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Anonymous
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From: United States
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5/24/2006
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Number of times you have visited this Hotel?
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1
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How friendly were the employees?
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3 Season
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Would you stay there again?
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No
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Languages spoken at Hotel?
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English
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How many times have you visited Costa Rica?
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1
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The area is amazing. Santa Teresa is a gem.
Negatives: Luz de Vida needs some work for what they charge. Our reservation was mixed up and they had a tough time accomodation us immedialey upon our arrival. Even though the email threads were clear that there were 8 of us, they had only made accomodations for 4. They did find cabinas for us eventually.
There were alot of things in need of repair and refreshing. It has been open for 6 years and it appears as though that was the last time maintainance was completed. They need to work on some obvious safty issues. Our Cabina was comfortable but there we slats missing in the shutters and they didn't latch securely. There are no Mosquito nets, so bring your own for the rainy season.
There is also a major hazard at the Pool. It is a zero entry pool. Where the water meets the pool surface is very slick with slime and the pool surface is not textured to insure safety. I ended up in Cobano with a concussion, and several days of amnesia. The owner was kind enough to offer a bag of ice but didn't offer any further consideration of a formal nature. AND after my fall no action was taken to fix the slime problem. Hence - we saw at least 3 other people fall. One, a 2 year old, face planted into the cement. Luckily, I was the only one with serious inguries.
The food is very expensive compared to other area restaurants. $15 for six shrimp ala carte for example. In fact - all prices were on par with what you would pay in the states for better accomodations. $100 room, $5 margarita, $25/person for dinner, $65 for a massage. Not a budget deal like Budget Travel mentioned.
Positives: The girl at the pool makes an amazing limonade. Food was prepared well. Guy, one of the owners, was kind and check on me often to make sure I was recovering. The beach is terrific...even if the waves were too big for novice swimmers.
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Anonymous
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From: United States
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4/22/2006
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Number of times you have visited this Hotel?
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1
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How friendly were the employees?
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2 Season
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Would you stay there again?
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No
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Languages spoken at Hotel?
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Spanish, English, Other
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How many times have you visited Costa Rica?
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1
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Luz de Vida has a beautiful web site but the on-the-ground reality is quite a bit different. The grounds are OK but a little cheesy (fake waterfall into the pool etc.). Many of the rooms are tiny, dark, and right up against the dusty main road.
They completely lost our reservation and initially we gave them the benefit of the doubt and thought it was our travel agent's fault. However, within 24 hours we'd met several other people in St. Teresa who had bad experiences with Luz de Vida (mosquitos in room, unhelpful staff, broken AC, etc.).
We spent the first night at another (great) hotel that LDV found for us (since they'd lost our reservations they had no room for us when we arrived). When we returned to LDV the next day things really went downhill. They showed us to a teeny, dark, crappy room that was completely unlike the bungalow we'd discussed the day before. We refused the room and they tried to charge us for it anyway (things got testy and they were rude). We went back to the other hotel and had a great stay in St. Teresa.
Over the course of the week we heard bad LDV stories from the rental car guy, our surf instructor, 2 different cab drivers, and other tourists who were staying next door to us. Do not stay at Luz de Vida.
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Anonymous
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From: United States
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1/22/2006
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Number of times you have visited this Hotel?
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1
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How friendly were the employees?
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4 Season
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Would you stay there again?
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No
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Languages spoken at Hotel?
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English
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How many times have you visited Costa Rica?
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2
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Nice enough grounds, however the "garden" view rooms with AC are within feet of a noisy, dusty road. We left the hotel after a few nights of not sleeping. The owners would not accomadate us and we were not given a refund. Please do yourselves a favor and choose a different hotel or a bungalo close to the beach.
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Steve and Ana
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From: Italy
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5/3/2005
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Number of times you have visited this Hotel?
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1
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How friendly were the employees?
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5 (very nice) Season
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Would you stay there again?
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Yes
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Languages spoken at Hotel?
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Spanish, English, Italian
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How many times have you visited Costa Rica?
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2
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We spent a lot of time researching our vacation and had a great time in luz de vida.
In terms of accommodation the bungalows are nice and have very high wooden ceilings, not particularly large but better than I expected from looking at the site. They were comfortable enough for the two of us and our two teenagers, who by the way, had a fun learning to surf with all the cute and young staff.
The decor was simple in the multi-level we stayed at. It was practical to have the coffee machine and minifridge for fruit. The decision not to have televisions was good, we spend more time with the kids and it helped us "decompress".
Ill be honest, if you want luxury stay at the four seasons or flor blanca, if your family's taste is not so picky this hotel may be a good choice. We wanted more of a relaxed nature lodge, cute accommodations, good service and a good price and thats exactly what we got. Air conditioning worked good and water pressure and temperature were great--no problems the entire stay.
To our surprise buffet breakfast was included and ot was full of choices. Fresh fruit, gallo pinto, granola in a bowl of yogurt, ham frittata and a good variety of juices. The kids enjoyed taking their plates to the pool bar and requesting songs, we where happy to eat inside and chat with other guests. I have to say that their chef is one of their greatest assets, the food was delicious, the prices where not Costa Rica cheap but coming from Italy they seemed standard.
The beach itself is very beautiful, white sands, shells and all around are this tall prehistoric spiky trees I had never seen before. My husband was happy with the waves and I was happy to watch him from my hammock after spending the morning at the spa. The ocean was gentle enough for the rest of us to swim and let the kids out on their own, something to think about surfer moms out there. Costa Rica is a small but beautiful contry, if you go to stay for more than a week because theres a lot to see.
thanks for the hospitality,
The Parkin Family
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Andrea
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From: United States
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4/4/2005
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Number of times you have visited this Hotel?
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2
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How friendly were the employees?
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5 (very nice) Season
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Would you stay there again?
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Yes
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Languages spoken at Hotel?
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Spanish, English, French, German, Italian
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How many times have you visited Costa Rica?
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4
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Thank you guys for making our honeymoon a dream come true and for filling our days with adventure and romance. we miss having our wine by the sunset, chef Dani´s delicious food and the beautiful waves. We will come back to visit Santa Teresa soon, it was the hightlinght of our trip, the most perfect surf beach we´ve ever seen. truly out of a postcard and the hotel was so calm, cozy and private we couldnt have picked a better place. We also thought that is wonderfull how green and full of wildlife are the grounds, a good example of eco-friendly development.
Props, much success and thanks again,
Andrea and Michael Sharp
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