Mountain Paradise Hotel — Hotel in La Fortuna

First, some good things. The location of the hotel was pretty convenient. The grounds are beautiful. Some of the workers were pleasant, Tonia comes to mind. We had the maintenance guys come several times and they were also very nice as were the luggage guys. The showers are nice although they create a mini flood in the bathroom. They provided a fruit beverage when we checked in - a nice touch. The cleaners do a good job, the rooms felt clean. ||||Lie #1: WiFi is provided. Nope! The WiFi in rooms 309 and 310 was awful, the few times I could connect it only lasted 5-20 minutes at the most. At one point we had to change rooms and were given three options. I asked the clerk for his advice and he recommended room 111, saying the reason was the WiFi was better than the other two rooms. That’s an alarming statement because Room 111 had no WiFi whatsoever. Once in a while I could see the network but I wasn’t able to connect even once. A room with no WiFi having better WiFi than the other two options must mean the other two rooms can’t even sniff the signal at all. Unless you stay very close to the office do not plan on having usable WiFi. ||||Lie #2: this is a four star hotel. There is no way. Have you ever stayed at a hotel without a dresser to use for your clothes? I didn’t think so. I hadn’t either until I checked in. We stayed for 5 nights and there wasn’t a dresser so we had to lay out our clothes on a table and a bed we were not using. It felt like camping as we weren’t truly able to unpack. It was worse for out three kids sharing a room because they needed all three beds. They were putting their clothes on the table, each individual chair to the table, and anywhere else they could find The bathroom is massive yet the only storage is on the small sink or a tiny shelf under the sink (actually, our second room didn’t even have a shelf under the sink). Again, clutter everywhere and I lived out of my toiletry bag as there was no room to fully unpack it. Room 310 has a large gap above and below the door for bugs and geckos to get in and they took full advantage. The toilet pressure was horrible in room 310. Room 111 was better, but the toilet constantly leaked from underneath. We had a tree above us and it dropped things everything 30 minutes or so. It was LOUD on the metal roof and woke my wife up resulting in us changing rooms. ||||The food at the restaurant was pretty bad. There is no variety at the breakfast buffet and you have to get your own coffee. The dinner food was very expensive and wasn’t good at all which meant spending money on Ubers because none of us wanted to eat on site again. ||||The pool area was fine but looked nothing like the pictures online. Some of the chairs were great, some were okay, some were broken. They strictly enforce the no outside drinks policy. It didn’t matter that it was 95 degrees outside or that we were buying beer and mixed drinks, we were chastised for bringing in our own water in a metal water bottle with ice. They would prefer guests to continually walk to the bar to get water in a small plastic cup. ||||There seems to be little to no communication between the various departments. ||||Some problems are easy to define, some are challenging. I purposely waited a few days before writing this review and that provided some clarity because the next place we stayed was amazing and the staff was wonderful. I think the that’s a challenge with Mountain Paradise - the staff seems to lack true joy. It’s hard to provide exceptional service when you are not happy. I think they are aware of the many issues and are constantly on edge knowing something will undoubtedly go wrong and a guest will be upset. They have little confidence in the product and that comes through loud and clear. Almost all requests were met with “let me check with my boss”. It appears that the employees are not trusted to make decisions on their own. ||||This place seems like it’s hanging on by a thread financially. It’s clear they are not interested in making updates or upgrades. Look at the other reviews and then read the response from the hotel. They seem to be condescending and a bit passive aggressive, they don’t seem to truly care. I don’t blame the staff for being uneasy if they are treated that way by management. ||||This place has so much potential. I hope they can put some money into the rooms and can empower the staff to do what it takes to make the guests feel comfortable and...

I have stayed in numerous resorts in Costa Rica and other countries, and this was a bad experience.

There is zero consistency across the rooms in this place. The bathroom in our room was outdated and designed poorly. There were 2 showers. One had insanely weak water pressure and the other was a giant waterfall. The floor became slippery and covered with water every time the waterfall shower was used. You could not even walk into the bathroom without shoes on and it was disgusting. I don’t understand this because the rooms of my family members had nice rock-covered floors (The floors that are advertised in all the photos) and a nice shower head with good water pressure. Somehow we got the most outdated room in the entire resort. Good luck to anyone else who stays in room 309. However, Tonia in the lobby was very helpful and was able to get us moved to a nicer room for the duration of our stay.

As I mentioned, the water pressure is incredibly weak, including toilets. Our toilet became clogged once and we repeatedly asked for someone to come fix it. The only reason they eventually came is because my dad offered to get a plunger from the front desk and do it himself after 5 hours and several messages asking for someone to come.

The walls and ceilings of the rooms are paper thin. I could hear conversations of the people in the room next door several times. There are also gaps in the door so bugs can get in the room.

The storage situation is hilarious. There is 1 closet with 5 hangers and 1 very small area in the bathroom under the sink for storage. There is also a shelf with 2 surfaces to put things in the room. I don’t understand why there is no dresser with drawers, as it would be way more efficient for storage and take up the same amount of space as the shelf.

The jacuzzi was covered in dead bugs and leaves, so good luck if you want to use it.

The WiFi is terrible so do not come here if you need to work remotely. I could not send or receive 1 text from my first room which made it impossible to communicate with my other family members staying in different rooms. The staff are aware of this and they do not care. I’ve seen reviews from months ago complaining of the same thing. Clearly they have made no effort to fix it. When you are advertised as a 4 star hotel, this is absolutely ridiculous.

One morning we had an early tour and needed to leave the resort at 6:00am. A member from our group went to the front desk the afternoon before and confirmed with someone that the kitchen would prepare to-go breakfasts for us to eat in the car. The worker assured us that since the front desk opened at 5:50, they would tell the kitchen to make our lunches right when they got there the next morning. When we arrived to the restaurant to pick them up at 6:00, the workers had no clue what we were talking about. This was incredibly frustrating as we were told multiple times that they would have breakfast ready for us.

There are no recent images on Google of the seating area by the pool, and I know why. There was a mix of 10-20 random chairs, half of which were broken and unusable. The ground was rocks which were painful to step on with bare feet (pictured). This is completely different from the photos they use to advertise (also pictured).

We were told by the bartender that we weren’t allowed to bring our refillable water bottles to the pool area, and we had to purchase water. I’ve never seen this at any other resort before and it makes no sense. What “4 star resort” tells guests they aren’t allowed to bring their own refillable bottles to the pool?

Staying here was reminiscent of camping. If you love wearing shoes in the bathroom, being able to hear the conversations of people nextdoor to you, living in a space full of bugs, and not being able to drink water then this is the place for you.

With that being said, if you were thinking of staying here I would consider looking at other resorts...

Traveler Beware: Good views, poor customer service, and bugs for breakfast!

The La Fortuna area has been a favorite of my wife and I’s for over a decade. When we return to visit family, we will usually make a point to go to and visit the area. This was a our 2nd time at this specific property, returning as we enjoyed our prior visit and brought three more families with! What a mistake!

Sumary of 3 day/ 2 night stay. Overall, there are some positives that other reviewers have pointed out, here are some opportunites that need immediate correction: Hospitality: Although this isn’t one of the priorities when booking, it’s helpful to know that staff can be accomodating through different needs. Like other reviewers, the reception staff left much to be desired. For example, when trying to book a massage, there wasn’t any information in the room, so we headed down to reception in the morning. They were able to provide a sheet with the breakdown of what’s included. When asking about availablility, they ensured that there was a wide availabilty and offered a recommendation. However, after making a decision after breakfast, we were then told that there wasn’t any available for the day. Amenities: Breakfast: great to have this included. On our first morning, was greeted by clear skies and an amazing view of arenal due to the open air restraurant. One drawback is that the flies, local to that area, would congragate around the buffet food and would usually end up in your drink, if you’re not covering it. The following morning was significantly worse. There was an onslaught of a dozens of flies, which made turned our group’s apatite disolve in seconds. It doesn’t seem as bad at night, just not something your looking to pair with your meal. Room Pretty room until you start looking closer.. The master bedframe had sawdust beneath, a signal that there is a termite infestation Dried blood found in wierd places Bird seemed to have been nesting in master bathroom as the room doesn’t seem sealed. Bird feces was found on the sink and towels Mattresses are thin and uncomfortable, pillows flattened and didn’t offer support Room’s local Pool required some prodding from staff to get jets and filtration functioning. Aggressive ants near pool bit all kids and adults, riddling feet and ankles with red bites. This was corrected after persistently asking over 1-2 hours. Sense of urgency isn’t seemingly Missing TV remotes ( it would have been helpful when trying to put kiddos down for naps) I had an opportunity to voice my concerns with the manager. When asked about how he could rectify the situation, He was very short and unapologetic about the condition of the property and justified the actions/conditions as the intended services.

In summary, our party won’t be returning and I caution others to consider the above when booking. A quick search to surrounding properties will reveal cheaper options that will likely yield same results as ours for less money. If service is a priority during your travel, I would urge you to spend a little more to ensure your taken care of at one of the more premium resorts (ex....