Holiday review by Doctor John Watkins
Name: Doctor John Watkins
Date of trip: 04/01/2019
Number of people: 2
The high spots for us were the Monteverde Cloud Forest ( saw 2 Quetzals) - and the Hanging bridges walk at Arenal. The Parador Hotel in Manuel Antonio was also an excellent wildlife viewing opportunity .
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© M2Photos
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© Arenal Springs
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© Parador Resort
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Tribes Overall:
The holiday in all respects was first class and often exceeded our expectations. Rory spent a long time tailoring our holiday to our specific requirements for which we are most grateful.
Tribes Service:
Rory was very helpful and very pleasant to deal with.
Guides:
Their knowledge and enthusiasm was infectious
Social & Environmental Responsibility:
For the most part it was evident that conservation was a major consideration everywhere we stayed. The one possible exception was the Arenal Springs Resort where we had a huge whirlpool bath as well as a stone built hot tub and 2 showers in our junior suite! Given that the hotel had its own pool and extensive hot springs I was surprised that there seemed no concern about using all this extra water. It may be it was cleverly recycled as grey water - we did not ask at the time.
The places you stayed
Aninga Lodge
Costa Rica
As you know there was an error in our booking and we in fact stayed at Evergreen Lodge. Unfortunately the main restaurant was closed there and the remaining restaurant -the Monkey - was pretty basic with indifferent food. There is no spa at Evergreen Lodge not any nature trails as there are at Aninga. You very kindly compensated us for this error with a $250 credit at the Parador.
© Arenal Springs
Arenal Springs Resort & Spa
Arenal
Odd room configuration in that we had the massive room with all the baths etc I referred to earlier while our friends had a much smaller standard sized room next door. There was an adjoining door which we had to ask to have closed. I think the suite they put us in was actually a family suite. Our friends oddly had no hot water in their sink but did get a reduction off their bill when it became evident they couldn’t immediately fix it!
Hotel Fonda Vela
Costa Rica
I liked this quirky place - great bird life in the grounds. The rooms we were allocated were tired and musty ( I guess had not been used for a while). Their chef was superb
© Parador Resort
Parador Resort and Spa
Manuel Antonio
A smart resort hotel but a great place to unwind at the end of the holiday. It wasn’t an issue for us but our rooms were on the 3 rd floor - no lift
Alta Hotel
Costa Rica
Very unusual building - comfortable rooms. The small bottles of water in the rooms were on sale at
$7 each! We ate in their dining room and the meal was very good but we sensed the head waiter was a bit pushy and angling for a large tip. The owners wife introduced herself to us and was charming
