Costa Rica: Recommendations

Costa Rica is an amazing country that offers some of the best places in the world to stay and some truly amazing places to eat. The following details the places we would recommend staying and some restaurants worth checking out that we came across.

Places to Stay:

While in Costa Rica we stayed at hotels, hostels, and Airbnb’s. We enjoyed every place we stayed, each one being different than the others, providing a very diverse experience overall.

Hostel Casa Colon

hostel

This hostel is located in a very vibrant part of San Jose. Walking distance from an outdoor mall, restaurants, public transit, and a park. In addition, there are many rental car companies within walking distance. An interesting piece of history, the hostel actually started out as a house that was built in 1945. This comes as a slight surprise based on the area the hostel is located as well as the detailed architecture of the building. We stayed here the first and last night of our trip. The area seemed very safe, and the staff was very friendly. Also it was around a $25 cab ride each way to the airport.


The next two places we stayed were airbnb locations.

Beach front Villa

House

This happened to be our first ever Airbnb stay. The location was slightly off the beaten path in a beautiful area just North of Jaco. The house had everything we needed in it. The villa easily slept the three of us that stayed. It had a full kitchen with most of the necessities. What we liked the most about it was it took about 10 steps and you were on a black sand beach that offered great kayaking. There were grocery stores and restaurants within 10 minutes of the house. It was maybe a 25 to 30 minute drive to Jaco (in a car, a SVU would be slightly quicker) and an hour and a half to Manuel Antonio.

One Bedroom Villa in Horse Ranch

Horse ranch

 

The next place we stayed was this amazing 1bedroom villa in horse ranch. It had breathtaking views and was situated on a beautiful property. They had horses, atvs, hot air ballons and a pool. It was set up almost like a small resort.  We only rented out a portion of the property that included 2 separate living areas. In one building you had the bedroom with 1 king size bed and 2 twin beds along with a beautiful bathroom. In the next building you had the living room area that included a dining room table, big screen tv, half bath and kitchen. It came with pots, pans, etc and even included housekeeping. There was an additional villa that had another bedroom area, which would be great for large groups or families. If you have a car then I would definitely consider this place. It’s 45minutes from La Fortuna but seriously worth it. The property had so much to offer that you would only really need groceries. We wish we had taken advantage of all of then amenities.

If you’re not already an airbnb member you can sign up here. You will receive $25 off your first stay as well as giving us a $25 credit off one of our future stays!

Volcano Lodge and Springs

V lodge

 

After the wonderful horse ranch we stayed in La Fortuna at the Volcano Lodge. The Volcano Lodge did not compare to the horse ranch but it was tough to beat. The Volcano Lodge was comfortable and had a nice patio area along with a hot springs pool. They also had a nightly happy hour at the bar, which was a nice perk. The staff was incredibly nice as well.

Nayara Hotel & Gardens

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We ended out trip on a high note at the Nayara Springs and Spa Garden. You could definitely see why they are rated #2 hotel on TripAdvisor. The staff exceeded any expectations we could have had. The rooms were absolutely amazing. Each room had a wonderful view with hot tub on the deck and outdoor shower. It was romantic in every way possible. They even offered umbrellas outside of each villa and through out the property for those tropical rains. There are a few pools on the property but our favorite was the one with the pool bar. They drinks were wonderful and the pool area was so relaxing. They also have a wine bar, sushi restaurant and yoga studio on the property. If you can afford to splurge and want to have a luxurious stay then Nayara is where you need to be.


 

Places to Eat:

Manuel Antonio:

El Wagon

Walgon

El Wagon is a really great restaurant with a great view of the surrounding forest. There are monkeys around the area so you may just catch a glimpse of some while you eat. Their food and drink selection is pretty good for a side of the road restaurant. I would recommend trying their mango smoothie with a pizza.

Jaco:

Tacobar

Tacobsar

This is another great spot for food. Cheap tacos and drinks with a great outdoor dining area. We ordered Ceviche as an appetizer, which was wonderful but came with crackers instead of chips. Four an entrée we tried the smoked salmon, calamari and grouper. The salmon was by far the best!

Café del Mar

cafe-del-mar

This place was mediocre at best and we are pretty sure they place gave us food poisoning. We were sick basically throughout the entire trip which was 10 days. I would probably just avoid this place.

Naranjo:

Restaurante El Mirador

El mariador

On our drive from Jaco to La Fortuna we stopped off at Restaurante El Mirador to grab lunch. The restaurant did appear to be somewhat in the middle of nowhere and we are pretty sure that no one working at the restaurant spoke English. This however was not a problem. The menu had pictures, with numbers, and the staff was very friendly and patient. The food was actually extremely good and affordable. The last thing worth mentioning, which you likely can ascertain from the name, the view was spectacular.

La Fortuna:

Restaurant Nene’s

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This place was a truly amazing restaurant. I had the best ribeye ever and when it came out my whole plate was on fire! All of the food we had there was delicious. We highly recommend this place.

 

Altamira

altamira-restaurant

This restaurant is at the Nayara Spring Hotel. They offer a wonderful brunch and lunch that is worth checking out. The food and service were both great.

 


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