Review: Costa Rica Vacation

I would not use a company. I would make my own plans and see other parts of the country I did not visit.

TRAVEL COMPANY COMMENTS:

Dear Wendy,

I hope this finds you well! We are very glad that you enjoyed our country and the natural friendliness of the Costa Ricans!

I would like to follow up on your trip´s review posted with Zicasso. Our primary goal is always to provide the best experiences to our travelers and to deliver great vacations.

In your review, you mention that we did not provide what we promised, and also that you found our service limiting and more expensive. Although we are not sure if this is what you are referencing, we believe that your comment refers to your request for a room with two double beds for your party of three at the beach resort, and how the hotel ended up providing a unit with one king size bed and one rollaway bed. As I mentioned during your stay, we informed the hotel about the specific requests you had including your preference for a room with the best possible view. Seemingly, they gave priority to the ocean view request and assigned the room with a king bed and rollaway instead of the two double beds we asked on your behalf, without asking us or even informing us. As yo know, once you communicated with us, I immediately called the hotel, asked for an explanation, and they said that the only two beds units they had at the time didn't have the best view that you requested. After my conversation with the hotel, I informed you about the hotel situation. You mentioned that you were frustrated due to that situation and that probably without our service you could have been able to arrange it all in a better way. Nevertheless when I asked you how did you feel about the accommodations, and the vacation in general and you said you were fine and having a good time.

I must say that this experience has taught me that we must be more careful with the requests of our clients and the communication with the hotels as sometimes their staff takes decisions on our travelers' stays and does not advise us the way they should. We recognize that it takes teamwork and effort to design a great vacation.

We try our best in all cases for service to go beyond our client's expectations personalizing in details and assistance as much as we can and in your case to fulfill your wishes and dreams.  That's why we create a personalized welcome kit and the birthday decorations for your daughter, and certainly, we were happy to hear you enjoyed them. Also, we asked for a VIP treatment for your party to the tour operators, the transportation companies and the hotel itself.

Regarding our company being more expensive than booking directly by yourself, this might be true in some cases. However, when you hire a travel company, there is a lot more than the value of the accommodations, transportation, and tours in it. You have a local expert knowledge at your service, the verification of products and services provided, special arrangements in tours, insurance policies, management of sudden itinerary changes due to weather or external circumstances (some of them only known to the locals) and the certainty that if something happens, you have a whole team backing you up. Plus the fact that the stress of the entire travel operation is off your hands and mind.

We take all reviews very seriously and yours has been a subject of meetings and changes to our vendors and our communication policies with them.

We deeply apologize for whatever moments of frustration this hotel situation created in your holiday and hope that the pleasant experiences lived in Costa Rica will make you want to come back to our country.

Kindest Regards