Luxuries of Costa Rica Vacation in Monteverde & Tamarindo: Cloud Forest, Hot Springs & More

I should add that Costa Rica is beautiful. Its a lovely country with astounding wildlife and plants, and warm, friendly people.

I cannot say enough good things about the team at Zicasso’s travel partner. It's not just that they arranged an amazing Costa Rican adventure for me and my family, but it's the service they provided that really made everything so seamless.

The amazing service began during the planning stages, when the team worked with us to build a travel itinerary that fit our timing and budget (not easy, given it was the Christmas holiday season and we got a late start in planning). Based on our interests, they provided a menu of options in each region of the country. When we had questions about excursions, they were quick to respond and happy to provide recommendations based on their intimate knowledge of the activities and providers. In the week leading up to the trip, they provided a detailed itinerary, as well as instructions on what to expect when we landed in San Jose.

The incredible service continued once we were on the ground in Costa Rica. Our travel agent and his daughter met us at the airport with a welcome gift of local chocolates. He introduced our driver and went over the itinerary with us. We exchanged WhatsApp information and he encouraged me to text/call at any time with any questions, issues, or feedback.

From the airport, we made our way to Manuel Antonio, with a stop for lunch and fresh fruit. We checked into the hotel and a lovely room with panoramic views of the ocean and a magnificent sunset. It was my birthday, and the travel team arranged for a lovely fresh fruit tray to be sent to the room, as well as restaurant reservations that evening.

After three days in Manuel Antonio, we were driven to La Fortuna/Arenal (a long drive) and checked into a large resort with excellent facilities and incredibly responsive service (we called to ask for a roll-away bed, and within two minutes three people showed up with the bed and sheets). While we were in Arenal, we messaged the travel team with questions about potential changes to the itinerary (including changing the time of a couple of activities, as well as adding an activity), and they responded within minutes, making all the changes!

After three days in La Fortuna/Arenal, we headed to Monteverde for a couple of days at a resort, a lovely property in a great location. We enjoyed a couple of days in Monteverde before heading back to San Jose for our flight back to the States. On the drive back, our travel agent called to thank us for entrusting our trip to them, but I had to stop him, as it was really us who needed to thank him for making the trip so enjoyable (and so seamless)!

I enjoyed the accommodations in Manuel Antonio, and Arenal - beautiful hotels with incredible views. The activities were quite enjoyable as well - particularly the "canyoneering" and boat tour. The first hotel I stayed at was very stylish - I wish I could have been in San Jose longer to explore the city.

My travel company was very responsive and available to requests. I was quite impressed that the agent I had communicated with met me personally at the airport and walked me through the itinerary before dropping me off. At one point, an activity they planned was quite disappointing, so I left an email essentially suggesting that they make alternate arrangements for future guests. The next business day, they had arranged another excursion in the next city to compensate - which was more than I was expecting.

On the advice of a friend, I decided to enlist the services of a local travel company to assist in the planning of our “once in a lifetime” trip to Costa Rica. I contacted three companies outlining our vision of the perfect holiday. This agent was the first to respond. Another company responded within two days and the third company responded after about a week with the name of the consultant but I never heard from her again.

Throughout the initial process of determining our favourite itinerary, our agent was always prompt in his replies, always did his utmost to accommodate our wishes and offered excellent advice on the specific details of our trip. It was an easy decision to entrust our vacation to this company. With only a few days left to our departure, our agent was able to make a change to our accommodation due entirely to my own failure to pay attention to the details of the itinerary.

Upon our arrival at the airport in San Jose we were greeted by our agent and our driver. They provided us with a copy of our daily itinerary, 24 hour contact information, as well as vouchers for all the pre-paid activities for the next two weeks. Included was a gift bag containing a bottle of wine, an assortment of Costa Rican candies and a bag of peanuts, all of which we enjoyed over the course of the next two weeks.

Our driver drove us from San Jose to Arenal, a drive that lasted three hours and all during that time, he provided a running commentary on the sights and offered insights into the Costa Rican culture. He was entertaining, sociable, and a joy to spend time with.

Our entire trip proceeded without a hitch. All our drivers were prompt and courteous. Most of the pre-paid excursions were beyond expectations and our accommodations were perfect. Well, except for the no electricity at one location but we were aware of that before we booked it. If you want to save the environment, you have to put up with some inconveniences and the location certainly made up for the annoyance of dealing with head of uncontrollable frizz.

The day before our departure for Pacuare, our agent made arrangements with our hotel to accommodate all our luggage. There is a baggage restriction for those who choose to arrive by river raft – we were not quite so adventurous and chose to arrive by land. He was always available, no matter the time of day and always most eager to address any concerns that we had.

Upon our return to San Jose, we were booked into a downtown hotel which was close to all amenities and within walking distance of all the local points of interest. Sadly for us, although the hotel was certainly convenient, it was not the type of hotel that we had come to expect. I am not one to complain but since we were spending three nights in San Jose, we did not want the last few days of our trip to be a disappointment and we would be spending more time there than just resting our heads at the end of the day. I contacted our agent and within the half hour, he made arrangements for us to be checked out, picked up and escorted to another hotel – a beautiful, upscale, Victorian boutique hotel – at no extra cost to us. Not only that but while we were having dinner, he dropped by to ensure that we were happy with the arrangements.

Due in large part to this company, our vacation was stress-free. Service and friendliness couldn’t be beat, not only by this company but also by the staff at the hotels and, in particular, the drivers and guides on our local tours and excursions who made us feel special. I have no hesitation in recommending this travel agency and my experience with them has confirmed my resolve to always consult a local travel specialist for any future trips. This was the trip of a lifetime! Thank you!

Our travel agency organized the perfect tour of Costa Rica. Our small group of 4 were treated as VIPs from the moment we arrived at San Jose airport, until the day we flew home. We even received a "welcome to Costa Rica" call and special "goodbye" call from our agency. Every transfer and guided tour was on time and the drivers were good. There were no worries or concerns, each day was perfectly organized and each hotel was informed of our itinerary. Our travel agency provided us with a free cell phone for local calls as well as walkie-talkies to stay in touch with each other. This added an even higher level of security to our trip.

We wanted to experience an environmental tour that would introduce us to the rain forest, the flora, fauna, birds, reptiles & animals of Costa Rica. We were amazed by the scenery and the knowledge of our guides on each of our tours. Costa Rica is truly magical. All of the hotels were interesting and clean, the staff friendly and efficient.  We stayed in bungalows & cabins in the heart of the rain forest! The food was very good and served in more than ample quantities. Our last few days were spent at the Belmar Hotel in Monteverde and the luxury of that small inn and stunning views of the Pacific Ocean, were a great way to end our stay.

Our only disappointment was that our internal flight with Nature Air from Tortuguero National Park turned out to have a connection at San Jose airport with a 3.5 hour wait for the second flight to Arenal. We were expecting a direct flight, and more time to explore the village of La Fortuna.

We would definitely recommend this travel company and will use Zicasso Handcrafted Travel to help us book holidays in the future.

We had an outstanding trip to Costa Rica. Alex and Francisco are extremely professional and genuinely wonderful to work with. We were met by Francisco and his wife when we exited the airport in San Juan to welcome us to Costa Rica. The travel agency called when we moved between hotels and departed for home to check that all was going as planned. They were very responsive to questions we had while planning the trip.  We wanted to spend 4 days on the beach and 4 days in the Arenal area in the rainforest. We explained the type of accommodations we like when traveling and we’re provided with two hotel choices for each area. We selected a hotel in the Manual Antonio Beach area and another in the Arenal area. Both hotels were beautiful and offered us lovely rooms, great views and private pools. The one in Manuel Antonio Beach had only one resturant with a set menu. The food was good but did not offer as much variety as we would have liked. However our driver who met us at the airport and drove us to hotel showed us various other restaurants in area with wide range options. The resort in Arenal has multiple restaurants offering a variety of cuisines. The food was excellent at all of the ones we tried.

The staff at both hotels were very responsive to any needs we had. We did have internet trouble at the hotel in Arenal and the IT people were in and out of our room several times working on the issue. Without us even asking the hotel apologized and said they would comp our dinner that night.  We planned a number of activities as part of our trip. We are older travelers and have some mobility issues. Alex worked with us to ensure the planned activities would work for us.  For each of the activities we were met at our hotel by a driver and taken to the activity. The drivers were on time and very knowledgeable of the area we were traveling to giving us history and context of the area.