Villas Sol Hotel And Beach Resort

Villas Sol and Tourguide Mainor Bustos

by A TripAdvisor Member

The hotel was comfortable, the staff very accomodating. We stayed in a 2
bedroom villa. Beware they don't use fitted sheets, which I've heard is common
in Central America, and the pillows could use a little help. Food was good, they
changed the menu every night, and we did all inclusive for $31 per person per
day (you can do a 4 day also) and that included drinks too! Through the resort
we did a kayak tour, but most of our trips were through tourguide Mainor Bustos,
a local, fluent in English, whom my friends had met two years prior. We arranged
for Mainor to do a few day trips (canopy tour/mud baths at Burinquen, Monte
Verde rainforest hike/butterfly garden, snorkling, fishing, and he even provided
transportation to and from the airport! Mainor was the most wonderful tourguide,
would stop at fruit stands to grab us fresh pineapple, and would stop by the
roadside to get the monkeys to "talk" with us. He also helped us with picking
places for dinner and showing us around the countryside. He MADE our trip. He was wonderful.

Believe me, you don't want to navigate the island yourself! All in all, it was
a wonderful time!

Amazing Ocean Views!

by TripAdvisor Member varillo

We just got back from Costa Rica and can´t wait to go back to Villas Sol in Playa Hermosa. The resort had the most amazing ocean views and the main restaurant "La Bahía" is set on a hill overlooking the gorgeous bay of Playa Hermosa and it´s two islands. I experienced sunsets every day that I had only dreamed of. Most importantly we finally got the rest we needed from our busy work schedules and got to kick back, drink a cold Imperial and chill out at the beach. We booked a 3 bedroom villa via the resort´s website villassol and received a discount (best way to book at Villas Sol). The place turned out to be better than what the website´s pictures showed and got a stunning ocean view villa with a cozy hammock and even our own private pool. The villa was well kept, food in the restaurants was great, service was friendly and we found lots of stuff to do around the resort and Playa Hermosa. We ate at Ginger, Villas del Sueño, and La Finisterra and had drinks a couple of nights at Café del Mar and Father Rooster in Playas del Coco. We went kayaking and snorkeling with the entertainment staff of Villas Sol and booked tours via Swiss Travel at the hotel lobby. They sent us flying through zip lines at the canopy tour, horseback riding through a rain forest in Rincon de La vieja, swimming in hot springs and mudbaths, and to a live volcano. Yes, all of this in the same week! Definitely the best and most unique experience we all had ever had on vacations.

I strongly recommend this resort to you if you want to rest with gorgeous ocean views, great service, and variety of activities. You will not be disappointed by the breathtaking ocean view from every angle of this resort. We will definitely be going back to visit our friends at Villas Sol. Pura Vida!

Loved it!

by TripAdvisor Member smcdyre

We just returned from a week at Villas Sol. Service was excellent, villas were great. Food was fine and everyday the kids found something they liked.

Activites were also very good. Though no true "Kids Club," they offered a Kids luncheon when the parents could leave the kids for about an hour while the kids ate and did activities.
We did dance lessons and water aerobics and stretching..
The beach was beautiful as were the pools.
The shuttles to get around were very frequent (though crowded as the Easter holiday approached) be careful with small children on the shuttle.

Nice resort, beautiful country!

by TripAdvisor Member RobandChristina

Friends of ours visited Costa Rica last year, and loved the country. We wanted to sneak in a winter vacation while the kids (age 10 and 11) were on Christmas break, and got a good deal staying at the Villas Sol resort from 26/12/05 to 02/01/06. This resort is a true 3 1/2 star resort- if you are looking for beautiful large rooms or pampering- keep looking. If you want a comfortable, welcoming place to stay- I would recommend Villas Sol.

The grounds are beautifully maintained and each hotel room has a great balcony view of the ocean. If you want to splurge, this resort has many villas available- we had an opportunity to visit one- very nice (some have their own mini-pool)! We had read the trip advisor before booking, and a review mentioned the main pool was closed for construction. The kids were thrilled when we realized it was open when we arrived. Well done!

The buffet meals: selection was adequate, and service was average. The dining area is well appointed and welcoming. One a la carte dinner was provided (good meal). There was not any real nightly entertainment (other than a one-man 'band' outside the restaurant). We didn't mind because we met a lot of great people and socialized with them. It was early to bed most nights anyway- each day was filled with enough excitment to wear you down quickly.

The weather was fantastic! We tried to spend as much time at the beach as possible. The sand is dark and the water was very warm but rough (lots of fun for the kids). The snorkeling at this beach was not great, but there was a local company on the beach that would take you elsewere for snorkeling if this is important to you.

While in Costa Rica, we enjoyed the Mega Combo tour offered by Swiss Travel. This tour included zip-lines above the canopy, a water slide, lunch, horseback riding and mud bath/hot spring spa. We also ventured off the resort for 2 days- we rented a car and drove to the Arenal Volcano. While there we stayed overnight, visiting the town of La Fortuna and also enjoyed the La Fortuna waterfall. This side trip was well worth it (the volcano was clear on the last day- what a sight)! Beware- the roads are challenging even for the most alert driver.

Costa Rica was a safe and friendly country to visit, and Villas Sol met our expectations.

Hello to all the great people from Ontario we vacationed with! Thanks for the great time!

Great place, fantastic time

by A TripAdvisor Member

As previous reviewer - we also stayed at Villas Sol from Dec.26 to Jan.02/06 in the hotel part of the resort. Third floor - first room with fantastic view. Better view can have only from some upper villas. Staff at the resort was great. Personally we had no problem with room - kind of standard equipment. Maybe a hammock at the balcony would be a nice addition.
Food in my view was excellent. Up to 6pm you can also get snacks at the "wet bar" - pizza, Tostitos chips, salads. No complains about drinks either.
Once we did try speciality restaurant and food and service was very good.
We went on the "mega tour" with canopy ride, water slide, and horseback riding and would also recommend this for anyone with a little adventure nature.
One of the best memories - excellent bunch of very friendly people (mostly from Ontario). Hello to all of them.
Everything at the resort was open - no construction of any kind. Transportation thru resort provided by several little tracks - no problem. To walk around only for people in top shape.
We did go to Liberia by organised tour but better would be go on your own by local bus. Not only not expensive but gives you more time on your own.
Overall our stay was very pleasant and would recommend it without reservations.

Good Hotel, Great Service, Amazing Country

by TripAdvisor Member lilroy0

My family and I just returned from a week long stay at the Villas Sol resort in Guanacaste. The resort is located on a cliff overlooking Playa Hermosa and the Pacific Ocean.

Hotel:
We stayed at in the hotel as opposed to the villas and had the good fortune of occupying several of the 3rd floor rooms. The rooms were average in size with every one offering 2 doubles (no rooms with King only). The rooms were modestly furnished, though they also lacked an iron and ironing board. The balcony was large in size and offered an incredible view of the Pacific Ocean and sunsets. We were overly impressed with the professionalism and attitude of every single employee at the Villas Sol. Every employee we met went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable. The employees were always smiling and loved interacting with us. It is definitely helpful to know a bit of spanish like we did, which helped in enriching our interactions with the employees of the hotel.

Hotel Activities:
There is 1 smaller pool just below the hotel (near the main restaurant), and another larger pool a short walk away with a swim up bar. We spent most of our time "bar" time at the circular bar by the smaller pool with great service by the bartenders (Jeffrey, Diego, etc.) There was 1 tennis court and 1 basketball court on the premises as well. The tennis court was tough to get free time on, and the hotel did not offer loaner or rental rackets or balls. Additionally, the hotel did not have basketballs for loan or rental either. The hotel offered 2 included activities for our stay. The first was a snorkeling trip, which is really just a hotel employee showing you where to snorkel in an alcove on the beach. This is not a boat tour, and the guide was reluctant to show us fish or even get in the water himself. The space was only limited to 5 guests for this activity. The boat tour was also included, but again offered limited space availability. I would suggest signing up for both of these activies at 8am, the day when they are offered, to ensure you get a space.

Food:
We stayed at the hotel on the all-inclusive plan, so we had the luxury of trying both major restaurants as well as the snack bar offerings. The main restaurant offered buffet service for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and an unmatched view of the hotel complex and Pacific Ocean. The buffet offered a modest variety of foods and the dinner's were themed by region/ethnicity. We chose one evening to eat at the nicer reservation restaurant - Rest. Heliconias, and found ourselves dissapointed with the food. It seemed as though most of us were in agreement that the food was actually better at the buffet style restaurant.

Excursions:
We participated in 2 excursions through the on-site Swiss Travel company. The first was a shopping trip to Liberia for 17 bucks. This was an interesting way to see local culture, however be aware that you also make 2 stops at "tourist trap" souvenier stores en-route to the city of Liberia. The city is your best bet to buy cheap goods, including the world famous Costa Rica coffee at a cheap price. You can visit the local supermarket in town to buy the coffee for around $3 US dollars, whereas the souvenier shops sell the coffee for 6-9 dollars. Just be sure to brush up on your spanish before hitting the supermarket and other local liberia shops where you are less likely to find employees who know english.

The second tour was the Mega Combo Tour for $117 which I would highly recommend. After a 2 hour bus ride to Rincon de la Vieja, an active volcano in Costa Rica, we hiked about 10 minutes, then did the 10 platform canopy tour (zipline), which was amazing. We also saw some monkeys and birds in the process. We then went down a waterslide over 1/4 mile, and closer to 1/2 mile long. It was incredible, and was fed by freshwater coming down from the volcano. We then ate a traditional style lunch that was excellent, then rode horses to a 30-40 foot waterfall, then hiked another 5 minutes to Turkish Mud Baths and natural hot springs. The entire day was the highlight of our trip and if you are planning for this tour, ask for "Able" who was a terrific guide.

Playa Hermosa on the Pacific Coast, Costa Rica

by travelgirl3

"The luxurious week of our honeymoon."

After spending the first week of our honeymoon in the Arenal region of the rainforest, it was nice to get clean and cozy at the beautiful Villas Sol Hotel and Beach Resort on the Pacific Coast.

As we travelled towards the end of the dry season, the surrounding landscape was very brown; quite a contrast from the previous week in the jungle.