CaliKen,
9 days… hit the gym hard!!!! And pace yourself!
Your plans are good and sound like something I would do. After two days at the DR you will enjoy the more relaxed and clubhouse atmosphere at the SL. You will also get a chance to meet up with some CRT guys that will make for a better time and give you a group to hang with in your down time.
SL rooms… The Penthouse is by far the best room in the house if not the city…Hermosa has good natural light and decent room, but if your like me and like open window and fresh air the only drawback is the morning noise from the loading dock below and that’s really not that bad…Illusion is an inside room (no natural light) with not as much room as Hermosa but has a nice large Spa tub. My personal favorite is Felicidad in the old section, lots of room, HUGE bed, AC (I never use it much…) and the old style Spanish/Costa Rican charm. The draw back is the small bath room with shower (um…3 can fit into it

) and it is right up front on the main hallway, but here again I never had a problem with that and actually enjoyed having easy access to my room. Not a whole lot of mirrors at the SL, but a few well placed ones. ZB is the best for mirrors.
Hotel M is very nice, but to far out for your first trip. A night or two at ZB might be a fun option…but be in shape for the “work outâ€

…
9 days… think about a day trip or two to get you out of the gulch. I can highly recommend the canopy zip line trip and the ATV tour is highly spoken of and is on my to-do list someday…
I’m glad that you are using this trip as a reason to push yourself into better shape! Not only will you enjoy your trip more, the benefits will continue on long after you return from CR!
Welcome to CRT and have a great first trip!
Mendo