Couldn't be happier!”
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 12/7/07
My family of 3 stayed at the Buena Vista Hotel for an extended period prior to, and after, attending a tour of Costa Rica.
The hotel is built on the lower slopes of Poas volcano and can boast spectacular views of the central valley, and the cities of San Jose and Alajuela. Be sure to take in the view after dark, when the shimmering lights of the central valley fairly take your breath away! The location is convenient for access to Juan SantaMaria International Airport, the city of Alajuela, the Capitol (San Jose) and nearby attractions.
Hotel Buena Vista is constructed in a Spanish colonial style (at least, to me it looked that way!) and is bright and clean. Hotel grounds are immaculately kept. Every day we saw hotel staff cleaning and keeping the hotel and grounds. The hotel has a reflection garden, a beautiful lawn, a nearly-enclosed pool deck, a fantastic restaurant & bar, and an interpretive coffee trail winding through their hillside coffee plantation, with wonderful views of the surrounding countryside.
The hotel staff went out of their way to make us feel that we were at our home-away-from-home in Costa Rica. They were willing to arrange day trips to various venues (shopping at Sarchi, Grecia's metallic church, exploring waterfalls, rainforests, cloudforests, Poas Volcano, etc.). More impressively, the staff took the time to greet us with a warm handshake each morning and whenever we returned to the hotel. They generously shared their time and knowledge of Costa Rica whenever I asked them about Costa Rica's history, culture, economics, family life, ecology or whatever topic came to my mind. Sometimes these conversations took a bit of time and - with interruptions to attend to the needs of another guest - the staff always gave us the time to help us, share with us, teach us Spanish, and treat us like family!