Hotel Dengan bar di Puntarenas, Kosta Rika

Beautiful location and for the most part the service was great. First the pluses ....beach is super and the staff down by the beach was friendly and welcoming and they do a great job of creating safety (lots of lifeguard drills it appeared!) and overall the sense of a lovely vacation feel. There are golf carts to take you everywhere on the property, which is pretty necessary as the property is steep and quite spread out. You just give a call and someone shows up in minutes. Many of the drivers have a great personality, just made it surprising when a few of them seemed not friendly--and for us there was no need to speak English--I was always happy to try my Spanish! Ditto for the staff in the main restaurant--some were friendly and welcoming and a few others were all business and not very welcoming or patient. On with the plus items...the beds are very comfortable, rooms are private and quiet, and the policy of free mini bar snacks (with free restocking) is wonderful! The monkeys and iguanas --and sloths--on the property are terrific. There is a dinner in the beach restaurant on Wednesdays, Sats and Suns and since we were only there for the Wed dinner, I wish that the staff at breakfast had reminded us of it and also, there could be a small guide in the room that would include the beach dinner evening schedule as well as a map of the nature trail --with distances. We wanted to walk it ourselves, without their guide, but didn't have a good sense of the overall length of the trail. There was a little sense that they wanted to encourage us to sign up for their guided (for a fee) walk. The food in the main restaurant was good, but not exceptional and the dinners are quite expensive. The breakfast has many choices and again, it's good but not exceptional--but nice that it's included in the room price. Overall, however, it's a lovely place, clearly the nicest place to stay in Manuel Antonio, but also quite pricey, which you know if you're reading this! Trip.com had the best price by far, at least for November.

Valle Escondido has a great view over the valley and good nature trains where you can spot animals and birds in their environment. The staff are very welcoming and helpful with nothing being too much bother. The restaurant serves home town produce however the menu dos not vary between lunch and dinner so staying there for a few days and eating at this restaurant can become repetitive/limited choices. Whilst nature takes and eco ethos takes front stage there are a few little things that could be improved to ale their offering better: - more comfortable seating areas - this would help guests relax and be bake to sit comfortably during days when it’s raining. There’s little spaces for this at present. - vary the menu between lunch and dinner - possibly add a swimming pool / jacuzzi to increase relaxation or enhance luxury - rooms above the gues shop and by the Landry could do with some modernising. Overall, this is a great hotel to stay at and the above enhancements could make it excellent. The location is quiet (nature is the only thing making noises!) and it’s easy to get a taxi ordered into town costing some USD 6. If asking the reception to organise the cloud forest tour please note this does not include pick up from hotel and a taxi there will likely cost USD 20). Hotel staff were amazing. Thank you for a great stay and memorable views.

Also ich muss schon sagen: dieses Hotel hat es mir sehr angetan. Ich wollte das Mountain Top Park Hotel gar nicht mehr verlassen und es ist mir am letzten Tag tatsächlich schwer gefallen. Zuerst mal zum Zimmer: ich hatte ein Zimmer mit Aussicht zum Berg (ich glaube mit Aussicht zum Meer kostet nochmal extra, das braucht man aber gar nicht, weil der Ausblick zu den Bergen wirklich wunderschön ist.) Es war unbeschreiblich schön, jeden Morgen mit so einem Anblick aufzuwachen. Ich habe während meinem Aufenthalt auch viele Vögel wie Tukane, Adler oder Ara-Papageien über die Baumkronen fliegen sehen. Wie ihr bestimmt schon gelesen habt, gibt es unglaublich viele frei lebende Tiere auf dem grossen Hotelgelände (das Hotel liegt ja quasi in einem Stück Regenwald). Ich habe z.T. mehr Tiere hier gesehen als im Manuel Antonio Nationalpark wie Faultiere oder Affen (am letzten Tag haben wir sogar ein Faultier mit Nachwuchs entdeckt). Macht auf jeden Fall die kostenlose Morgen-Tour mit Guide. Es ist wirklich toll über die Hängebrücken zu laufen und nach Tieren Ausschau zu halten. Das Personal ist SUPER. Die Zimmer sind sauber und modern (die sind nur etwas hellhörig, was aber mit Ohrstöpsel kein Problem ist). Also alles im allem war das ein unvergesslicher Aufenthalt und ich bereue keinen Cent :) PS: Lasst euch auf jeden Fall mit dem Golfcart von der Rezeption zum Hotel fahren, es ist zu anstrengend hoch zu laufen.