Asclepios Wellness & Healing Retreat

El Cacao de Alajuela, Costa Rica

8 Moderate Deluxe
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About the Hotel

Imagine the lush rainforests of Costa Rica, birds singing, rivers rushing down mountains, and you will picture your fabulous days at Asclepios Wellness & Healing Retreat. This tranquil escape in El Cacao de Alajuela, just a short ride from the capital of San Jose, welcomes you to immerse yourself in the beauty of nature, and heal yourself in the warmth of the tropics. Twelve rooms are open and airy, crafted from pure whites with a relaxed modern design. With the elegance of simplicity, each bright room is warmed by abundant natural light, with large glass doors leading out to private balconies. The open design allows the beauty of nature to flow through your room, while plush accommodations and fabulous marble bathrooms keep you in complete comfort. At Asclepios Wellness & Healing Retreat, modernity is in harmony with nature.

Location

Asclepios Wellness & Healing Retreat
El Cacao de Alajuela, Costa Rica
Nearest Airport: SJO

Features and Amenities

  • General Information
  • Ecologically Sustainable Practices
  • Only 14+ Years Permitted
  • Dining
  • Restaurant
  • Organic Cuisine
  • Vegetarian Cuisine
  • On-Site Amenities
  • Concierge
  • Spa on Property
  • Wellness Center
  • Multilingual Staff
  • Hamam
  • Outdoor Pool
  • Personal Trainers
  • Meditation Spaces
  • Outdoor Whirlpool
  • In-Room Spa Services
  • Outdoor Spa Treatments
  • Nutrition Programs
  • In-Room Amenities
  • Bathrobes
  • Ceiling Fans
  • Direct Dial Telephones
  • Marble Bathrooms
  • Luxury Linens
  • Luxury Bath Amenities
  • Individually Designed Rooms
  • Hammocks
  • Floor-to-Ceiling Windows
  • Activities
  • Hiking
  • Pilates
  • Nature Walks
  • Tai Chi
  • Yoga
  • Cultural Tours
  • Meditation
  • Wellness Programs
  • Horseback Riding
  • Nearby
  • Historic Sites
  • Parks
  • Nature Reserve

Reviews for Asclepios Wellness & Healing Retreat

A Terrible Experience - Poor Service, Management, and Organization

TripAdvisor Traveler Review Rating Reviewed 8 months ago

I recently had the unfortunate experience of hosting my sister's bachelorette party at Asclepios Wellness and Healing Retreat, and it was anything but the relaxing day we had hoped for. We were offered a package that included food, a yoga class, a relaxing massage, and access to the amenities for the day. However, the entire experience was marred by poor communication, inadequate planning, and disappointing service. Service and Communication: ⭐ Three days before the event, we had not received an itinerary or any communication from the hotel. I reached out to them, and they responded the next day, stating that they had not even coordinated the yoga class and did not have an itinerary yet. When I asked for more details about the day, they rudely claimed that they had already provided all the necessary information in previous messages, which was not true. Yoga Class and Food: ⭐ We began the day with a yoga class, which was the only highlight. The yoga instructor was excellent. However, she informed us that she had been told to arrive but was not informed of the number of participants or the duration of the class. The lunch provided was truly disappointing. While the menu options sounded promising, the reality was far from it. The dishes consisted solely of a protein, and there was nothing else on the plate. Additionally, there was only water available to drink. Our group of 10 people struggled to even eat together, as there was only one cook who seemed to be overwhelmed and inexperienced. Some of our food, including my salmon, was undercooked, and when a friend asked for her salmon to be cooked a bit more, it was simply microwaved. The portions were limited, and there was no opportunity to order more food. Massage and Exploitation: ⭐ We did receive enjoyable massages, but the organization was lacking. We had to start massages from 1 PM to 5 PM because there were only two massage therapists for a group of 10 people, and this arrangement was made just two days before the event. Making therapists massage continuously for four hours seems like exploitation to me. Owner's Behavior: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ To make matters worse, we had the unfortunate opportunity to meet the owner. At 5 PM, two people still needed their massages, but we decided to cancel them as we had other commitments, and it was well past the originally scheduled time. When we informed the owner of this, she began shouting at us, claiming it wasn't her fault and that we had to pay the therapists. We tried to maintain a civil conversation, but she continued yelling and asked us to leave, stating she didn't want to see us again. It was a completely unprofessional and hostile encounter. Unpleasant Online Interaction: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The ordeal did not end there. I left a negative review of the hotel on their website, and the owner responded by commenting on my personal social media photos, calling me a bad person and insinuating that I had personal issues. She also sent me personal messages, calling me spoiled. I have evidence of all these interactions if anyone would like to see them. In conclusion, I cannot recommend this place at all. The "wellness and retreat" experience promised was completely nonexistent. It's a shame because the location itself is beautiful, but the terrible management and unprofessional behavior of the owner ruined what could have been a pleasant day.

Maria Paula M - Townsville, Australia


TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE

TripAdvisor Traveler Review Rating Reviewed 8 months ago

My my wife and I pay for overnight stay when we arrive. It was a single person in charge of the property , everything with no lights no real restaurant nothing in the room, not even a coffee maker and the worst part. you have to spend the night all by your self in the property just with a single guard, no lighting, no way to communicate with the owner or the people in charge because if you ask the owner Marissia something she will block you from WhatsApp terrible experience we decided it was unsafe to spend the night alone in such a big property and we look for a for a different place to spend the night, of course we lost the money because she never answered our messages No hot water, aggressive dogs running free in the property that almost bite my wife The worst experience in our years of traveling around the world NOT RECOMMEND…….

Jesus Z


Disappointing. Dying place trying to survive (unsuccessfully)

TripAdvisor Traveler Review Rating Reviewed April 24, 2023

We booked a couple package that included several services and lunch. We should have suspected things were not going to be smooth by the lack of details and response during the booking process, but we had good references from a friend who visit years ago, and that's the key. If you read other reviews, almost nothing positive comes after 2019. First the positive, Lucia, the therapist, was very good, professional and welcoming. The massage experience with her was very good. The place is in need of repair, you can tell it has seen better days, and that was part of the issue, there was one person that was fixing the wooden door of the Hamman, sawing, drilling, hammering, just about 10 steps from the sauna, which was our first treatment. We kindly let the management know that it wasn't a very relaxing experience to have this kind of repairs going on while we were in the area, to what they agree and ask the worker to stop. But this was a momentary fix, as soon as we moved from the sauna the construction continued around us for the rest of the day. We were the only guests for the day, including that all hotel rooms on site were empty, still, the restaurant staff wasn't aware that we agreed on our reservation to have a vegan lunch. Which, by the way, is the only food/drink service you can get on site except for water that was brought to us a couple of times during the day. We suggested a couple of ideas on what they can prepare for lunch because when we declined the fish plate the suggestion was to have salad and grilled vegetables. At 1:30pm, after lunch we were asked to move to the flotation therapy room. We asked them if we could wait until 2pm as we just had a meal. The receptionist was not very happy about it and was walking around with our towels waiting for us to follow her. She showed us to the flotation room and we asked them how it works, because it was our first time. She couldn't give us any type of explanation besides that we had 1 hour each and that she was going to know the door to let us know we were done. It is sad to see a beautiful place in such a state of decline, and specially, without proper hospitality management. Besides the repairs they need to take actions to improve their whole service and attention to details. I can see understand now that the other negative reviews here are true, because the experience at Asclepios is not at to par with their pricing and it's nearly surreally bad.

gdimanz0


Why not go to Asclepios? An experience taken from "The White Lotus". This is a long review but worth reading to the end.

TripAdvisor Traveler Review Rating Reviewed March 15, 2023

We decided to visit the place with 8 friends for a very special celebration. We made the reservation more than a month before the date (Saturday, March 11), the package included the use of facilities, lunch, massage, and we were even offered that lunch could be in the green area at picnic tables with cushions for an additional cost, which we agreed to. This happened: 1. Four days before our reservation, the administration texts to tell us that there was a problem with the provider of the picnic table and that, just for transportation of it to the place, we had to pay $ 300 more if we wanted to maintain the service. We declined for his position and happily we did. 2. Upon arrival at the venue, the therapy staff was not ready to start at 9.30 as we had scheduled. In addition, the owner had not made the distribution of the order in which we were going to receive the massage. Everything felt very improvised and with a very bad attitude on the part of the owner, we had to propose the solution ourselves together with the therapy girls who were always very friendly. We rescued that the massage was fine, although we later learned that one of the people who gave one of the massages, was the kitchen assistant of the place to which the owner asked her to give a massage because one of the masseuses did not arrive. This is very concerning because a massage given by an untrained person can have consequences, our friend told us that she had her abdomen massaged, which is rare when one receives a spa massage. 3. Facilities such as the pool and jacuzzi are dirty and shabby. The jacuzzi began to fill up around 10 am that day. Even though our visit was scheduled for 9am. In addition, unfortunately the jacuzzi was nothing more than hot water because the bubbles did not work, for a while now, and nobody had come to repair it. Again, it felt as if the visit hadn't been planned for a long time. 4. The only meal included is lunch, scheduled for 1.30pm. There are no snacks or anything extra. The owner asked us for the list of what we were going to eat two weeks before because "she wanted to have everything ready". That day at 1.30pm there was NO ONE in any room, neither in reception, nor in the common areas. We had to go into the kitchen to ask for lunch to which, the only person who was working who was the kitchen assistant / masseuse, told us that she did not know that lunch was at 1.30 and that he was going to see what she could do. There we realized that the cook had not arrived that day either. After a while she told us that she was not sure what type of food we had ordered, and that the owner was in the village buying the meat. At the end we were served lunch at 3.15 pm, when at 4 we had to leave the facilities. The description of the dishes was not what we were served, and the portions were extremely small and of very low quality. 5. The sauna was turned on at 2 pm and took more than 40 min to warm up. It was ready at 3pm, when we were served lunch, we couldn't use it off course. 6. When at the end we indicated to the owner that we were not happy with the service received and that we were not provided with the contracted package, she had a reaction that we did not expect. She got upset and asked us which of the services we had not received that the only bad thing was a "small delay" at lunch. With the manager you definitely cannot talk, she interrupted us constantly and when we indicated that we were not going to pay for the remaining 30%, she was even more annoyed and asked us to leave the premises, to which of course we agreed. It's definitely one of the worst experiences in customer service and overall service I've ever received. The only good thing about the place is that the facilities are incredible and the service of the rest of the staff is very good and attentive, but the attitude of the owner, her poor management and little planning will end up taking this place to bankrupt. 

laguilar94 - Astoria, New York


Nice place, bad services from owner.

TripAdvisor Traveler Review Rating Reviewed February 9, 2023

The place is beautiful. However, the service provided by the owner is terrible. I had to ask the day before if the appointment was confirmed because she didn't even plan for us to arrive. If I hadn't confirmed, I would have shown up and found the place closed. Don't sit on the hammock over the pool, my husband sat down and the rope broke, and he fell into the pool. Luckily, he wasn't hurt and his phone was water-resistant. When I told the owner about the incident, her response was just "Oh, ok. She didn’t worried if he was hurt." When it came time to pay, I wasn't allowed to use my credit card because "it didn't work", which wasn't true. This place is definitely poorly managed by someone who doesn't care about the business or the staff. I must mention that the staff provided excellent service.

kristhele2016 - San Rafael de Escazu, Costa Rica


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