Tabacon Hot Springs — Attraction in La Fortuna

Positive: The hot springs are really incredible and well-maintained. Unfortunately that’s the extent of “positives” for our stay. (Our recommendation would be staying elsewhere and getting a day pass to the hot springs).

Negatives: Awful customer service, especially for a “5-star resort”. We had an issue during our stay. Tabacon made it very evident in their responses to this issue that their bottom line ($$$) is much more important than ensuring customers are comfortable and able to enjoy their stay.

We booked the honeymoon suite ($1100/night) for one night. It was a “splurge” for our actual honeymoon and we were SO excited for the room! Upon arriving to our suite we realized the temperature inside was 75°F and quite humid. We attempted to turn the AC on and the room temperature actually rose instead. We called the front desk for assistance and they sent a gentleman to fix the AC unit. Eventually he left without the unit being fixed (and without relaying any information to us). Fast forward ~30 minutes, we call the front desk for an update. We were told “we’re seeing what we can do and will call you back in 5 minutes”. Thirty more minutes pass and we call again. Same sentiments — “we’ll call you back in 5 minutes”. Based on our experience so far, I didn’t feel confident anyone would ever call back so I walked to the lobby for answers.

About 2 hours after we started dealing with this (and 2 hours of our honeymoon that were spent waiting by the hotel phone for a callback — romantic, I know!), the manager FINALLY came to talk to us. Mind you, up to this point no one had called us back, no one had come to our room, no one had offered complimentary food or drinks. Their silence was deafening — no one cared that we were inconvenienced. Things I would expect from a renowned, 5-star luxury resort. That’s charging $1100/night.

The manager said they would continue trying to fix the AC unit right outside of our hotel room (it’s after 9PM at this point). Again, very romantic to have someone right outside your hotel room all night…on your honeymoon.

To this point, they still hadn’t offered any reparations — we had to ask for a discount on the room rate given the inconvenience and our wasted evening. This is where the ugly, money-hungry nature of Tabacon started to become clear. We were told “a discount will depend on if we can fix the AC unit”. They expected us to still pay the same amount as every other guest, despite the fact that A) these guests had AC all day and night and B) these guests didn’t have to spend hours of their honeymoon waiting for answers from staff.

The AC unit was finally fixed at 11PM. Because we were leaving the next day, we unfortunately were not able to enjoy the honeymoon suite for much time at all due to this prolonged inconvenience. We were offered $150 credit and our room service for free (2 entrees, roughly $50 total).

Ultimately I think we were the most disappointed in the customer service here. I never got a call back, even after 3 separate calls promising a callback in 5 minutes. No one came to our room (until about 2 hours after the fact) to chat with us — I actually had to go to the front desk (a little bit of a hike from our room) to even get things going. And there was zero effort to make up for the inconvenience until the very end. It felt like no one was particularly concerned with our comfort or satisfaction during the stay, only our money.

Ironically the next morning we made our way to the gym for a workout. Surprise surprise, there was also no air conditioning! They clearly cut corners with their AC to save money. Definitely not a luxury experience at all!

I don’t think we could, in good conscience, recommend anyone stay at Tabacon. Although I’m sure others have had a much less stressful visit here. However on a side note, we had an exceptional experience at nearby Amor Arenal for about half the price! Our advice: stay with them instead and just visit the hot springs...

My wife I went to the Tabacon Hot Springs during our stay in the Arenal area. I had heard it was the best hit springs to go to in the area or in all of Costa Rica, so I was extremely excited to visit. I have both good and bad things t say about this place.

Pros: Some of the natural hot springs are very beautiful and peaceful. The common images you see on social media do look just as nice in person (depending on how many people are there). The main hot springs look and feel very natural with tons of nature surrounding you and real dirt and rocks inside, BTW you may want to wear water shoes or sandals.. I was also pleased with the variety of other hot spring pools in this area. There is about 2-3 other styles of pools that almost no one was in, so we found ourselves in those pools the most to avoid the crowds.

Cons: I mainly had two main complaints about Tabacon, the crowds, and the locker rooms. The downside to these beautiful hot springs is that this place is definitely NO secret spot. Three is a ton of people here and it can begin to feel like Disneyland. When we arrived it was mid-afternoon and it was slammed. Of course, this may depend on the time of year and day you go, but for us it was crazy. Also, my biggest complaint is the cleanliness of the locker rooms. I am usually not one to complain about this, but I can't help it. Once you check in this is one of your first impressions and it was gross. The floor is covered in water, the lockers are tiny, everyone is shoved together. These tight quarters caused some of my dry clothes to fall in the dirty floor water. It was hard to get that first impression out of my mind to be able to enjoy the rest of the hot springs. (This needs some renovation!) My final complaint is about the included lunch. This was easily one of the worst meals I had in Costa Rica and it just doesn't seem necessary to be forced to buy a lunch package..

Overall: All of these hot springs are beautiful and incredibly peaceful, Except when there is a TON of people there (which seems to be frequently). The cleanliness of the locker rooms is a problem and needs some remodeling. Despite my complaints, I do think this is a bucket list place in Costa Rica. Although don't set your...

I just got back from my visit to Tabacon Hot Springs, and I was quite underwhelmed— not at all worth the $89 admission.

The good: I arrived at 10:30am, and it was fairly empty at the time The welcome drink and lemongrass towel were refreshing They provide a locker and towel for a deposit, and they also give you a wristband to charge food and drinks, making it easy to leave your wallet in your locker The area is broken into many smaller segments with twists and turns in the springs and lots of greenery, so it wasn’t too hard to get a spot that felt “secluded” There are lots of chairs and cabanas that are free to be claimed, and it was quite easy for me to get a cabana when I arrived I appreciated the variety of depths and that the springs were lined with boulders/ sand that seemed more “natural” than, say, a cement lined pool (but definitely bring water shoes).

The underwhelming: They advertise that the springs range in temperatures from roughly 75-100 degrees Fahrenheit, but as far as I could tell, all of the springs were labeled with the same temp range, 96-100, with a single “cold tub” that was labeled as 75. Despite the labels though, it felt more like upper 80s in all the springs, so not quite as warm as I expected. By noon, the vast majority of the guests were families with kids in the 3-10 age range, and they were quite loud, taking away from the peaceful atmosphere (and crying that they wanted to go to a regular pool). Unsurprisingly, the food and drinks at the pool are on the pricier side, but not as awful as I expected ($19 for a margarita). This may sound silly, but the most disappointing part was the locker rooms. While the provided shampoo/conditioner seemed nice, the not particularly clean showers were lukewarm at best (ironic, I know) with broken heads and changing areas that wouldn’t drain. There were no hairdryers or other amenities at all that I’d expect for the price— the experience was about the same as a mid-range public pool locker room in the US.

All in all, it wasn’t an awful experience, but it was far from the luxurious experience I expected for the price. I’d probably choose something cheaper if I were to return to...