My husband and I stayed at the Villa Sol from December 3rd to 16th. The rooms were nicely air-conditioned, and clean. Lovely "towel art" was left for us daily (tips to the maid staff helps!). The view from our room was fantastic. The location was very good as we did not opt for the all-inclusive. There are lots of restaurants and other places to go along the beach. Speaking of the beach, it was very clean and never was it crowded. We had massages on the beach (a definite must do). We think that the best part of the vacation (other than the perfect weather) was our tour guy Mainor Lara. You absolutely must contact him at www.tours-your-way.com.

Mainor picked us up from San Jose and brought us to Villa Sol and we had many excursions with him. His groups are usually 4-5 people which is great. He can talk to Howler Monkeys, spot wildlife in places that you would never see or look. He also brought us to places that we wouldn't of thought of going like a Bull Rodeo, White Water Rafting, Shell beach. I could go on-and-on forever about this guy. You left feeling like you've left with a new friend. Overall, the hotel and total trip was better than we expected and we are definitely going back.

The people at Villas Sol were helpful and friendly. Jonathan and Emir at the front desk were great! Jessica came to welcome us our first evening and brought us fresh fruit, and when we asked about ice, she told us she would bring us some. She brought us a huge bag that lasted almost the whole week!

We chose NOT to do the all-inclusive and were really glad. We enjoyed the various restaurants in the area a lot more than the restaurant at Villas Sol.

The shuttle that kept circulating around the resort reminded me of the parking lot shuttles at Disney World. We never had to wait terribly long for one. People have said it's too steep to walk around the resort, but we didn't find that to be true. We enjoyed walking through the beautiful grounds.

They were remodeling the main pool, so it was closed during our week. We were allowed to use the pool at Condovac and enjoyed that immensely! I would do water aerobics with them every day at 11am. They ended the water-aerobics session each day with an activity that included head massages and true relaxation. Fun! They had a beautiful infinity pool overlooking the Pacific, and bright butterflies were constantly flying close to you. Paradise!

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Very Good

We reserved everything in January and were all set. When we arrived, they did not have any info about us having the package. They could not get us the villa that we expected. We tried several times to get this straightened out, to no avail. We kept getting the run-around. We gave up and stayed in the standard hotel room.

Upon our return, I emailed them to find out that they only have six villas reserved for this type of package, and they were allegedly full. That is why we did not get a villa. Mind you, this was the rainy season--the resort was nowhere near full. We didn't even see anyone on our half of the floor the whole week. But they were too full to use RCI, and they were too full to give us the package that we signed up for. They could have let us know when we booked that they were full. They could have given us another villa that might have been a little bigger, because there were plenty of those open. But again, no one knew anything, and no one cared.

So we were very disapointed in the way our reservation was handled, and no one seemed to care that we were upset.

Onto the rest of our stay:

The resort was clean and in good repair. The water wasn't very hot (shower or hot tub), but it was okay. We didn't feel that the all-inclusive was a very good deal. The food was average. We don't like very fancy foods, so the more elaborate dishes don't really appeal to us. We found breakfast to be our favorite meal. Fresh fruits, waffles, cereal, etc. It was nice to not have to worry about where you were going to eat your next meal though.

I felt quite safe compared to the other places at this beach. Some of the other places there seemed to be quite accessible to anyone. We were able to set up tours and rent a car at the hotel. They even delivered the car to us.

The people were friendly, but as I said before, they seemed to play dumb or pass you off (politely) to someone else in hopes of you getting tired and giving up, which we did.

• Unit Type: Other
• Activities: Fair
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Poor
• Family Friendliness: Good
• Service: Poor

The resort at Villas Sol Playa Hermosa is outstanding. There are about 100 two and three bedroom units along with a hotel on the property. About 25% of the villas have a small, but private, pool. The two bedroom units have one room with a queen bed and another with two twin beds along with a sleeper sofa. I think that the three-bedroom units have queen beds in two rooms. Each unit has a full kitchen equipped with all the supplies that may be needed including plates, utensils, glassware, and pots and pans. Beds were made each day (changed once during our stay) with a complete housekeeping service. The large living room includes a TV, VCR and small stereo. There is an eating area near the kitchen. The front porch includes a table and chairs and hammock to relax with a good book.

The resort has two pools -- one near the hotel with a great view of the ocean and the other in the middle of the resort with a swim-up bar and separate jacuzzi. The pools are rarely crowded and are a nice way to end the day since they are open until 10pm.

The resort offers a shuttle service to the beach that runs all day into the early evening. The beach is a short 10-minute walk down hill.

There is a nice restaurant in the hotel, but we only ate there twice -- lunch on our first day and breakfast before checkout. The food is good, but we found many more interesting places nearby. We visited the local 'mercado' in neighboring Playa Coco and bought breakfast food and snacks which both saved time and money. The buffet breakfast in the hotel was more than we wanted most days, although the gallo pinto was excellent.

The staff is courteous and speaks English well. Do not rely on the hotel, however, to change more than about $100 at a time. There are a limited number of other amenities at the resort, but there is plenty to do in and around Playa Hermosa.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Very Good