Costa Rica Resort Question

[brownhaired_girl]

• Additional Information

• The resort is not on the beach but has access to a Beach Club. Mandatory Fee for access to the Beach Club US$70 per person, per week. Fee must be paid at Resort front desk. **Beach Club closes every year during the month of October for renovations** Contact Customer Service at info@breezecostarica.com
• Restrictions: This resort can only be confirmed once every four years. No consecutive and/or multiple reservations allowed. These rules are strictly enforced.
• Housekeeping is only on Wednesdays (towels, change of sheets, dishes are not washed) but there is an additional cost if you require daily housekeeping.
• The GYM has an additional fee of US$8.00 per person, per day, or US$30.00 per person, per week.

- See more at: http://www.rci.com/resort-directory...sortDtls&resortCode=D930#sthash.ObzsTiMk.dpuf

I have read that you will want to print and take your RCI information to get this price.
Looking on Google maps there are at least 2 supermarkets within walking distance, one being right outside the gates.
I have also read that if you go to the timeshare tour you get wifi but the code may be printed on the outside of the in room safe.
We will be there from Jan 22-29 and still looking for any information I can get.

 

[Egret1986]

Heading to Guanacaste area of CR in a little over a month. I booked Villas Sol Hotel and Beach Resort (Playa Hermosa area) about a year ago. It has the #1 spot on TUG Reviews right now. Someone posted incredible availability for RCI Extra Vacations at Breezes Residences (Playa del Coco area) and I put a unit on hold for my dates tonight. It's so new and so highly rated, I thought I might opt for the 2BR for $278/week.

However, comparing the pros and cons of the two areas and resorts, I'm not sure but think that I might keep the Villas Sol. I've even considered keeping both and stay at each for half the week to enjoy both areas. However, the fact that we'll only be in the area for one week makes that seem like overkill. Plus, Breezes is 1-in-4 and I don't want to waste a stay there for a partial week.

The pros for Villas Sol is that it's more of a resort with activities, there are views of the Gulf of Papagayo from the units, the beach area is better, and the all inclusive is optional.

The pros of Breezes is that it has new units and is near lots of shopping and restaurants. However, the units are garden view and there are no planned activities. The Beach Club and maid service would be extra. We have no intentions of participating in a timeshare tour.

We tend to do a lot of "spinning around" when we go somewhere new, and decided not to rent a car. We decided to just book several tours (either private or group) for our exploring. We want to get the most out of this one week by seeing and doing lots of stuff. After reading this thread, I'm still not sure that opting out of a car rental is the way to go. However, wasting time getting lost and not seeing and doing is also a concern.

We're flying into and out of Liberia. There were two fairly recent reviews on TUG for Villas Sol that were excellent. Has anyone stayed there recently that hasn't submitted a review? 3Kids4Me, did you go to Breezes? How was the trip? Seaport104, you posted lots of great info; thanks! Breezes only has two TUG reviews, but RCI had 38 and they were all good.

I'm open to anyone's additional experiences or opinions to help me with making some decisions. It's right around the corner.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

1. 
   We are at Breeze now. Our confirmation was a year ago and said $50/room/week for the beach club. I contacted them beforehand and the asked me to print off the confirmation and they honored that. The wifi in the room was very disappointing but it was good and free by the pool.
   
   
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[Lazz]

Thanks for the information. Can you comment on the timeshare presentation? Was it required to eliminate any fees? How long did it last?

 

[Egret1986]

1. 
   We are at Breeze now. Our confirmation was a year ago and said $50/room/week for the beach club. I contacted them beforehand and the asked me to print off the confirmation and they honored that. The wifi in the room was very disappointing but it was good and free by the pool.
   
   
   Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
   
   Last edited: 2 minutes ago
   Today at 10:55 AMEditDeleteReport
   + QuoteReply

Heading to another resort in Playa Hermosa in a few days. We are first time visitors to Costa Rica. Have you found widespread use of the USD and credit cards outside the resort?

We are not renting a car, but will be taking several tours during our week's stay.

Tell me about the weather. I know it's the dry season and it's near the equator.

Have a great one!

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Hot!!! US dollars very well accepted. We tried to keep $20 increments. We were told to use the red taxis with yellow triangle. We used our credit card at the grocery store. We used Mainor from Tours Your Way for some transportation and the Monteverde cloud tour. We couldn't have been happier. It was more expensive but my mother is 79 and being a private tour we were able to travel at her pace. We had also made arrangements for Mainor to pick us up at the airport. It was only about $10 more than the taxi back. The shops and taxis may have difficulty making change with large bills.


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[Egret1986]

Hot!!! US dollars very well accepted. We tried to keep $20 increments. We were told to use the red taxis with yellow triangle. We used our credit card at the grocery store. We used Mainor from Tours Your Way for some transportation and the Monteverde cloud tour. We couldn't have been happier. It was more expensive but my mother is 79 and being a private tour we were able to travel at her pace. We had also made arrangements for Mainor to pick us up at the airport. It was only about $10 more than the taxi back. The shops and taxis may have difficulty making chance with large bills.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks for the info! We're prepared for HOT! So the Monteverde Cloud Tour wasn't too long of a day for your mother. Tours were about 14 hours from Guanacaste. We pretty much have decided to save that and Arenal for another trip to Costa Rica. I'd love to hear about your Cloud tour and how the long day worked for everyone. "We couldn't have been happier" is a pretty glowing trip report.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

The Monteverde trip was wonderful!!!! We were picked up at our resort gates at 6:00 am. It ended up being a 3 hr drive with a couple stops. The driver saw some howler monkeys in the trees and they pulled over and we took pictures until mom and I decided we were done. We also stopped to look at some coffee growing areas and coffee beans. Our guide Ray (Mainor's cousin) let us take as much time as we wanted at whatever we wanted to do. Then the second half of the drive was on dirt roads and very hilly, but beautiful. Ray did a lot of history and teaching during the drive. He answered questions and seemed to really like teaching about their country. I had been prepared for it to be hot but I had not realized that with the elevation the temperature would drop. It was about 60-64 degrees in the cloud forest. It was very clear so no clouds but an amazing walk through the suspension bridges. Ray was amazing, there was no time when we ever felt rushed. He allowed us to travel at a pace that worked for my mother and when she needed to slow down he would look for things to show us in the forest. I was sooo happy we didn't feel a need to keep up with a group. After the forest walk we went to the butterfly garden and hummingbird garden. He showed mom how to hold her hands near the feeder so the hummingbirds would perch on her hands to feed. After that we were treated to lunch and brought back to our resort. I think we were back sometime between 4-5 pm so it didn't end up being a full 14 hours (I'm pretty sure Playa Hermosa is just a few miles north of where we were at Playa Del Coco).

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Thanks for the information. Can you comment on the timeshare presentation? Was it required to eliminate any fees? How long did it last?

We didn't go to the presentation. I had brought my RCI confirmation and paid the $50 for the beach club for us for the week. That covered the entire room per the confirmation letter. The beach club was nice but mom and I honestly preferred the pools at the resort. I declined the housekeeping and was going to pass on the wifi but when I stopped in the office I was told I could get it for $60 for the week. My niece's teenage daughter really wanted wifi. The only place the wifi worked in our room was the kitchen and living room area and I lost service many times and had difficulty logging on. It was good and free down by the pool.

 

[Egret1986]

The Monteverde trip was wonderful!!!! We were picked up at our resort gates at 6:00 am. It ended up being a 3 hr drive with a couple stops. The driver saw some howler monkeys in the trees and they pulled over and we took pictures until mom and I decided we were done. We also stopped to look at some coffee growing areas and coffee beans. Our guide Ray (Mainor's cousin) let us take as much time as we wanted at whatever we wanted to do. Then the second half of the drive was on dirt roads and very hilly, but beautiful. Ray did a lot of history and teaching during the drive. He answered questions and seemed to really like teaching about their country. I had been prepared for it to be hot but I had not realized that with the elevation the temperature would drop. It was about 60-64 degrees in the cloud forest. It was very clear so no clouds but an amazing walk through the suspension bridges. Ray was amazing, there was no time when we ever felt rushed. He allowed us to travel at a pace that worked for my mother and when she needed to slow down he would look for things to show us in the forest. I was sooo happy we didn't feel a need to keep up with a group. After the forest walk we went to the butterfly garden and hummingbird garden. He showed mom how to hold her hands near the feeder so the hummingbirds would perch on her hands to feed. After that we were treated to lunch and brought back to our resort. I think we were back sometime between 4-5 pm so it didn't end up being a full 14 hours (I'm pretty sure Playa Hermosa is just a few miles north of where we were at Playa Del Coco).

Thanks for the info! Sounds great!