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> Destinations > Costa Rica > Trip Reports > Trip Report
Between March 26 and April 6, 1999, my wife and I (both around 50 years
old) stayed at the Allegro Caribbean Village Fiesta (7 days) and the Hotel
Villas Lapas (7 days) in Costa Rica. It is our opinion that you receive
good value for your money at both resorts. The Villas Lapas is situated on
the edge of the rainforest and is a small quiet resort. For those people
looking for a quiet vacation or are interested in nature, especially birds,
the resort is ideal. There are 46 rooms (some are small cottages) and a
small swimming pool. There is one TV in a common room and a phone at the
front desk. Although there were some children there, the lack of
activities for children would result in them getting bored very quickly.
The meals are very good. The only bar opens at 10 AM and closes at 10 PM.
You can get snacks (french fries etc) during the day through the bar. An
afternoon tea (coffee with liquors is also available) with sweets is served
around 4. The staff is very friendly and willing to assist in anyway they
can. You can take various tours, at an additional cost. We went on the
Canopy Tour and had a great time. We also visited the Carara Biological
Reserve where we saw two Scarlet Macaws and a whole assortment or birds and
plants.
The Caribbean Village Fiesta is located south of Puntarenas. The resort is
the opposite of the Villas Lapas. Here you have several pools, children's
activities and various watersports and classes (Spanish, dancing etc) for
the adults. Nobody places any pressure on you to do anything the choice is
yours. There is always a bar or restaurant open to get food and drinks.
There is even a juice bar where they will combine whatever fruits you like
into a cold drink. We found the variety and selection of food to be very
good. They have two restaurants on site. An Italian and Seafood. Both
require reservations. To reserve you must be at the main bar at 8 AM. The
availability of seats goes quickly. Both restaurants would rival any 4-5
star eateries with respect to service, quality of food and presentation.
The main buffet style restaurant has numerous "stations" where you can get
the daily offering of beef, pork, chicken, fish, pasta as well as local
cuisine. Usually the final cooking of the food is done in frontof you and
often done the way you like it. The rooms are large and clean. All of the
staff are friendly and willing to help. The shows at night are very good
and they even have a childrens show that starts at 8pm. There is a disco
and casino neither of which we went to.
The unique black sand beach can get very hot during the day so be careful.
The resort encourages you, for your own safety, to stay within the
boundaries of property but we walked on the beach for a considerable amount
of time and had no problems at all. Like any place, it is not wise to be
wear a lot of jewelry or flash your money. The swimming in the ocean is OK
but most people kept to the swimming pools. There are several kayaks and
other watercraft available for your use. To me the downside was that there
was no snorkeling.
Again several tours are offerred at an additional cost. We went on the
Tortuga Island trip and had a great time. Other people we talked to went
to Volcano and enjoyed it while some found the trip to Manuel Antonio
National Park, while good, was a long way to go for a day.
Both the Caribbean Village Fiesta and the Villas Lapas are Allegro Resorts
properties. They are both well managed and offer good value for your money
and we look forward to visiting other resorts within their chain
On a scale of 1-10 we would rate the hotels at 8.5.
Thanks to Brian for this trip report ...
March 1999
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