Socialtel Monteverde — Hotel in Monteverde

Avoid Selina Monteverde at all costs, unless you are good with paying for the cheap shared hostel rooms and don't care about where you're staying. This is advertised as a hotel with many amenities and wellness activities, and that has nicer "deluxe" private rooms, which is what we paid for. It's a 2-star accommodation which is a stretch. All of these issues are not exaggerated. Upon arriving and being shown our $160/nt deluxe room, it was fairly large but ground was dirty and there were a lot of bugs in the room. We had to book a time slot for the small hottubs, which they have two... we were informed one was broken. When we went to use the one working one, the water was cold. So both not working. I booked a massage that evening, which was good, but at the end of it and getting up, the masseuse pointed out a scorpion in the massage room, and then attempted to catch it in a cup and eventually stomping it. Nice to have scorpions crawling around in massage rooms, which made me think maybe we'll have them in our deluxe room. Food in the restaurant was pretty good but basic: burgers, fries, pizzas, etc and was NOT cheap. We've had many better meals at our CR hotels and in town for cheaper. When we tried to take a shower that night, the water was cool..not hot. About the same as the hottub. Getting out of the shower, you needed to wipe you feet off walking into the main room from the dirt on the floor, and specifically when getting into bed we put towels next to it so we could wipe off our feet before getting in. At this time, the wind up there was getting pretty strong, which we've heard was normal in Monteverde. Inside the room, it sounded like a hurricane, and the metal roof sounded like it would be torn off at some point, or some trees would come crashing thru. We attempted to sleep, which I was able to for a couple hours, my gf did not, and I was awaken by her being worried and the wind being incredibly loud on the room. We both laid there for hours wondering if it was safe being in there, and both thought this must be what base camp Everest sounds likes. We could not believe that this was normal, but while the wind was strong, it wasn't as bad as it sounded. Still there was no way to sleep in this room, and knew we needed to check out, especially with all the other issues. We both realistically got about 3 hours of sleep that night, and asked to check out. The girl at the front desk said that was fine, and we said we'd be out by checkout time. She also confirmed that the sound of the wind was normal, which I couldn't understand how someone sleeps thru that (and we live in a place that there's a lot of outside noise). When she said we can leave anytime that day, I realized she was saying they would not refund the remaining nights of our stay (2 more). After talking with their manager (Geraldo) and him suggesting to not refund, but to give us "credit" towards any Selina hotel, he eventually decided to refund us. He was nice, but now... we haven't received the proper refunds as I've noticed they charged us multiple times for things. Double charged for the massage, double charged for "co-work" fee and double charged for "wellness" fee. I have asked via what's app, which they've been slow to respond. But the co-work and wellness fee they tried to tell me it's a normal fee, I assume like a "resort" fee (still they charged us twice). But also laughable since their facilities did not work, like hottub, we did not use their co-working space that they sell separately. I have been continuing to try to get them to refund via What's App and they are not responding or doing anything about it. I did not plan on leaving this review if they did what they said, even though this property is complete garbage, but it's been a week since all this happened. Of note, when we checked out we went down to Fonda Vela, a REAL hotel about 100 yards down from Selina. It cost about the same as this "deluxe" room at Selina, and was a wonderful stay. Huge, clean, and quiet rooms. Go...

• Lodging: We stayed in the The Twins, which included two small double twin beds. Additionally, the room had a private bathroom (toilet and shower) separated by a door with the sink outside of the bathroom. In front of the beds was a standard wooden clothing rack, so for those that like to chill and watch TV in your room, be prepared to either (1) stare at a blank wall or (2) be on your phone all night! Jokes aside, there are plenty of activities to do at the hotel or downtown, which is a quick drive/taxi away, in the evening once you’ve finished your excursions/sightseeing!

• Customer Service: I have to give a big shoutout to Noelia, our receptionist, for helping out with rearranging our itinerary for our time here. Originally, I had scheduled to make a day trip to La Fortuna (7+ hours of driving there and back) to experience the waterfalls, Arenal Volcano National Park and Mistico Hanging Bridges, but Noelia suggested I stay in Monteverde and try to do some of those activities in the nearby area. Although I wasn’t able to make it to La Fortuna, Noelia quickly booked reservations for me and my mom. I don’t regret changing my itinerary since it gave me another excuse to come back! We also requested the laundry service at 1pm for the next day, which they said would take 24 hours. Surprisingly, we got it back before the end of the day so we were even more prepared for the adventures ahead. All the staff were incredibly welcoming and were able to easily alternate between Spanish and English.

• Food: Altogether, my mom and I had dinner on two separate nights and breakfast for one morning (total of 3 different meals). I had the Selina Burger the first night. The burger was cooked to perfection but the bun seemed a bit tough so the burger did not feel complete. I’m not a picky eater, so I didn’t mind and it probably was a one off fluke. We ordered pretty late in the evening so we were surprised that they were still serving dinner! We also ordered a slice of carrot cake - so smooth and creamy! For our second dinner, I had the Porky’s pizza, and that was delicious. The toppings were a mix of onions, slices of tomatoes, cheese, and ham on a thin crust pizza. I destroyed the entire thing in one seating, and the staff kindly prepared the welcome drink (Agua Fresca) for us. I was satiated and it did not weigh me down so it was the perfect amount. Lastly, we did the breakfast package for the last morning, and that was also super filling. I had the pancakes, bacon, and sunny-side up eggs that filled me up perfectly for a guided tour the next day,

• Communication: Selina sent email communication leading up to our arrival. There was even an email reminder to check-in the day before our stay. Once you arrive, the receptionists remind you to join the community WhatsApp where there were daily posts with times for different events throughout the evening (dance/yoga classes, welcome drinks, happy hours, etc.) and special drink deals. As I mentioned before, all the staff members were fluent in both English and Spanish. That factor added a level of ease to our stay, although I recommend you try your hand at Spanish if you can!

• Overall Experience: I give Selina Monteverde a 10/10! The combination of attentive customer service, easy access to local excursions, and sense of community definitely make this place a wonderful experience. It’s a relatively budget option (compared to the other tourist hotels in the area), and the excursion prices are not too bad ($50-$70 per activity per person which included transportation). There is seating at the top of the hill that has a perfect view of the sunset (pictured below). As for transportation into the town, you can take a bus that stops right in front of hotel ($2) and take a taxi back to the hotel (~$10). If you’re looking to visit the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, it’s only about a 15-20 minute walk from the hotel (uphill on the way there and downhill on...

Villas Verdes in Samara, Costa Rica is totally set up to give you the most relaxing, lovely villa/cottage you can imagine. Your building is a strong, concrete, private building with all facilities such as full kitchen and bathroom and bedroom(s). You also have your own gazebo styled deck with big table and benches and more nice wooden rocking chairs and hammocks!! And the colours of the walls are so cheerful and sunny!! ||And how would you like to go for the free, included breakfast and fruits and coffee or tea and more, just a few yards from your door in another lovely gazebo between the gorgeous palm trees and blooming shrubs?!||After that you step into the super clean swimming pool and enjoy the lazy chairs all around it and look up into the sky and large trees and blooming shrubs, while listening to the birds and seeing other local little creatures in the branches, and on the grass. So much fun to have a eye contact with a little iguana!! No different than enjoying the sight of a little bunny in your yard at home. Connected with nature.||While you are there, the friendly cleaning staff cleans up your cottage!! Clean linen every day!! Washed floors every day!! Even the deck floor and all its wooden furniture gets wiped every day!! And your kitchen and bathroom totally cleaned up.||You want to ride a bike outside? Sure, free bikes sitting there for you!! You want to be at the nice beach? Sure, walk for 5 minutes on a nice path off the main road and there you are: on the beach with all the sand, sun and ocean you wish for.||You want to go from your Villas Verdes Resort into town? Sure, walk for 5 minutes and you are in the welcoming, lively, arts and craft and food centered down town of Samara!!! And right next to your cottage resort is a restaurant, also owned by Villas Verdes Resort, where you can choose the nicest food for breakfast, lunch or dinner.||Angelo the owner cooks and his wife Koriynne even sang with a musician for us one night!! Whenever we began to wear out in the heat we chose to retreat to our air conditioned bedroom for a while. ||We wanted to go on an excursion and see the region around Samara. We asked the owner Koriynne for advice and sure, she told us what is where, arranged the whole excursion for us with the people who take you on trips and we were picked up at Villas Verdes and taken on an adventure.||And then the evening by the romantically lit up grounds around the pool in which we could still swim of course!!! We had a fantastic family vacation time, met people from Switserland, Sweden, U.S.A and local, very kind Samara citizens too.||What did we like best at Villas Verdes?.... All the heart felt service, interest and eagerness to help you, be it with domestic care, loaning you a sun hat or adjusting a meal for your personal need, always available for you!!! Such a good place for children too. We saw how happy the Swedish and Swiss young kids were and how the young parents enjoyed it all too because it is safe, clean and playful at Villas Verdes, regardless of your age!!||What did we like the least at Villas Verdes?..... Saying good bye to the resort, to our villa/cottage and its owners, Koriynne and Angelo Moneta. We will go there next time...