Costa Rica Honeymoon Review
It took me a while to write this review (being that we went on our honeymoon 2 months ago) but hopefully it will help someone!
We booked our honeymoon through Liberty Travel in Levittown and worked with Dawn. It was a pleasure working with Dawn. I met with her for about an hour and we discussed different places Mike & I wanted to go and our criteria. Our first choice was Costa Rica and Dawn was able to put together a great package for a reasonable price.
3 Nights – Costa Rica Marriott (near San Jose)
4 Nights – Villa Calettas/Zephyr Palace (near Jaco Beach)
1 Night – Aurela Holiday Inn (in San Jose)
We had a direct flight from JFK to San Jose, Costa Rica. Through Swiss Travel, we received transportation from the airport to our first hotel (they also provided transportation from the first hotel to the second hotel, and from the second hotel back to the airport). It was about a 10-15 minute ride from the airport to the Marriott.
Costa Rica Marriott
This hotel is beautiful. It’s open and airy. It has a few restaurants but we only ate at one – Antigua. We had lunch & dinner there the first day and breakfast all other days. The food was really good. They offered traditional food plus burgers, fajitas, etc. We spent 3 days at the Marriott but couldn’t really appreciate all it had to offer since we went on two full-day tours (which we booked at the hotel).
First Tour – Arenal Volcano & Tabacon Hot Springs
It was a 3.5-hour drive from the Marriott to Arenal. We stopped along the way at this small town called “Sarchi” where we went to the Oxcart Factory and saw local artists hand painting the oxcarts. There was also a souvenir shop and refreshments. The next stop was for lunch with a view of Arenal Volcano (it was a foggy day so we really couldn’t see the volcano but heard it looks amazing when the lava is flowing… oh well, I guess we’ll have to go back to see it). Our last stop was at Tabacon Hot Springs. The hot springs are natural Jacuzzis. It is water coming down from the side of a mountain and the higher up you go, the hotter the water is. This place is amazing and if you ever go to Costa Rica, you should definitely make it a point to visit this place. The surroundings are gorgeous – trees & plants with walkways pointing you in the direction of the different pools/Jacuzzis. I went into some of the hottest pools and it was so relaxing!
Second Tour – Poas-La Paz Waterfalls
It was about a 1.5-hour drive from the Marriott to Poas Volcano National Park. Along the way, we stopped at a Coffee Plantation. Coffee is HUGE in Costa Rica. There are coffee plants all over and most of the stores & hotels offer free self-serve coffee. After a few minutes at the coffee plantation, we continued on our journey. Again it was foggy out so we didn’t get to see the Poas volcano but we did a lot of walking. I even walked to the top viewpoint (which is a 20-minute walk each way) by myself. All I got to see was more fog but I guess the exercise was good. It was pouring the day we went so we had to purchase ponchos. From the National Park, we went to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. We ate lunch and then trekked through the rain forest seeing parrots, toucans, butterflies, humming birds and other animals along the way (all the animals were in huge cage-like things that you went into and could touch some of them). Walking through the rain forest was definitely an experience. It was cold, raining and the steps were pretty small. Getting to see a 120-foot waterfall up close was definitely worth it! We walked from the top of the waterfall to the bottom, and got to stop halfway.
Our stay at the Marriott was over and we started out 2.5 hour journey to Jaco Beach. The driver was super friendly, stopping at various parts along the way so we could take pictures of the mountains and valleys. He made us walk across a bridge so we could see huge crocodiles. As he made the turn into “Villa Calettas”, he told us we had arrived… but not quite. It was a 10-minute drive up the side of a mountain to get to the hotel. I can’t even tell you how breathtaking the views were.
Villa Calettas
This is a fairly small hotel – about 40 rooms total. Our room wasn’t ready so we walked around and had lunch. Every view is amazing. We got to our room and it was nice but it lacked something. I asked if we could get an upgraded room but they had none available. The receptionist did say they had another hotel further up the mountain so we drove up there to see the rooms. This hotel is called Zephyr Palace and it has a total of 7 rooms. Each room is a different theme (Egyptian, African, 1920’s, etc.). After seeing those rooms, I didn’t want to go back to our other room so we upgraded to “Anos Vientes”, the 1920’s room. We had our own little porch/balcony area, huge bedroom and huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi. It was so worth it. Like the Marriott, this hotel is also very open and airy. It is like nothing I have ever seen before. Everyone at this hotel is super friendly. They went above & beyond to make sure we had everything we needed and wanted. We’re already looking into going back here next year.
We pretty much relaxed and enjoyed the panoramic views at this hotel. We hung out by the pool and down by the beach. It wasn’t really a “beach” but there were lounge chairs and a snack bar so it was really nice. They have a shuttle that leaves from the hotel every hour that takes you down a dirt ride to the bottom of the mountain, which is the beach. It’s about a 15-minute ride. We also got massages at the hotel.
We did leave the hotel a few times:
ATV Tour
On the third day we decided to take an ATV tour. They have two sessions and we took the afternoon one. We rode ATVs up through the mountains of Costa Rica overlooking Jaco Beach. We saw lots of different birds, cows, ox, went over rivers, saw a water fall and another hot spring, got to see an unforgettable sunset and stopped at a black sand beach. We had a traditional Costa Rican Cosada dinner at this really cute restaurant. Definitely recommend this tour. It was scary at times but so much fun.
Los Suenos
From Zephyr Palace, we took a cab/shuttle to another town – Los Suenos. There is a Marriott in Los Suenos with a few restaurants (we went to one called Nuevo Latino which had really good food and was reasonable priced). The casino in the Marriott consisted of 7 tables (no Black Jack) and maybe 30 slot machines. There’s also a beach, marina, a few stores and other restaurants. Another restaurant we went to in Los Suenos was El Galeon. It was an Asian-inspired seafood restaurant. The food was really good but it was a bit pricey.
Our honeymoon was coming to an end as we took the 2.5-hour ride from Villa Calettas to the airport in San Jose. We ended up missing our direct flight home because while we were at the airport the departure gate was changed and no one informed us. The airline put us up in a hotel overnight (since that was the last flight to the US). The next morning we took a flight to Miami and caught a connecting flight to La Guardia. It was a long day and we couldn’t wait to get home!
Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. The country is breathtaking with amazing views from wherever you are. The people are extremely friendly and the coffee is delicious. They practical give it away everywhere! There were two other tours I would’ve liked to go on if we had more time. I will definitely go back to Costa Rica – there is just so much to see and so many different parts to go to.
There are more pics in my Honeymoon Album
We booked our honeymoon through Liberty Travel in Levittown and worked with Dawn. It was a pleasure working with Dawn. I met with her for about an hour and we discussed different places Mike & I wanted to go and our criteria. Our first choice was Costa Rica and Dawn was able to put together a great package for a reasonable price.
3 Nights – Costa Rica Marriott (near San Jose)
4 Nights – Villa Calettas/Zephyr Palace (near Jaco Beach)
1 Night – Aurela Holiday Inn (in San Jose)
We had a direct flight from JFK to San Jose, Costa Rica. Through Swiss Travel, we received transportation from the airport to our first hotel (they also provided transportation from the first hotel to the second hotel, and from the second hotel back to the airport). It was about a 10-15 minute ride from the airport to the Marriott.
Costa Rica Marriott
This hotel is beautiful. It’s open and airy. It has a few restaurants but we only ate at one – Antigua. We had lunch & dinner there the first day and breakfast all other days. The food was really good. They offered traditional food plus burgers, fajitas, etc. We spent 3 days at the Marriott but couldn’t really appreciate all it had to offer since we went on two full-day tours (which we booked at the hotel).
First Tour – Arenal Volcano & Tabacon Hot Springs
It was a 3.5-hour drive from the Marriott to Arenal. We stopped along the way at this small town called “Sarchi” where we went to the Oxcart Factory and saw local artists hand painting the oxcarts. There was also a souvenir shop and refreshments. The next stop was for lunch with a view of Arenal Volcano (it was a foggy day so we really couldn’t see the volcano but heard it looks amazing when the lava is flowing… oh well, I guess we’ll have to go back to see it). Our last stop was at Tabacon Hot Springs. The hot springs are natural Jacuzzis. It is water coming down from the side of a mountain and the higher up you go, the hotter the water is. This place is amazing and if you ever go to Costa Rica, you should definitely make it a point to visit this place. The surroundings are gorgeous – trees & plants with walkways pointing you in the direction of the different pools/Jacuzzis. I went into some of the hottest pools and it was so relaxing!
Second Tour – Poas-La Paz Waterfalls
It was about a 1.5-hour drive from the Marriott to Poas Volcano National Park. Along the way, we stopped at a Coffee Plantation. Coffee is HUGE in Costa Rica. There are coffee plants all over and most of the stores & hotels offer free self-serve coffee. After a few minutes at the coffee plantation, we continued on our journey. Again it was foggy out so we didn’t get to see the Poas volcano but we did a lot of walking. I even walked to the top viewpoint (which is a 20-minute walk each way) by myself. All I got to see was more fog but I guess the exercise was good. It was pouring the day we went so we had to purchase ponchos. From the National Park, we went to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. We ate lunch and then trekked through the rain forest seeing parrots, toucans, butterflies, humming birds and other animals along the way (all the animals were in huge cage-like things that you went into and could touch some of them). Walking through the rain forest was definitely an experience. It was cold, raining and the steps were pretty small. Getting to see a 120-foot waterfall up close was definitely worth it! We walked from the top of the waterfall to the bottom, and got to stop halfway.
Our stay at the Marriott was over and we started out 2.5 hour journey to Jaco Beach. The driver was super friendly, stopping at various parts along the way so we could take pictures of the mountains and valleys. He made us walk across a bridge so we could see huge crocodiles. As he made the turn into “Villa Calettas”, he told us we had arrived… but not quite. It was a 10-minute drive up the side of a mountain to get to the hotel. I can’t even tell you how breathtaking the views were.
Villa Calettas
This is a fairly small hotel – about 40 rooms total. Our room wasn’t ready so we walked around and had lunch. Every view is amazing. We got to our room and it was nice but it lacked something. I asked if we could get an upgraded room but they had none available. The receptionist did say they had another hotel further up the mountain so we drove up there to see the rooms. This hotel is called Zephyr Palace and it has a total of 7 rooms. Each room is a different theme (Egyptian, African, 1920’s, etc.). After seeing those rooms, I didn’t want to go back to our other room so we upgraded to “Anos Vientes”, the 1920’s room. We had our own little porch/balcony area, huge bedroom and huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi. It was so worth it. Like the Marriott, this hotel is also very open and airy. It is like nothing I have ever seen before. Everyone at this hotel is super friendly. They went above & beyond to make sure we had everything we needed and wanted. We’re already looking into going back here next year.
We pretty much relaxed and enjoyed the panoramic views at this hotel. We hung out by the pool and down by the beach. It wasn’t really a “beach” but there were lounge chairs and a snack bar so it was really nice. They have a shuttle that leaves from the hotel every hour that takes you down a dirt ride to the bottom of the mountain, which is the beach. It’s about a 15-minute ride. We also got massages at the hotel.
We did leave the hotel a few times:
ATV Tour
On the third day we decided to take an ATV tour. They have two sessions and we took the afternoon one. We rode ATVs up through the mountains of Costa Rica overlooking Jaco Beach. We saw lots of different birds, cows, ox, went over rivers, saw a water fall and another hot spring, got to see an unforgettable sunset and stopped at a black sand beach. We had a traditional Costa Rican Cosada dinner at this really cute restaurant. Definitely recommend this tour. It was scary at times but so much fun.
Los Suenos
From Zephyr Palace, we took a cab/shuttle to another town – Los Suenos. There is a Marriott in Los Suenos with a few restaurants (we went to one called Nuevo Latino which had really good food and was reasonable priced). The casino in the Marriott consisted of 7 tables (no Black Jack) and maybe 30 slot machines. There’s also a beach, marina, a few stores and other restaurants. Another restaurant we went to in Los Suenos was El Galeon. It was an Asian-inspired seafood restaurant. The food was really good but it was a bit pricey.
Our honeymoon was coming to an end as we took the 2.5-hour ride from Villa Calettas to the airport in San Jose. We ended up missing our direct flight home because while we were at the airport the departure gate was changed and no one informed us. The airline put us up in a hotel overnight (since that was the last flight to the US). The next morning we took a flight to Miami and caught a connecting flight to La Guardia. It was a long day and we couldn’t wait to get home!
Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. The country is breathtaking with amazing views from wherever you are. The people are extremely friendly and the coffee is delicious. They practical give it away everywhere! There were two other tours I would’ve liked to go on if we had more time. I will definitely go back to Costa Rica – there is just so much to see and so many different parts to go to.
There are more pics in my Honeymoon Album
