www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Does anyone have any experience (or have heard from others) about the Arenal Springs Resort near La Fortuna? The website looks very cool and makes me want to grab a novia and go! arenalspringshotel.com is the site. I'd appreciate some feedback from someone who has visited there.
Niko

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Asian women are still women.

A little patience will be rewarded--when this new-look Board is fully functional and all the older posts are added back in, a "Search" will yield valuable results.
BTW, a click-through to a sister property shows The Peace Lodge and Waterfall Gardens will be limitedly open this July with full operations in the fall.
http://www.thespringscostarica.com

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

A trip to Arenal is definitely worth a couple of nights and a day to explore. I've been back several times, and bring a favorita with me to keep me company. There are many hotels from which to choose. A favorite of mine is "Villas Vilma" which offers a nice view of the volcano (weather permitting) as well as a nice-sized pool and jacuzzi. Cabins with kitchenettes run about $60 per night. The front desk had discounted tickets to Baldi Hot Springs for $20.



I was at Peace Lodge and La Paz Waterfalls before the last earthquake. It's a nice getaway for a day and not too far from San Jose.

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Blue Devil

Pura Vida...enjoying life to the fullest...

Villas Vilma has gotten great reviews on TripAdvisor. Building on BlueDevil's mention:
http://www.villasvilmahotel.com

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

On their website it says "*Rates above do not include Costa Rican taxes (16.39%)." and "Rates INCLUDE Taxes (16.39%)." OK?!?

But it looks nice.

Am I missing something here? Was Niko asking whether it was worth going to Arenal or not? I think it has ALREADY been pretty well documented on MANY threads throughout this forum that it is. Was Niko asking for info on the Hotel Vilma, the Peace Lodge (which is nowhere near Arenal) or any other hotel suggestions? No, he was SPECIFICALLY asking about the Arenal Springs Hotel. I would assume that he has ALREADY read about the Arenal area or may have already even been there himself. I would also assume that if he wanted to know about other hotels, he would have asked about them or else asked for other suggestions. So lets see if someone might actually answer his question.

I can't say I have any DIRECT experience about this hotel (cuz I don't), but for whatever it is worth I have "heard from others" (in the form of reviews on other sites). On Trip Advisor it ranks 23rd out of 62 hotels listed (btw, Hotel Vilma actually ranked a little lower at 28th) and has an average rating of 4 out of 5 (or "very good"). I suggest Niko read through the reviews for the Arenal Springs Resort on Trip Advisor (there are 114 of them) and try to make up his own mind based on that. However, based on just a cursory reading of the rankings at that site, I think he could probably do a little better than either of those hotels. (e.g. for a little more than he'd pay for the Arenal Springs Resort he could stay at the nearby #1 ranked El Silencio del Campo).

And, if he wants other suggestions, I suggest he provide us with greater information such as: what price range is he willing to pay, how many nights will they be staying, what time of the year will they be going, will they have their own rental car or will they be relying on taxis to get around, which hot springs will they be visiting, etc. The Arenal Springs Resort is a $107-117/nt place so a much more budget place like the Hotel Vilma (costing less than half as much at $50-60/nt) might be much too basic for his tastes even if it is very nice for that price (e.g. Hotel Vilma lists only having double sized beds in its cabins and only has a safe at the front desk). Some hotels, including the Arenal Springs Resort, have multi-night discount packages that might make them a more price competitive if he were planning to stay there that long. Some hotels have much wider differences between dry and green season rates and other hotels have their rates changeover at slightly different times if you happen to go during the shoulder season (for example #1 ranked El Silencio del Campo dropped their rates by fully $33/nt after April 13th), so that could also have some impact on his choice. Some hotels are better located for night-time lava viewing but that also usually places much further away from the town of Fortuna and all the restaurant choices and other amenities that are located in or closer to it and that could be particularly a factor if you won't have your own car. If the hotel is located way outside of town, has a lousy restaurant and he doesn't have a car, he'd be much more restricted to eating there. OTOH, if he were closer to town, it might not matter that much how good the food at the hotel was. And some hotels have hot springs of their own which are included in their rates. For example, Tabacon might not seem so overpriced relative to a place like the Arenal Springs Resort if he was planning to go to their hot springs anyway as you get unlimited access to them when you stay there but now have to pay upwards of $70/pp to enter them for the day if you stay anywhere else. What I'm saying is that, without more info from Niko, it is really hard for any of us to really make a targeted recommendation for him.

BTW, those rates on the Hotel Vilma site ARE confusing, but as much for the fact that they're for the 2008 season and list taxes as being 16.39% instead of their current 13% as they do with whether those taxes are included or not. Also, MOST hotels in the Arenal area can give you discounted tickets to Baldi, so that is really not any special recommendation for the Vilma.

Brother Prolijo makes the point subtly that for a venue's Chica-friendliness and general personal experiences we can share, this is the place. For much more general knowledge of an out-of-the-Gulch area (Puerto Viejo, a ranch in Guanacaste, Tortuguero or wherever) or experiences not available here (ultralight flights, e.g.), TripAdvisor should be in your info-search plans--their Resident Experts can't be beat and questions of the non-funky variety are answered promptly and in depth.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

TripAdvisor SHOULD be in your info-search plans. MOST of their Destination Experts can't be beat. HOWEVER, some are certainly better than others and some can be pretty useless. At TA, I particularly like the info provided by my friends Luis (RoadAdvisor) and Raquel_z. Some of the regional DE's are really good too such as framptonian who posts on Samara, HattieCostaRica on the Papagayo area and Colinsito (who has also posted before here on CRT) for the Puerto Viejo area. And, of course, the joker they have for San Jose IMHO is a pretty cool guy if you don't mind his logorrhea. OTOH, the DE with the most posts of all on TA, qwovadis,goes completely the other way (is overly succint) and IMHO just trots out the same old tired non-targetted links over and over and is really pretty much completely worthless.