My husband and I just left La Fortuna. Visited Nov 9 - 12. The room was wonderful. The gardens are lovely. Just wait for the hot water in the shower, there will be more hot water than you can use.I expect it had a great view of the Volcano, but we never saw it through the clouds.
Be careful about leaving crumbs or spilled drinks in the room as the ants will find them. We were in room 107. This was higher on the hill and nothing obstructed our view of the cloud covered volcano.
The pools were not warm enough to be in this time of year, but just ask the front desk to turn on the jucuzzi to enjoy a delightfull warm soak. We soaked at least once a day.
The breakfast is a free buffet. This is always good for people on the go. The food was great for lunch and dinner. We ate 2 lunches and 2 dinners here and enjoyed every one. The medium pizza is a little to large for a single person for lunch.
During our first night, the power went out while we were waiting to order dinner, The staff did not miss a beat. From flashlights, candles and cell phones, ordering continued. Our dinner was served promptly and tasted great, I took a picutre so that I would know what it looked like.
The hotel is too far from La Fortuna to walk. Taxi was 4000 colons ($8.00) there and 4500 colons back. Every souvenir shop in town sold the same stuff. Not really worth looking. Do go to town to eat. Good restaurants everywhere.

Spa - I had a 40 min, neck, back and shoulders massage the first night. THis was just average. Good pressure, I like pressure, but not very creative in movements. THe same person, gave me a pedicure. This was less than average. Very few colors to chose from and she couldn't paint within the lines.

Activities
Pure Trek Cayoneering. We rappelled 4 waterfalls. Great excitement and no one was hurt. The next day my husband and I climbed Cerra Chato, an extinct volcano, next to Arenal. It is $10 each to enter the park. THe trail to La Fotuna waterfall is next door and another $10 each to go there. They try to scare you about how hard it is, but it is short, 4 miles total. Unless you walk down to the lagoon, which is another 500 feet each way. We did not do this, was we were in a cloud and it was raining. THe taxi rider to Cerro Chato hike was $16 and the ride back was $18.
That evening we walked to Eco Terminales. This is not a commerical hot spring as you see Baldi and Tabacon. It is directly across the street from Baldi. The road is kind of scary and it doesn't look like a safe place until you are inside. It was wonderful. There was a waterfall, with several falls that create pools to sit in. Also, make sure you take in the top falls where you can go behind the falls. The falling water makes a good massage on the neck, shoulders and back. Most of the pools are around the same temperation, 102F, but there is a very cold pool and a hot pool (which is over 5 feet deep). Definitely worth the trip

I stayed at this place for two nights as a solo person but part of an escorted tour group. I had chosen the "Plan B" hotel and found this place to be very nice, room was clean and staff very helpful. As others have stated, the property is beautiful. I took a few strolls around the property and saw many birds and even the cows on the farm next door. We arrived when it was dark so it was a huge surprise to wake up and look out the window to see the volcano steaming away!

Restaurant food was good and service very good. Wait staff makes sure you are satisfied. Breakfast is included and again, staff very accommodating. They even remembered my name each day!

The location is fairly close to the hot spring spas, the Fortuna waterfall and the town. A cab ride was about 15 minutes to the waterfall and it was $16 one way and $8 on the way back (don't know how they figure the rates...)

I read the reviews prior to going and my response to those with some of the low ratings is the following:
1) Regarding noise, my experience throughout Costa Rica (stayed in US chains and local hotels) was that the non-US chains don't have the same "soundproofing" construction criteria that the higher end chains do... That is why I bring silicone earplugs on all trips...
2) In an effort to be sustainable, the hotel asks you to let them know about using the hot tub 10 minutes prior so they can turn on the heat. It was quite nice then! Read the handout they give you when you check in.
3) If you bring an internet capable device (phone, tablet, laptop), you can access wireless in room and don't have to use the lone computer in the reception area.
4) Regarding the bugs, our guide told us that no matter how hard one tries, it is virtually impossible to keep all the bugs out of any room because of the climate. There are bugs everywhere! I escorted one spider and one centipede out of my room on night one and didn't see any other bugs after that. Even in the well appointed Radisson in downtown San Jose, there were bugs!!

I haven't actually stayed at this hotel yet but I was recommended to eat at the Restaurant by Discovery Costa Rica, our travel agent, so I took my family there. The restaurant had a very cozy look from the outside and when we got in, we found out that it had a very cozy mountain lodge feel to it. The atmosphere was a very informal, international and local, friendly type, everybody chatting, laughing ..... nice. There are some large wooden tables available for groups which gave that "Italian family dinner" feeling. People passing food, bread going around the table... a lot of activity..... and this is the rainy season!
We all had pasta dishes and they were absolutely gorgeous, as was our desert The staff at this place were really friendly, not formal but down to earth, our waiter was cracking jokes with us, we enjoyed that too. An overall family atmosphere. Definitely going back!

My fiance and I took a 14 day trip through Costa Rica. The first 10 were spent in a much more secluded part of the country so some of the con's are really through no fault of the hotel or location it just so happens that this is a much more touristy spot in Costa Rica. PRO'S: This hotel was clean, the rooms were spacious and for the price very accomodating. The 2 girls at the front desk were very helpful with all our requests and very patient as we tried to call outside the country on my fiance's birthday. There were beautiful flowers in the vacinity and you could hear the monkeys in the trees at night although I never saw any. We did have a bat hanging out on our front porch one night though.CON'S: Upon arrival you are branded with a neon colored bracelet by the hotel staff. You are suppose to wear this bracelet during your entire stay in order to redeem your complimentary breakfast buffet as well as to have entry to the parking area by security. In theory this is a good idea but this also brands you as a tourist as you stroll around town and even more so a tourist that is NOT in their hotel room. This is something you wear when you go to a night club not a hotel. The breakfast buffet was not bad but it wasn't anything to write home about either. I had some coffe and fruit and called it a day. All in all not a bad choice for the price but not something I would consider a fabulous experience.
Another cool thing, we actually saw the clouds lift from the volcano! Everyone says this does not happen but it did!