El Tucano Resort & Thermal Spa

I always had a good image of this hotel, over the decades people always commented how good their stay was, and how premium everything was there. That seems to be all in the past. This hotel lived better days, and those are gone. I decided to visit this hotel after a stay in La Fortuna on my way back to the central valley. Maybe the quaility of accomodations in Fortuna has increased a lot over the years, but the contrast was huge. * The room: * The room was ok-ish. Beds not terribly uncomfortable, but I certainly did not have the best sleep. I had to ask for a room change, as the first one only had one bed (I specifically asked for a two bedroom place, I was visiting with my mom, but it seems they just don't read what you type in when you reserve). The clerk gave me the keys to another room to see if I liked it. The keyhole required a tricky twist to be opened (another sign of poor maintenance), but I decided to keep the room as I was tired and I felt I had mastered the art of opening poorly maintained locks. * The pools: * This is where the hotel starts to show its decadency. The pools were built decades ago... and it shows. It's clear that they lack maintenance. While the color of the water can be attributed to the rich minerals from the river, everything else can be attributed to poor maintenace. Outdoor facilites around the pool (such as bathrooms and changing rooms) are aweful and way too small. These have not seen maintenance in years. * The natural spa: * I enjoyed this one. You actually see the stones under the ground heating up the river and producing this lovely hot mist. It is however, as all the other things in this hotel, poorly maintained, and I began to wonder if those flimsy looking and ever wet wooden planks were about to break under my weight. * The food: * I only had the "pleasure" of having breakfast. Food was ok, but nothing to write home about. The restaurant though, looked terrible. This is where the lack of maintenance is more evident. Being a single floor building with high rise ceiling, the upper half of all the walls, and the entire ceiling, was horribly dirty. This gave me the sensation that the entire place lacked hygiene. * The patrons: * This is probably not the fault of the hotel, but some dude was trying to steal my backpack! I think their entire family were thiefs, and there' s no security within the hotel to watch out for your anything, you're on your own. Once I prevented my personal belongings from being stolen, I really felt that this was no vacation, I was in self-protect mode. Is this hotel so low in perception that thiefs are now their regular visitors? * The price: * I payed $110 for a small two-bed room for one night, with a tiny TV and an unremarkable bathroom. Given the poor maintenace, the regular quality of food everything else in this review, I find it expensive. TL;DR - dated, poorly maintained, low reputation visitors that almost ruined my vacation. Not recommended, t

Place was ok, comfortable however, it seemed like the facilities saw better days in the past, in my experience this is easily overlooked as you want to spend most of the time in the pool / enjoying the nature, HOWEVER, just getting into the room that I booked which was the most expensive one available, the first thing we noticed was that the bathroom was dirty (and not the usual dirty, as it was like someone used the WC but forgot to flush it), I proceeded to inform the receptionist about it and her answer was "oooh, that's so bad" which is a reply that I didn't expect, however, she told us that the manager of the place was going to contact us on monday (yesterday) but at 11:30 pm of Tuesday there is no email from them, neither a phone call, the least I expected was an apology, as for me, it is a MAJOR issue, as it was almost the first thing I saw in the most expensive room

•We arrived after dark, and were placed in a upgraded “junior suite” which is basically a big empty room with 2 beds, a tiny desk and chair and TV. No place to sit or any other amenities. The bathroom was very basic. •The next morning as we headed to the pools, we were intercepted by the receptionist who asked us to change rooms. “The hotel wishes to do maintenance on our room.” I know, why we were assigned the room initially is a mystery. So we turned around, moved our things into a “better room” which at least had a tiny patio with chairs to sit in, and painters immediately started working in our old room. •We had one full day of vacation, spent traveling to nearby towns in search of meals, as the hotel restaurant does not offer many options nor is the food delicious. •The next morning as we were preparing to head to the pools, there came a knock at the door. A manager asked us to change rooms yet again, for more planned maintenance and who knows what else. The enticement was to move us to their top of the line suite, but we were done with the hotel. •Our visit was not a relaxing vacation but an exercise in moving from spartan room to spartan room, driving around seeking good food, and deciding we will not return.

This hotel was the last leg of a birthday celebration. My friend and I had stayed in 3 other hotels in an effort to see the lay of the land. It was atrocious!!!!!!!! And if it wasn’t the last night before our scheduled flight we would have moved to another place. The first room they put us in was filthy and the second one was just plain old dirty. There was mold in the bathroom, soap residue on the sink, filth in the lamp shades and the sauna smelled like mildew. This is the worst place I’ve ever stayed in my entire 50 years. It needs a deep cleaning and upgrades. Choose another location. The pictures are definitely photo shopped!