa Rica and luggage first off the plane....all we got was more leg room. We were in row 15 so there was not first off the plane, we waited in the same line ups as everyone else (we even asked but nobody knew what we were supposed to do or get)...and our luggage was the second last off the plane - everyone else was gone and we were still waiting for our luggage. So why did we pay 50.00 extra? They did give me free head-phones but it was well into the trip down to CR which meant I had missed all the movie. I tried to use them on the return trip but my system was broken and I couldn't hear music or the movie. I told the attendant, but there was nothing she could do. She did give me a little glass of wine for free which wasn't really free because it was complimentary and my daughter is only 16 so, in fact, it was like I just took hers. That was the first complaint - then when we got to CR, we were supposed to have our orientation with the Sunwing rep on the Tuesday at 11:30 - we met him but it wasn't orientation - he had no interest in discussing things like where we could bank, or eat, or go - all he wanted to do was book excursions. I had booked, previously, with Julie so he just took the time to write up the receipt and give us our date/time - then he 'dismissed us' because he had other 'customers' who were wanting to buy an excursion. He was 'border-line' rude with us. He wasn't the only one that was trying to push/bully us....the people who worked at the hotel harrassed us about taking a 1-1/2 hour tour of the hotel (time-sharing, it seems) and then giving us a 100.00 credit applied against excursions or spas. We weren't interested and told them, but that didn't stop them from approaching us every time they saw us. It was awful - we found ourselves actually hiding from them! So everything that Julie did was ruined by these experiences. Other than that, the hotel was incredible! The scenery - the hotel itself, the pools, the staff (other than the ones mentioned)....a beautiful fime - Costa Rica is so beautiful - and this hotel, being built right into a mountain, was different than any other place we have been. We had to take shuttles to reception and to the beach because of the steep hills - so quaint! We loved our experiences and would highly recommend this trip to others.

It was okay not spectular

The food was consumable, not a lot to pick from. The rooms were clean and comfortable. I didn't care for the hillside resort, too much up and down. They had shuttle service, but I felt it wasn't a safe enough ride. I rate it a 3 out of 5, you get what you pay for. I won't be going back to this resort anytime soon.