Recommended Resorts in Costa Rica/Aruba?

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Anyone stayed at an A-I Resort in Costa Rica? Looking for some feedback...

 

[Phoenix15]

A good friend of mine stayed at an all inclusive in Mexico. He raved about it for months. I am thinking of going to one myself.

I know this wasn't the answer to your question, but it serves as a bump too. 🙂

 

[purbeast0]

i've never done all inclusive anywhere, and i am really glad i didnt when I went to Aruba because there is just so much more to the place than staying in the resort.

however i do know that some places (like jamaica) you don't really wanna leave the resort for safety issues, but thats not a place I want to go after hearing that.

if costa rica is a place where you are safe going out on the town, i would not recommend an all inclusive package because you will not want to stay in one place for your entire vacation.

 

[exilera]

I recently came back from my Honeymoon in Costa Rica. We first stayed at Villa Caletas, south of San Josa. It's a fantastic hotel; very, very beautiful and excellent food. The hotel is made up of houses or huts built into a mountain. The restaurant there sets a nice mood. It overlooks a valley (remember the hotel is built on the top of a mountain) and there's a lot of wildlife. A Tucan flew into a tree next to us one morning and stayed there for like an hour.

The second hotel we stayed at (and these aren't really hotels as you'd think of them) is built on a coffee plantation. I can't remember the name right now, but I'll find out if you PM me. It was just as nice, but completely different atmosphere. The food there was fantastic as well.

One thing I have to suggest, is that you rent a 4WD vehicle. You need transportation, and a normal car won't cut it, since 95% of the roads are complete crap in Costa Rica. Most of the roads are unpaved and those that are, are covered with deep potholes.

It was a great trip though, aside from the fear of sliding off the mountain while traveling from one hotel to the next (they are one lane roads and are built into the mountains, with no guard rails what-so-ever, so you're basically driving along three feet from a 1000 foot drop-off along a curving road in the rain).

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i've never done all inclusive anywhere, and i am really glad i didnt when I went to Aruba because there is just so much more to the place than staying in the resort.

however i do know that some places (like jamaica) you don't really wanna leave the resort for safety issues, but thats not a place I want to go after hearing that.

if costa rica is a place where you are safe going out on the town, i would not recommend an all inclusive package because you will not want to stay in one place for your entire vacation.

Agreed. All-inclusive can equal prison, and is also generally a culture-free zone, except for the mock-culture they pretend to exhibit. But if its dangerous around there, then its best, however I'd rather go to a place that is safe enough to experience the local area and surroundings.

Price often dictates tho...it can be hard to turn down an outstanding vacation deal.

 

[exilera]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i've never done all inclusive anywhere, and i am really glad i didnt when I went to Aruba because there is just so much more to the place than staying in the resort.

however i do know that some places (like jamaica) you don't really wanna leave the resort for safety issues, but thats not a place I want to go after hearing that.

if costa rica is a place where you are safe going out on the town, i would not recommend an all inclusive package because you will not want to stay in one place for your entire vacation.

Yes, Costa Rica has tons of things to do around the small towns along the coast and around San Jose. I'm not even sure there are all inclusive resorts in Costa Rica, but if there are, I'd strongly suggest against staying in one; you might as well go to Disney World or something. An A-I in Costa Rica would be a total waste.

By the way, we got our hotels for about half normal price. Check out www.luxurylink.com.

 

[exilera]

Got that hotel info; the second hotel was Vista Del Valle and it's in Alajuela, near the airport at San Jose.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

We like the idea of A-I because of the unlimted food and drink. We'll be on our honeymoon, so we will be spending a lot of time realxing but do want to see some sights...

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
We like the idea of A-I because of the unlimted food and drink. We'll be on our honeymoon, so we will be spending a lot of time realxing but do want to see some sights...

I disagree with you, especially for the price. But then I am not you 🙂

In aruba, it was 80$ extra per person per day for all inclusive. it included 3 meals and free drinks, and also some stuff to use on the beach.

However we went to Aruba to experience the entire island, not just our resort. We ate out at a different place every night, hardly drank during the day, and went out partying at night. During the day we were on the beach and probably got 1 drink each day at the beach bar, and we would go do other stuff like snorkel (which had open bar on the boat), horseback riding, wave runners, and parasailing.

all in all I think all inclusive is a waste unless you want to be couped up in the same place for your entire honey moon ... but then again, thats just me 🙂

EDIT: oh one more thing ... we were contemplating whether to get AI or not before we went, but decided to wait and get it when we were there if we wanted. and once we were there, we quickly realize how little we wanted to be at our hotel, so it would have been a waste.

 

[exilera]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
We like the idea of A-I because of the unlimted food and drink. We'll be on our honeymoon, so we will be spending a lot of time realxing but do want to see some sights...

I would very, very strongly suggest against an all inclusive hotel. You'll want to spend most of your time traveling the country. Costa Rica is great for an adventurous vacation, but it's horrible if all you're going to do is stay at a hotel. When we were there, we saw a volcano, took a boat ride to a white sand beach, went to Manuel Antonio (a rainforest w/ a beach), visited a few local towns, went to a waterfall garden, saw wild crocodiles, etc. If you want to spend most of your time in a resort, you definitely don't want to visit Costa Rica.

That said, the food outside of the hotels are very cheap, and very good. Check out luxurylink; we got a few free meals with our package.

 

[exilera]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
We like the idea of A-I because of the unlimted food and drink. We'll be on our honeymoon, so we will be spending a lot of time realxing but do want to see some sights...

I disagree with you, especially for the price. But then I am not you 🙂

In aruba, it was 80$ extra per person per day for all inclusive. it included 3 meals and free drinks, and also some stuff to use on the beach.

However we went to Aruba to experience the entire island, not just our resort. We ate out at a different place every night, hardly drank during the day, and went out partying at night. During the day we were on the beach and probably got 1 drink each day at the beach bar, and we would go do other stuff like snorkel (which had open bar on the boat), horseback riding, wave runners, and parasailing.

all in all I think all inclusive is a waste unless you want to be couped up in the same place for your entire honey moon ... but then again, thats just me 🙂

EDIT: oh one more thing ... we were contemplating whether to get AI or not before we went, but decided to wait and get it when we were there if we wanted. and once we were there, we quickly realize how little we wanted to be at our hotel, so it would have been a waste.

Same as with Costa Rica; there's just so much to do that staying at a hotel most of the time would just be a total waste of time/money. Aruba is good to visit for relaxation, am I right? Costa Rica, from my experience, is only a good vacation spot if you're up for some adventure.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: exilera

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
We like the idea of A-I because of the unlimted food and drink. We'll be on our honeymoon, so we will be spending a lot of time realxing but do want to see some sights...

I disagree with you, especially for the price. But then I am not you 🙂

In aruba, it was 80$ extra per person per day for all inclusive. it included 3 meals and free drinks, and also some stuff to use on the beach.

However we went to Aruba to experience the entire island, not just our resort. We ate out at a different place every night, hardly drank during the day, and went out partying at night. During the day we were on the beach and probably got 1 drink each day at the beach bar, and we would go do other stuff like snorkel (which had open bar on the boat), horseback riding, wave runners, and parasailing.

all in all I think all inclusive is a waste unless you want to be couped up in the same place for your entire honey moon ... but then again, thats just me 🙂

EDIT: oh one more thing ... we were contemplating whether to get AI or not before we went, but decided to wait and get it when we were there if we wanted. and once we were there, we quickly realize how little we wanted to be at our hotel, so it would have been a waste.

Same as with Costa Rica; there's just so much to do that staying at a hotel most of the time would just be a total waste of time/money. Aruba is good to visit for relaxation, am I right? Costa Rica, from my experience, is only a good vacation spot if you're up for some adventure.

Yea Aruba is great for relaxation, but it too has a lot of other things to do as well. The eastern shore of Aruba is so rugged that cars can only get you within a 1 hour walk of the coast. Its breathtaking! Check out the link in my sig for some pics of the rugged terrain. The pics of us horseback riding are the ones on the east coast.

 

[bleeb]

no

 

[exilera]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: exilera

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
We like the idea of A-I because of the unlimted food and drink. We'll be on our honeymoon, so we will be spending a lot of time realxing but do want to see some sights...

I disagree with you, especially for the price. But then I am not you 🙂

In aruba, it was 80$ extra per person per day for all inclusive. it included 3 meals and free drinks, and also some stuff to use on the beach.

However we went to Aruba to experience the entire island, not just our resort. We ate out at a different place every night, hardly drank during the day, and went out partying at night. During the day we were on the beach and probably got 1 drink each day at the beach bar, and we would go do other stuff like snorkel (which had open bar on the boat), horseback riding, wave runners, and parasailing.

all in all I think all inclusive is a waste unless you want to be couped up in the same place for your entire honey moon ... but then again, thats just me 🙂

EDIT: oh one more thing ... we were contemplating whether to get AI or not before we went, but decided to wait and get it when we were there if we wanted. and once we were there, we quickly realize how little we wanted to be at our hotel, so it would have been a waste.

Same as with Costa Rica; there's just so much to do that staying at a hotel most of the time would just be a total waste of time/money. Aruba is good to visit for relaxation, am I right? Costa Rica, from my experience, is only a good vacation spot if you're up for some adventure.

Yea Aruba is great for relaxation, but it too has a lot of other things to do as well. The eastern shore of Aruba is so rugged that cars can only get you within a 1 hour walk of the coast. Its breathtaking! Check out the link in my sig for some pics of the rugged terrain. The pics of us horseback riding are the ones on the east coast.

Nice, nice! I'll have to put up some pics from Costa Rica.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

alright....you've convinced me....how about any recommendations on actual places you've stayed, not just A-I

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
alright....you've convinced me....how about any recommendations on actual places you've stayed, not just A-I

You are considering Aruba now? I see you changed your topic.

Dude if you go there, i STRONGLY recommend going to the Amsterdam Manor resort. That place is sssssoooo awesome. The nicest people work there and the environment there is just very nice. The beach there is in the lowrise section (there is lowrise beach and highrise beach, lowrise is Eagle beach and highrise is Palm beach. Eagle beach is the nicer beach and is WWWAAAYYYYY less crowded.) It was about $100/night for the room that was ocean side and was very nice.

For more ideas of what Aruba is like check out my sig.