Last weekend I went to Villa Blanca in San Ramon Costa Rica and it was beautiful!  The first thing to mention which I didn’t realise is that it’s Si Como No’s sister hotel!  It’s roughly an hour drive from San Jose and the roads there are all in great condition, even the last 6 miles from the main road down a one lane track.  The hotel itself is gorgeous.  All the accommodations are in casitas and most are seperate buildings, although a few are connected. 

We were upgraded to a Costa Rica honeymoon suite, best room classification and they are spectacular.  All the rooms have fireplaces, mini bars, coffee machines, iron, hairdryer etc and also umbrellas which was a nice touch (it rained a lot!).  The standard rooms, which is the lowest category, are really nice and I would have been happy in one of those.  All the furnishings are stylish and rustic at the same time.  Tiled floors with rugs and lots of big chunky wooden furniture and beamed ceilings.  Let me just mention the fireplaces again!!!!!!!  Every room has one and the maids will come in every day to tidy the room and will prepare the fire for later and leave a new supply of logs, kindling and fire starters. The standard rooms have either a queen bed or 2 twins.

The deluxe rooms were also WOW.  They have a small seperate living area with a shower room then the main bedroom with main bathroom with jacuzzi tub.  The living area has a sofa bed for extra people, but this is not the sort of hotel where you want more than 2 people in a room!!!!!  Deluxe rooms also have their own private patio.

The Honeymoon rooms are similar to the deluxe but it is one big room with king bed.  Our room had 2 rocking chairs in front of the fire and a 3 seater leather sofa.  We also had the bathroom with seperate shower and big jacuzzi tub with a picture window overlooking our small private patio and garden!

The main building houses reception, the bar and restaurant.  There is only one restaurant and bar.  The prices are reasonable.  We spent about $100 on food and drinks over the weekend and as there was nowhere else to go we had all our meals there and we had what we wanted.  The food was the only real criticism with the hotel.  The menu wasn’t that varied and after a couple of meals there I was running out of options.  Also the main meals were all meant to come with a variety of side dishes, and both times when we had dinner we didn’t get all the side dishes.  The breakfast was good with a varity of Tico and American dishes.  Also the starters off the menu were delicious!

The main building also has one conference room for about 25 people AND a 32 seater theatre like Si Como No with films every night at 8pm.  Then there is a mirador/games rooms with a billiards tables, table top games, books and two TV viewing areas (no TV”s in the bedrooms).

There is also a Spa which is run by the same company who have the spa’s at Si Como No, Villa Caletas, Paradisus etc. The resort also has a private biological nature reserve, canopy tour and stables at the main entrance and a gorgeous chapel! 

FYI - this estate used to be the country home of a former president and his wife, the Chapel was built to celebrate their 50th weddings anniversary.

Other than nature, spa treatments and local tours, there isn’t very much to do here and it could be a bit boring for some clients.  This is perfect for a Costa Rica honeymoon or couples.  I wouldn’t send a family here, apart from having nothing for the kids, they’re not really set up for families.  It is also great as another alternative to Peace Lodge/Xandari and those hotels which are outside of SJO but close enough for short transfers to the airport etc.  It is also a good midway point for people who arrive in SJO and don’t want to go straight to Arenal for example, or to break up a journey from Manuel Antonio/Dominical to Arenal/Monteverde area.

Reviewed by Seran Daines

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Filed under: Hotel Reviews on August 1st, 2007