Honeymoon update!!

Ray and I booked our honeymoon hotel awhile back at Los Altos de Eros in Costa Rica. (see the link for my previous post on that hotel!) While we'd still LOVE to stay there, reality has been setting in that staying there would probably put us into debt starting off our marriage! At $395-$495 a NIGHT...it's not cheap.....but it seems to be out of this world!! It's slightly all-inclusive- smoothies, beer, wine, breakfast and lunch are included.

I was especially excited about staying in Tamarindo, Costa Rica because the week we booked the hotel, I had shown all my classes a Travel Channel Samantha Brown video on her trip there! After 10 times of watching her surf, ride dirt bikes, relax in infinity pools and lay in a hammock in Costa Rica, I had to do it to!

By the way.....If I could pick ANY job in the world, it would be HERS! But I think I'd do it a little better- at least in the Spanish speaking countries she visits! Her Spanish is pretty bad! But at least she tries!! I think she's the coolest chic ever though!! I know her job can be tough and fast paced, but she gets PAID to see the world!!! I soooo want that job!

But back to the point........We've changed our hotel in CR! Actually, we're now booked for 2 places but will eventually cancel one! Good thing about hotels here- you pay when you leave, so no one has our credit card # right now!! They finalize your reservation when you send them your airfare info.

My mom and dad are SUPER amazing and got us our plane tickets into Liberia, CR for FREE! Yes, that's right- FREE! Well....nothing's free I guess! There was about $180 worth of processing fees- so silly! But amazing compared to the fact that we would be paying well over $1200 for 2 tickets there! My dad's been flying so much lately that he's earned tons of points- obviously enough for 2 tickets! And my mom was great about finding us a flight that would actually work with our schedule and the airline's (they only allow so many free passengers per flight!) Too bad we'll get hit with American Airlines new $15 per checked bag fee!

So you'd think that getting free air would make us think we could splurge a little! Nope! As we're seeing how much $$$$$ this wedding is going to cost- and the fact that we'll probably have zero left to put on the honeymoon, we're seeing we need to cut back!

(oh the memories of Honduras! These things are not my friend, but animal life is abundant in CR!!)

So we found a fabulous little hotel- Hotel Capitan Suiza, which we are quite happy with. Los Altos only had 6 rooms and was very intimate, but the Capitan only has 30, so it's not a huge commercial hotel either. It's not all-inclusive, but like I've said before- I've heard good and not so good things about all-inclusive. Breakfast is included, and the restaurant looks fantastic and isn't too expensive! We've read nothing but good things about the hotel too!

Wish I could put better pics of the hotel on here, but I can't copy the ones on their page....so go look at them here- Hotel Capitan Suizo Photos. Amazing!! The restaurant all lit up, reminds me of the one in the recent movie - Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Looks like fun!

It's also right on the beach, which seems to be pretty clean and pretty private. Los Altos is up in the mountains/jungle over looking the ocean (they take you there whenever you want). But there is something about waking up and throwing on a bathing suit and heading straight to the beach, then wandering back every now and then for a dip in the pool, etc. :o)

We're spending less than half what we would spend a night at Los Altos (around $175 at the Capitan), so that should give us lots of money to play/eat/drink with! We even decided to book the honeymoon suite for the last 2 nights (the last, not the first so we don't get too spoiled and hate our smaller room!), and it's even cheaper than the small room at Los Altos!

Trip Advisor was an invaluable resource for us! Yes, I know that on many travel review sites people only post negative experiences. Well at both of these hotels there were almost nothing but RAVING reviews because everyone loved them both so much! Although, you should take the negatives with a grain of salt, it's still a great resource!

So- if you have LOTS of money after throwing your fabulous wedding- head to Los Altos de Eros. If you are throwing a "Fabu-less" wedding- head to the Capitan! Whatever you do- definitely put Costa Rica on your "must-see" honeymoon list!!