Accommodation in Arenal

                    Tabacon Thermal Hot Springs Resort

 

If your into spas and hot springs, it doesn't come any better than this. In fact, nothing I have ever encountered even comes close.  It's so mind blowing the first time you encounter the hot springs you struggle to believe it's real.  Simply breathtaking, doesn't even come close to describing it.  It's a well manicured parklike setting surrounded by the bifurcation of a volcanic river with small tributaries running through center sections creating hot tub like seating areas.  Waterfalls, cascading pools, large ponds, and the abundance of thermal whitewater all around you, are simply spellbinding.  The large waterfall at the entry has a pathway and seating area in which you can walk behind the waterfall, or sit and enjoy the warm, humid overspray.  The whole river area at the hot springs has been coated on the bottom to give more of a swimming pool type effect, but still maintaining that natural look. 

The whole place has a Disney-like quality, but still so Au natural, with a the spa treatments ongoing South of the public area in between the path of the river on a lushly naturally landscaped island.  Thatched huts, isolated from on another, with the river flowing by, are where the majority of the spa treatments are performed.  There is a long list of spa options, some seeming bizarre, others more conventional, for the usual spa like pricing.  Meaning kinda expensive for my tastes, but I'm not a spa kind of guy.  Paying someone top place hot rocks on your back has always seemed a little unusual to me, but again, I'm not a spa kind of guy. 

What would a hot springs be without a restaurant?  Tabacon doesn't disappoint, with a view laden restaurant, snack bar, and accompanying pools for those not into a river type  environment.  Food looks great, but I found it to be just OK.  Two pools, directly South of the restaurant, have a swim up bar, waterslide, and in-pool table and stool set up.  Snacks are available at the bar as well.  I can't attest to the food, but I can recommend the Mojito's.

Costa Rica, perhaps being the premier Eco-friendly country in the world, uses no chemicals in their pools at the resort.  They drain the pools nightly, manually scrub them in the morning, then refill them thereafter.  I saw this happen at the hotel, and the hot springs.  There are lockers and restroom facilities for changing and storing your belongings, and unlimited use of the hot springs facilities if your a guest of the Tabacon lodge.  If your not staying at Tabacon, the entry fee is a little on the steep side.  The hot springs is a short walk downhill from the lodge. 

The resort is in the middle of the jungle with a view of an active (Arenal), volcano, and the river that runs through the hot springs resort comes from the volcano, and is 107 degrees.  The resort facility offers rooms for large groups, general accommodations, junior suites, and full blown suites for your stay.  We choose a junior suite for our stay to have a view of the volcano, (which we never saw while in the room due to overcast), but were throughly encompassed by the Costa Rican jungle. It was completely amazing!  Waking up in the morning to hear the sounds of the jungle from your deck is just something that has to be experienced as words just can not describe. 

The junior suites had hot tubs on the deck over looking the jungle, and inside as well.  I suppose the inside hot tub is there to accommodate you if you just weren't up to the trip to the deck.  Room service is available, and the hotel offers a service in which they will phone you should the volcano go into eruption so you can view the show. 

The concierge desk in the main lobby offers a number of activities which you can book during your stay.  We choose the zip line trip through the rainforest which entailed a horse back ride from the valley to the mid section of the mountain in the rainforest, then a 635 foot hike up hill to the first platform.  I had planned to take a fair amount of pictures while zip lining it down through the rainforest, but being 200 feet plus above the ground, I choose not to let go of the cable instead.  I took some photos on the landing platforms after my heart rate went below 200 beats a minute. 

The price for the resort is not cheap by any means, but if you consider some of the exorbitant prices charged at the beach resorts along the north coast, it seems downright cheap by comparison.  This is a world renowned, one of a kind resort, so if your planning your trip to Tabacon, make your reservations early.  They have many packages also available for your stay, some of which are excellent deals. 

Here's my traveling to Central America best tip:  The "dry" season is from November to March in Central America, and the rental and accommodation pricings reflect this.  Traveling Central America at many different times of the year, I have not found it to be that different weather wise than the "dry" season, other than being a whole lot cheaper.