El Silencio Lodge

[betsyv]

I saw where this property was mentioned a couple of times but no one has seemed to have talked about it or reviewed it. We just bought a 4 night package there and will be going late March. Does anyone know any suggestions or hints that might enhance our stay? Does anyone know what the weather might be like? Has anyone done the white water rafting or zip lining in Sarapiqui?

[kyshel]

I contacted the lodge to find out about transfers. ($150 each way for 2-6)
I think there is a lot of appeal in this pkg. I found the notes about red meat ("if you must" they will give vouchers for local restaurants) humorous! I prefer the other white meat--on a spit, roasted to perfection. Yu can leave the chicken in the kitchen...

[bonniejoy03]

We just won an auction to Silencio!! We are familiar with the property. It is the sister property of Punta Islita. We loved Punta Islita and stayed there over 6 times. Glad to see LL added Silencio. We had been receiving emails from the property. Great concept and great staff. We had not planned to go back to Costa Rica (tooooooo touristy) however, this property is out of the way. It reminds me a little of The Cliffs at Patagonia. Now trying to put another property together with it.......

[betsyv]

Yes, Kyshel, the transfers are $300 rt. I was a little surprised as I got a great deal on the 4 night package at $865 and will have to pay 300 to get there but I really didn't want to rent a car after reading about the roads and such. Besides, have to be careful about my carbon footprint... And yes, they don't serve any red meat-only chicken, fish and vegetables but if you go on trip advisor the reviews are off the top and especially complement the chef. He even got written up in Food & Wine magazine..



Congrats Bonniejoy! We will be going at the end of March which I hear is a great time to go. We are already going to Colorado in February for skiing so we decided to just do the one package this time instead of like last year when we combined 4 of them into one trip.



We will be going down on Delta Airlines and I have arranged the transfers. They told me to wait until arrival to plan the daily activities but I was hoping someone here had tried the some of the 4 and could give me tips. We are leaning towards the White Water Rafting and Zip Lining right now. I had contacted the lodge re bugs, temperature and what to wear and they were not as informative as I had hoped so that is why I asked. I am sure things are different at this property compared to being at the beach but just don't know. I guess I will have to get my fingers to do the surfing.



Thank you both and I welcome more comments...

[bonniejoy03]

Hi Betsy....I will be going at the end of the year so you can pass on your visit information! It does sound wonderful and we really enjoyed how Punta Islita was operated. Will you combine any other part of Costa Rica with this trip? I did see the transfer cost however, I see this is the same ballpark as other companies would charge. It is high though. I was hoping to get to the beach with this trip also. I will wait for another auction or might consider Xandari by the Pacific. It looks really nice.



I think we made a great choice!!

[Mountie]

round trip van service from the airport to el silencio costs more than the air fare to get there

[kyshel]

Mountie--I agree; renting a car is much less; considering it's about one hour from the airport to the lodge, $300RT is excessive.
Piece of cake after Guatemala and "that road"...

[bonniejoy03]

Have researched the cost with other companiies and Silencio is in line. Remember, the roads aren't necessarily a highway. Not that the cost is a deal however, they have to send someone there, wait for you, and bring you back.....As to a car, what do you think the cost would be for the rental, insurance, etc? I am going with their transfers or a private car service..........

[betsyv]

Bonniejoy, no other packages this time. Just this one. But you never know in the future...



Re transfer. I agree it is high considering the cost of airfare to get there and considering the cost of the package BUT I also agree that there are other factors to consider. The rental cost, gasoline, insurance, etc all add up. Plus I have heard (just like in So Africa)sometimes you become a target of thieves or car accident scammers in this area.Also one of the things that I read on another blog is that the trip there and back passes a lot of beautiful scenery and if you are trying to drive on the poor narrow roads, you don't have the time to sit back and enjoy and look. I don't regret renting in So Africa but the experience was a teaching lesson for me as I drove and my husband could never relax-constantly more concerned about the driving and traffic and such. I told him that we would end up divorced after our 25th wedding anniversary trip if we had the rental car one more day!



I can't wait to update all after our trip! I may post a new thread to try and get the zip line and white water raft questions answered.

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We have not stayed at this property in CR but we did stay at a resort in the Northwest part of CR near the Nicaragua border. We took a local flight from San Jose to Liberia where we had a rental car waiting for us - the cost was not bad at all and we drove up and down the Pacific coast - even drove to a park around midnight to see the turtles laying their eggs - the driving was not too bad at all - it does get a little creepy late at night since it is very dark but all in all, we were glad we had a car.

CR, Belize and Mexico are the only 3 Latin American countries we have rented a car in and we were glad we did

Denise