From the initial reception by Pablo at the airport, to the private concierge, Carol, to the shuttle driver Alex, and on and on... This is true 5 star service at its best! If you are going to Costa Rica it is a must to stay at Gaia, I could not find anything that was not perfection. Highly recommend and truly a great value for the personal service and beautiful accommodations.

There is nothing not to like at the Gaia. The service is excellent, the food wonderful, the spa facility and massages are all first rate but the best part of the Gaia has to be the staff. All are helpful, knowledgeable , pleasant, eager to be of assistance and generally appear to enjoy their task of making the guest have a trouble free and relaxing visit. When you visit, take advantage of your concierge's knowledge for everything from day activities to local restaurants.

The only drawback to a Gaia visit would be that I had to go home to rest. There are too many activities that are not to be missed so that one has little time to kick back and relax. Of course you don't have to hike, fish, kayak, raft and zip line and you can just lie around the pool or beach. That is the beauty of a Gaia experience; there is something for every taste or whim and after the full day away, the wonderful bartenders will ease you into the evening.

The food at Gaia is excellent and there are good restaurants nearby. I would suggest doing both. If you are a seafood lover, every place we ate had great, fresh seafood that must have been caught that day. I had the best tuna ever at Gaia as special for dinner. The breakfast which we always had on our deck is very very good and always came right on time. There is nothing like the sights and sounds of a tropical morning while enjoying good healthy food.

Costa Rica is a lovely country for any traveler but particularly if you enjoy outdoor adventure. The people appear to genuinely welcome tourists unlike some other tropical destinations. They are educated, interesting, and fun to be with. San Jose might be a different story but we did not do anything but pass through the airport.

My husband and I had the pleasure of a four-night stay at Gaia in early November. We had wonderful weather the whole time, with only a couple of brief showers in the late afternoon or early evening, and plenty of sun early in the day. Although I am a seasoned traveller, I usually don't get the chance to stay at such an upscale location. Thanks to a great travelzoo deal, my husband and I got to experience this first-class resort. Every aspect of the service at Gaia was exceptional - front desk/concierge, restaurant and bar, housekeeping, and spa. We had expected to be staying in a studio room as described by our travelzoo deal, but were pleasantly surprised upon arrival to find that we had been upgraded to an ocean view suite. We especially enjoyed watching the spectacular sunsets from our balcony (I even watched from the sliding window over the tub/shower one night). The breakfasts, which are included, were wonderful, and the afternoon tapas, at about $3 per plate, were a great deal and even more enjoyable when served at the in-pool bar. We ate dinner at La Luna two of the four nights, including a three course dinner with wine that was part of our package. The package dinner had a somewhat limited menu compared to the regular dinner menu with tiny-sized dessert options, but was delicious nonetheless. We dined with another couple, with each couple receiving a bottle of wine. Since I was the only regular wine drinker at the table, Aldo nicely allowed me to take one of the two bottles (unopened) with me. The other two nights, we dined at local restaurants, taking a cab at $7 each way (the Gaia drivers are only available until 4:30 pm each day). We had drinks and dinner at El Avion one night (we knew not to expect much from the food, but the airplane bar and the breathtaking sunset views made it worthwhile). On the reccommendation of several people, we also had dinner at Raphael's Terrazos. The food and service were both great (this restaurant mostly serves seafood, which was clearly extremely fresh), and it definitely has a more relaxed vibe with a clientele that was a mix of tourists and locals the night we were there. Two couples massages (one regular and one hot-stone) were included in our package, and both were wonderful (and the shower in the changing room was a bonus). We spent one day at the beach and rented our chairs from Mary's, as suggested by Gaia, and at $10 for two chaises, an umbrella and a table for the whole day, the price couldn't be beat. The attendant at Mary's, Ray, also took care of our belongings when we took a walk and called the driver from Gaia when we were ready to leave. You can have drinks or food delivered to you on the beach, but the prices were outrageously expensive, so we walked to one of the little grocery stores along the main drag and bought beer and snacks for a fraction of the price. Our guide for our Manuel Antonio reserve tour was Dennis, who was fantastic - knowledgeable, polite, well-spoken and extremely accomodating. Don't forget to take or wear your bathing suits and take towels on your Manuel Antonio tour, as there are three beautiful, sparsely populated beaches in the park where you ask your guide to wait while you take a swim, or linger at the end of your tour. We also did the Midworld canopy tour, which we loved except for the fact that since we were two of the few in our group who didn't do the Superman line, we ended up having to wait an extra hour and a half for the bulk of the group to finish (we would have gone back for more beach time that afternoon if we had returned at the expected time). Midland did send us a free photo cd of our adventures as a bit of compensation. The only negative from our stay at Gaia (aside from the fact that the rooms would benefit from a better quality of hair dryer) was a very cheeky iguana on the pool deck outside our room - it bit my toe (not seriously, but hard enough to draw blood) while we were having our afternoon drinks, and apparently had bitten another woman earlier in the day and climbed/jumped on the lap of another woman while she was laying on a chaise on the same deck the next day! None of us were highly upset about the iguana incidents, but clearly Gaia needs to trap and relocate the little bugger!

Although we went during the "green" season, the weather was relatively nice--with just a few rainy days during our week. Great weather to lounge by the pool or travel to Manuel Antonio Park.

The studio rooms are definitely quite compact. Don't expect a bathtub or large area for your clothes or toiletries. Sliding doors hide the closet-like sink/toilet/shower area, but the quality of materials used are quite nice and two can easily fit into the large shower. The TV is also small, but I suppose most people don't go to CR to watch tv ;)

The linens on the beds and covers are softly luxurious and high thread count. Great sleeping with the sound of the rain and great A/C.

If you're looking for a huge hotel/spa, this place may not be for you... but if you frequent lovely, small boutique hotels, try Gaia with it's super friendly staff, great service, and wonderful views. This is not a hotel on the beach in Hawaii, but has it's own charms nonetheless.