El Silencio Lodge, Costa Rica

Just returned from the LL package to El Silencio. Absolutely amazing. First, it is only about 1.5 hours from San Jose Airport. Roads were fine. Each couple stays in a cute bungalow with gas fireplace, outdoor hot tub, and two rockers on a beautiful deck. An eco-concierge is assigned to each couple. We had Andrey. Andrey was excellent. We had hikes with him in the hills and also into the village. He was a wealth of knowledge about the property and nature. He coordinated all of our activities both on and off the property. The food was PERFECT! Very healthy with an emphasis on vegetables, fruits, and local ingredients. The lodge area was lovely with sofas and blankets and two fireplaces. We really needed this as this was the coldest weather in 15 years in CR. The service was top-notch. At the end, we planted a tree...how sweet! Also kudos to "Jimmy" our driver. What a great guy and such an excellent ambassador for the lodge and his country. The price of this property with the auction is amazing. What a deal! Even though we felt CR was getting tooooooo touristy, we felt differently after staying here. The village was so natural and not touristy. It actually reminded me of an Austrian village. It was more of a farming community that a tropical resort. My only complaint was we had asked for a special room and it wasn't assigned to us; they said it was being painted however, it was assigned to someone else. No problems because after you see all of the cottages, you realize they are all in a great location and private. We would love to post photos but haven't figured this out!!

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Originally Posted by bonniejoy03

Just returned from the LL package to El Silencio. Absolutely amazing. First, it is only about 1.5 hours from San Jose Airport. Roads were fine. Each couple stays in a cute bungalow with gas fireplace, outdoor hot tub, and two rockers on a beautiful deck. An eco-concierge is assigned to each couple. We had Andrey. Andrey was excellent. We had hikes with him in the hills and also into the village. He was a wealth of knowledge about the property and nature. He coordinated all of our activities both on and off the property. The food was PERFECT! Very healthy with an emphasis on vegetables, fruits, and local ingredients. The lodge area was lovely with sofas and blankets and two fireplaces. We really needed this as this was the coldest weather in 15 years in CR. The service was top-notch. At the end, we planted a tree...how sweet! Also kudos to "Jimmy" our driver. What a great guy and such an excellent ambassador for the lodge and his country. The price of this property with the auction is amazing. What a deal! Even though we felt CR was getting tooooooo touristy, we felt differently after staying here. The village was so natural and not touristy. It actually reminded me of an Austrian village. It was more of a farming community that a tropical resort. My only complaint was we had asked for a special room and it wasn't assigned to us; they said it was being painted however, it was assigned to someone else. No problems because after you see all of the cottages, you realize they are all in a great location and private. We would love to post photos but haven't figured this out!!

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What was the special room?

We had requested a room by the river. All rooms are designed the same but they are in different locations. After looking at the locations, I really think all rooms are special!!

Thanks for the review! I've considered EL Silencio for a getaway and it sounds like a good place for just that!
I understand they have internet avail in the lodge but not in the cottages?

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Originally Posted by bonniejoy03

Just returned from the LL package to El Silencio. Absolutely amazing. First, it is only about 1.5 hours from San Jose Airport. Roads were fine. Each couple stays in a cute bungalow with gas fireplace, outdoor hot tub, and two rockers on a beautiful deck. An eco-concierge is assigned to each couple. We had Andrey. Andrey was excellent. We had hikes with him in the hills and also into the village. He was a wealth of knowledge about the property and nature. He coordinated all of our activities both on and off the property. The food was PERFECT! Very healthy with an emphasis on vegetables, fruits, and local ingredients. The lodge area was lovely with sofas and blankets and two fireplaces. We really needed this as this was the coldest weather in 15 years in CR. The service was top-notch. At the end, we planted a tree...how sweet! Also kudos to "Jimmy" our driver. What a great guy and such an excellent ambassador for the lodge and his country. The price of this property with the auction is amazing. What a deal! Even though we felt CR was getting tooooooo touristy, we felt differently after staying here. The village was so natural and not touristy. It actually reminded me of an Austrian village. It was more of a farming community that a tropical resort. My only complaint was we had asked for a special room and it wasn't assigned to us; they said it was being painted however, it was assigned to someone else. No problems because after you see all of the cottages, you realize they are all in a great location and private. We would love to post photos but haven't figured this out!!

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bonniejoy03....other than the local hikes, doesn't El Silencio 'outsource' most of their adventure activities?

If so, and you participated, did the contractors do a good job?

First, no wifi in the individual cottages. We bought the computer to the lodge but most of the time it was only us by the fire on the sofa or another couple. It really was quite small. We did participate in their activities and outside activities. They took as to a huge park for some of the activities. I was very impressed. I thought this would be hokey. We did the horse riding and the zip line. Another couple with us do the rafting. We were all extremely impressed. Yes, there were other groups of people (we had a "football clue" of about 15 with us...lots of fun!) For the horse riding, it was just my husband and me and a girl from France. For the canopy tour, we had about 17 but we had about 8 guides with us. It was scary!! The activities on premises were by our eco-concierge, Andrey. He took us to the village and hiking.

good info on the activities. Do you mean the cottages are small? Interior space?

Another question......do they have cottages with either a king bed or 2 separate beds?

Hi K and J.....The rooms have a king bed and then a sofa type bed that is almost two single beds in an L shape. (used as a sofa or as two single beds.) The interior space is nice size; living area with the "L" shaped sofa/bed, King bed, mini bar, snack area, large bathroom with a WC, walk in shower, two sinks, and sliders out to the hot tub deck. In front of the king bed is sliders out to another deck with two rockers. The gas fireplace was between the sofa area and bed area. Would love to be able to post the photo of it!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bonniejoy03

Hi K and J.....The rooms have a king bed and then a sofa type bed that is almost two single beds in an L shape. (used as a sofa or as two single beds.) The interior space is nice size; living area with the "L" shaped sofa/bed, King bed, mini bar, snack area, large bathroom with a WC, walk in shower, two sinks, and sliders out to the hot tub deck. In front of the king bed is sliders out to another deck with two rockers. The gas fireplace was between the sofa area and bed area. Would love to be able to post the photo of it!!

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http://www.elsilenciolodge.com/suites.htm