After our night at El Toledo Coffee Farm, we headed to Karl’s suggested spot: Hotel Costa Verde. We loved it there, it’s beautiful and the views are spectacular, but we–of course–did have some quibbles.

We loved the fact that there was an adults-only building and swimming pool. Nothing wrong with kids, but I don’t really find them all that relaxing especially because I work with them (I loved not having kids around – like Sue, I love kids, but on vacation, it is nice to be away from them – oh by the way – I just figured out how to change the font color…be afraid…very afraid). Our room had a kitchen and sitting area, so it was more like a little suite decorated in eco-friendly and wooden decor. We also had a lovely deck with views of the pool, ocean, and trees. The whole set-up felt very private and quiet. Aaaaah.

Another great feature of the hotel: sloths are everywhere! (No Mom, she is not talking about me…she is talking about the animals) OK, well, they are in the trees and that is where they stay, but they are easy to spot and pretty cute. Also: monkeys! Fun to watch while you sit by the pool with an icy tropical drink. The bar is right there and you can order food from any of the restaurants owned by the hotel.

One the odd things we wondered about right away was the two queen bed setup. I saw it in the other rooms in our building, too. How many couples are going to Costa Rica, staying in the adults only area, and want to share their room with another couple? Maybe more than I think, but that wouldn’t be my first choice. The good thing about the second bed was that it served as a dresser, since there wasn’t one in the room. Get rid of the second bed and put in a king and some drawers for clothes. Just one woman’s suggestion. We also had to get used to the idea that the bathroom is not air conditioned. The bathroom window had only a screen and the bathroom door could not be left open (which I guess is good or we would have been air conditioning the outdoors). The AC also only works with the key; a nice feature so that no one is leaving it on when they are not in the room.

Costa Verde has two distinct decor themes and I’m not sure how, or if, they are related: airplanes and liquor bottles. We stayed in the cockpit cottage one night and it was totally cool. The liquor bottles are embedded in the concrete walls an serve as the light fixtures on the walkways and in the rooms. I’m not sure what Grey Goose or any of the other booze had to do with anything, but it looked good.

The staff were friendly (as is the Costa Rican way) and always smiling. There are a lot of stairs in this place since it’s a hilly country, but the poor guy who carried our luggage didn’t even seem to sweat in the 90-degree humidity. We also had a delicious fruit plate for breakfast one morning and were warned that we were over-ordering. Yes, one fruit plate was plenty.

The hotel has several restaurants, although they are not right on the grounds. You can get a ride from the hotel to them, but none are very far. You do have to be happy walking uphill by the side of a windy road that doesn’t always have sideways, but we had no problems, except sweat.

We would definitely recommend Hotel Costa Verde.