The room was good, large with comfy bed but extremely poor lighting and very gloomy - definitely not the "bright rooms" as claimed in the Lonely Planet guide. There was a pane of glass missing from one of the louvered windows so not ideal security and made for a pretty cold night despite the very welcome thin duvet. The shared bathroom was reasonable although looked like it was undergoing some renovation as all the tiles had been riped off the walls and the shower temperature was mildly lukewarm at best. The owners were lovely though although pretty quirky. There is nowhere to eat around Arilapa within walking distance and as the hostel is at the end of a dark road in what looks like a pretty dodgy area of town, I would have reservations about recommending to single women travelling alone. The owners were very kind and did provide me with some food the evening I arrived as I really did not relish the prospect of trying to find somewhere to eat without any transport. There is no airport shuttle service despite what it says on Hostelbookers and the "gourmet" breakfast describe on Arilapa's own website leaves a lot to be desired. I'm a vegetarian and was given meat sausages! The grounds did look lovely but unfortunately I didn't have the time to appreciate them properly as I arrived in the evening and left the following morning. I would recommend this place with reservations though as described above. Bring ear plugs as the river is relentless.

We stayed at the B&B in our last night in San Jose. We had a great spacious room - that was nice, but everything else was disastrous. Worst: tiny little ants were all over the bed and we couldn't get rid of them, so slept with/in them. The bathroom did not have tiles but painted chipboards and a continuous-flow water heater. Toilet and sink seemed as they hadn't been cleaned for a while.
The B&B was quite far away from the airport as well and due to the evening-traffic we paid 20 USD for the taxi. The way to the airport was early in the morning so they didn't drop us off as well (although advertised) - though it was cheaper then.
The owners have been friendly and helpful though. But we didn't ask for a new room as is was quite late and as I said the last evening.

Gorgeously landscaped grounds, incredibly clean facility, a hilariously funny host with a doll of a wife and children, in authentic costa rica style decorated rooms and bulidings, makes this the most ideal place to stay coming in /out of San Jose, without actually staying in San Jose. An incredible value to boot. Just make sure you get good directions - it's not right in town. Better yet, just follow brown signs to Poas Volcano, and know when to make a right hand turn. We'll be back - next time with our 5 children to rent the whole house to ourselves and let the kids run the grounds. Owner also has his own line of genuine hand made brand of FROGS sandles - pick yourself up a pair. They are very nice. The best part of the grounds is the absolutely beautiful sounds of the roaring river going through the property. Try for a room near it and you'll sleep like a baby.

i stayed at arilapa at the start and end of my 15 day stay and found the owners happy and helpful. i got to arilapa stressed out from some bad experiences i had in Peru 3 days by the river and the beautiful gardens soon had me back on track. would recommend arilapa to everyone for it's laid back relaxing vibe