www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Looking for a good hotel/ bungalo in PV, perferablely until 70 bucks, with a safe in the room. Would love for it to be on the beach, in the main part of town. Will be for a chica and myself. Have looked at trip advisor and other review sites, but looking for opinions of those who have been. Any good restaurant reccomendations would be great as well, and any favorite activities (besides the obvious, I am brining my own )

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I said hey baby, take a walk on the wild side.
Lou Reed

Cariblue hotel is nice, also theres a hotel right beside cariblue i stayed at but cant recall the name, cariblue is more expensive about 100$ other one was cheaper and just as nice. Its on the north side of the road next door to cariblue. Both are just outside downtown PV and the beach there is great. Check out Cahuita, i liked it much better than PV, a hotel called parque nacional there is cheap and good 50$ if i recall correctly.

Oh ya how can i forget, if you go to Cahuita go check out roberto's restaurant, hes a really cool guy and will take you fishing or snorkeling at a really good price, also has the best restaurant in town.

There's a guy who's posted here and is also a TripAdvisor Resident Expert, who runs a hotel in PV: http://www.bananaazul.com/
Never stayed there or even met him, but his common-sense writing impresses me. Questions about his venue or the area cheerfully answered.
Here's a GP Website about the Southern Caribbean area: http://www.greencoast.com/
Here's a venue I did stay at but it was a few years ago and I was solo:
http://www.cabinascasaverde.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

It's been almost 3 years since I last stayed in Puerto Viejo with my amiga from Alajuela and her sisters (New Year's 2007/2008). Since that time, I'm sure things have changed. I always stayed at Kaya's Place http://www.kayasplace.com , but there are many other small lodges and cabanas from which to choose in Puerto Viejo... and along the 14 km stretch to Manzanillo. Hotel Kaya's Place, like most of the other lodging in the area, is very rustic (eg. no AC). Kayas Place does not have room safes, though. I would check out the travel links provided above for more current info on lodging. There are lots of good restaurants to choose in PV... some of my favorites are Trattoria de Cesare aka Jenny's Place (Italian/European- 200 mts behind Kayas Place, Soda Luisa (great cerviche on the beach next to Dave's dive shop), Coco Loco (Caribbean- across the street from Dos Pinos supermarket on the main street in PV), Hard Rock Cafe (assorted Caribe/gringo food and mixed drinks & outdoor movies at the end of Main Street), and Maxi's (seafood at the end of the line in Playa Manzanillo). Most of the nightlife is centered along the "waterfont" of Playa Negra in PV... Johnny's Place is an outdoor beach bar/disco with bonfires on the beach, Bar Maritza- live music most nights, and Sanford's disco at the end of the line in PV on the road to Manzanillo. There are one or two other drinking bars on the beach... but the names slip me.

I hope this helps get you started...

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Blue Devil

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

I have stayed at
Cashew Hill, no safe but the compound is fenced and gated and 2 Bull Mastiffs are on the property. Very nice property but quite a walk up the hill about 4 blocks from Main street PV. Cool breezes at night.
La Costa de Papito, easy access to Playa Cocles about 2-3 km south of PV fenced property I think they have safes in the bungalows now, 2 years ago had to lock stuff up in safe in office. bike rental, good restaurant, and great spa/massage (legit) on property.
Cabinas Tropical in PV 2 blocks back from main road simple but safe, again no safe in room but lock boxes and safe available in office. Owners are topical biologists and are great if you want a guided tour of Gandoca/Manzanillo wildlife preserve or Cahuita.
La Isla looked like a nice place maybe. The tipico lunch there was great. I really like the gallo pinto with a large pineapple juice for breakfast at Bread and Love.

Filling out Brother Baqueta's listing with Websites:
http://www.cashewhilllodge.co.cr/
http://www.lacostadepapito.com/
http://www.cabinastropical.com/
http://www.laislainn.com/en/hotel/la-is ... -rica.html

All have TripAdvisor listings.

_________________
"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

Fantasitc information gentlemen, thanks.

_________________
I said hey baby, take a walk on the wild side.
Lou Reed