(Write up from Janika): Due to COVID we had not one, but two European cruises cancelled. 
It was seriously so sad and frustrating, because we really just wanted to go to Europe! We finally decided to schedule an all inclusive resort somewhere because those hadn’t been quite as affected with COVID and it was less likely to get cancelled. After a crap ton of research, we decided to go to the Dreams Las Mareas resort in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The only flights out of SLC (that weren’t $2,000 each) were a flight to somewhere else in the states, an overnight layover, and then flying to the destination, so we had to book a hotel in Dallas and Chicago. On our way there (literally 15 minutes or so before boarding from SLC to Dallas) we figured it would be good to look at the shuttle info with the hotel we booked with so we would know how to get them to come pick us up. After quickly realizing we didn’t have any confirmation emails or charges on any of our credit cards… we panicked because I still to this day SWEAR that I booked a hotel through Kayak. Brandon hurriedly called the one I thought I had booked and they luckily still had room, so we booked it as fast as we could before boarding! That was pretty stressful haha but glad we figured it out.
When we got to Liberia the next day, we had to take an hour and a half shuttle to our resort. Driving through Costa Rica was really interesting. It’s soooo so pretty there, but also not a place I’d ever want to live. I just feel like I never want to live in a place where you feel the need to put bars over all your windows and barbed wire on top of all your fences, ya know? It’s so sad that some areas just aren’t very safe like that. I would probably give the resort a 7.5 out of 10. It was GORGEOUS, huge, and soooo so nice. Very well kept, the staff were so kind, etc. Our room had a balcony with a little tub on it and a jungle view, and we actually saw monkeys in the jungle right from our balcony a few times (we wish it was more though! So cool!) The pools were huge and connected to other pools, and there were three separate pool areas total, so plenty of space for everyone! It definitely didn’t feel crowded. They had five restaurants and a couple of different bars throughout the resort. It was located in a little alcove of jungle right on the beach. I seriously can’t say enough how pretty it was. We spent most of our time reading by the pool and ordering whatever fancy drinks we could think of that didn’t have alcohol. They didn’t have Dr. Pepper (they only had three sodas!) so that was depressing haha.
A few reasons why I would give it a lower rating:
- The pillows sucked. They have a ‘pillow menu’ that we had to order from to get different ones, which we had to do more than once before they actually came. We ended up ordering all three kinds and weren’t able to get a good night’s sleep on any of them! Maybe we’re just pillow snobs now, it’s a possibility haha.
- The language barrier was really tough. Most of the staff only spoke very little English, so it was hard to feel like we could turn to them to ask questions about the resort, etc., because it was just so difficult to communicate efficiently. Brandon was able to get by a little better with his bit of Spanish, but I struggled.
- Going along those same lines, there were so many things we felt we needed to ask about haha so it was doubly difficult. The resort wasn’t very clear on how things are supposed to be done and more, so this led to a whole lot of questions, especially since this was our first all inclusive. There were just so many little minor things that added up to make us feel a little bit frustrated with the whole process.
But overall, despite all of that, it really was so nice. I couldn’t stop marveling at the beauty of it all. We went kayaking on the ocean and it was seriously one of the most peaceful things. We also went on a nature walk (that was actually much more of a nature HIKE. It was honestly pretty difficult for us out of shape people haha. I was having a really hard time with it.) We were hoping to see lots of wildlife on the nature hike but we really didn’t see anything… besides cows. So that was disappointing. Brandon was especially hoping to see a sloth, but no such luck! We were able to see some wildlife on the beach though! We spent a lot of time walking on the beach and collecting pretty seashells (which we later learned we weren’t supposed to take home but we did anyway… oops.) and in the process of that saw some cool animals. We saw a crap ton of sand crabs and hermit crabs of all sizes, they are literally everywhere on the beach! We also saw a big (in comparison to the other crabs) blue crab in the water, as well as some fish that were right up in the shallow area, and even a little sting ray (glad we got out of the way in time for that… I’m going to make a habit of wearing water shoes in the ocean now haha.) I felt really lucky that we got to see all of that since we (I) really wanted to go snorkeling but we were told we couldn’t get snorkel gear from the hotel due to COVID-19. That was such a bummer because we have some here but we didn’t pack it because the hotel said they’d provide it! Oh well.
Honestly that’s pretty much all we did. Eat, read by the pool, walk on the beach, repeat. It was a fantastic trip, and I loved spending time with my honey!
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