Hotels in Costa Rica

This is in part for people who may look at this site and want to visit Costa Rica and in part for us to have so that we do not forget. Here is a list of the places we have stayed so far and if we recommend them. Keep in mind, we are on a very tight bugdet, so these are not places for those who want resorts.

San Jose:
Pangea Hostel - this one was okay, but we have recently stayed at Costa Rican Backpackers hostel, which we like much better. You can stay in a dorm or have a private room and the grounds, pool, computer room, and TV room-restaurant are great.

Tamarindo:
Cabinas Marielas - we loved it here and stayed for 6 nights. The people that come through are very fun, the rooms are cheap and the location is probably the best in Tamarindo.

Liberia:
Hotel Guanacaste - we were not big fans of this place. It was not very clean and much too expensive for what was offered.
Hotel Liberia - we liked this hostel much better. IT was very cheap, the rooms were clean and the location was better.

Rincon de la Vieja:
Most places up here are more resort-like so they are expensive. One that was over our budget, but not too terribly expensive is Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin. It is very nice, but know that you will have to get up early as there are many animals that start making noises even before sunrise.

Monteverde:
Cabinas Vista al Golfo we absolutely loved. It is super cheap, the owners are great, we felt very safe and the views are amazing. I highly recommend this as a place to stay in Santa Elana (near Monteverde)

Arenal:
Hotel Dorothy - this is a place that is relatively new and not well advertised yet. It was off the main path with spacious rooms and super cheap. It was not as clean as other places we have stayed, but we were happy there for a couple of nights. Not all of the desk staff speaks English, but as long as you know a little Spanish, you are okay there.

I will update more as we stay in more places. We have decided not to take the bus anymore for long distance trips. On one, I got my wallet stolen. Yesterday, traveling from Arenal to San Jose, there was another girl on the bus who had the same backpack as mine. She accidentally took my bad when she got off and I got hers. Of course we didn{t realize until we got back to our hotels. Luckily, I had a tag on mine with an e-mail address and we were in cities nearby each other, so we were able to swap them relatively quickly. It was a completely honest mistake and if I had gotten off the bus first I would have done the same thing, I am sure. This is just a note to be careful when traveling on the public buses.

Pura Vida!