Beautiful resort tranquil remote location

The staff are very friendly, happy and eager to please. Do your homework because this is a beautiful resort and its location is remote which only adds to its beauty BUT if you plan to do a lot of day trips there will be some extensive travel time. The trip from Liberia airport is 2 hours and paving continues near the resort but the bumpy road that people refer to isn't an issue and will be completed shortly. We had booked as Preferred Club and we had requested Building 8A second floor and tha [... read more]t's exactly what we were given, a lovely kind sized room with view of the lower pools and beach and we enjoyed lovely sunsets from our balcony. The resort is easily walkable - approx 10 minutes from the main building (World Cafe, El Patio, Himitsu and Portofino restaurants are located) to the beach. If you have mobility issues there are golf carts available to transport you as the property is quite rolling. The two story buildings, like 8a and 1a, do not have elevators which may be a consideration for those with issues. The resort is beautiful with its meandering pools and the great thing is that your have choices for the pools, some with lots of action and others suitable for a quiet read. It is always windy but that helps as it can get very hot and would be unbearable without it. The beach is a beautiful remote bay, no it's not white sand and aqua waters, but it is lovely unspoiled perfection. We didn't venture into the water but I did speak with some locals who were swimming and asked them about rays and jellyfish and they said there was no issue but you should "shuffle" into the water just in case. You can decide on that one, we stuck to the pool. Restaurants were fantastic! Portofino was gorgeous, beautiful chandeliers in a formal setting....just sit back and then realize where you are...in the middle of nowhere in this beautiful restaurant. Food was very good, some might think the portions small but not so if doing appetizer to desert. Pastas and meats were all delicious. Seaside Grille. The beef tenderloin/fillet was absolutely one of the best steaks ever...so tender no knife required! The Costa Rican lobster tail ($35 extra charge) was huge - sweet and tender, no butter required. The manager of Seaside, Jorge, is a super nice guy who runs a smooth operation always checking on the kitchen and waiters/servers. It certainly translates to good service and a great meal. El Patio is underrated IMO and has some great steak and chicken options which are delicious. Himitsu is good and very popular so get there early unless you want to wait. For breakfast our only option was the World Cafe as the resort was only about a 1/3 full and Seaside was never open for breakfast. Lots of choices including a cook to order omelet, eggs, crepes, and smoothie bar. One could never leave here hungry for lack of choice. At lunch the selections again were varied and good. Barefoot Grill offers grilled kabobs, burgers, etc. We tried the kabobs, chicken, ribs and wings, all of which were good. You can do as much or as little as you wish at the resort. There are daily nature walks to see the monkeys, parrots, iguanas, pool games and entertainment nights. Don't miss their Fire Show which was great! Colleen Graham

Beautiful resort

We just returned from this resort. While the road in is terrible, there is beautiful scenery and animals to look at. We had a great driver to and from the resort who were very knowledgeable and took time to stop and let us take pics. The resort is very picturesque and even more beautiful at night. The beach while not as beautiful as the Carribean was still a nice walking beach. It is also a public beach, so that may account for the fact that there are no palapas, and also the tide comes in quite [... read more] far. No problem with check in, very fast actually. The food was good and plentiful. We had no problem getting into the restaurants. While the portions are smaller, there was still more than enough to eat. Our room was very nice and housekeeping kept everything stocked. Would I go back, it is still very far from a lot of the excursions and that road is a real deterrent, so probably not. Costa Erica is a beautiful place and would try another resort next time.

Great vacation

The resort was friendly, staff tried to speak English but appreciated if you tried to speak Spanish. The resort was very clean, will be beautiful when flowers mature and bloom. We enjoyed seeing monkeys outside our room.

Beautiful Resort

I had read a lot of mixed reviews on this resort....so I was contemplating a last minute resort change but I was so glad we didn't. The resort itself is magical....beautifully decorated, spacious rooms, friendly staff. The bathroom is a weird open concept design which could get awkward if you go with a friend or new bf or gf...lol. The service was a bit slow in the a la carte restaurants but the food was not great but good. Pool bar had great service and lots of high end alcohol for their prefer [... read more]red guests. The beach was beautiful but the water was extremely cold...not good snorkeling either...too murky. Lots of monkeys to be seen across the street and tons of chattering birds in the trees outside our oceanview room. I hardly saw anyone using the swim out pool...glad we didnt get that upgrade. All in all a great vacation. I think this resort will only get better with time.