May 2019
Some other tips if you are planning a stay at Kurà:
There are bugs (you're in a jungle). The hotel provides a natural bug repellent lotion made with lemongrass essential oil that is amazing. The bugs are worse at night. The romantic evening turn down service includes closing all of the curtains that surround the bedroom. We made the mistake the first night of opening them - don't. They block the bugs from coming in because they are attracted to your lights. At night there is no view so just keep the curtains closed! Fazineh had to take out 3 wasps that kept coming to my reading lamp. Our bed was full of little flies and bugs. The second night we kept the curtains drawn and barely had any bugs :)
There are lots of mango trees on the property. Many people didn't seem to be eating them, but Fazineh loved them and would eat a few each day.
I don't think I need to tell you, but spend as much time as possible at the infinity pool! It is so beautiful to stare out into the horizon. At the right angle the edge of the pool looks like it melts into the Pacific Ocean. You can also see the tides changing on the whale's tale sandbar and catch views of different tropical birds. If you're staying in one of the master suites you'll have your own private pool!
Kurà is truly amazing and so is the staff. We especially want to thank Manuel and Ismael, Sergio, Jay and Sindy. You are all awesome! We can't wait to come back again some day and to check out some of the other Cayuga properties as well.
You can watch the highlights of our trip on my Instagram story:
https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTYzNDQxNjYyMjY1MzI5/?igshid=9y80rhr7nhnn
Kura Design Villas, Uvita, Costa Rica
Junior Suite
Our balcony
Finally after months of planning and anticipating we got to the point on our trip where we traveled to Uvita to check into Kurà. We took the bus from San José, from the Tracopa Station, to Uvita. Bus schedules are on their website and the 4.5 hour bus ride cost us 6,290 colones each, which is about $14 CAD. If you check out my Costa Rica post you'll see me raving about Costa Rica's buses and how you have to take them as an alternative to taxis, shuttles or private cars. It saves you so much money and you get a more authentic experience. Our bus was early because traffic was good, but give yourself extra time in case the traffic is bad, because they can also be very late.
Kurà provides a round trip transfer from Uvita on check in and check out if you don't have your own 4x4 to get up the mountain. Believe me - they are not kidding when they say that you must have a 4x4. The mountain has an incredibly steep dirt road with tight turns. I'm so happy that their experienced driver Ricardo picked us up from Tracopa Station and brought us to the hotel and that it wasn't raining. We saw monkeys in the jungle on the way!
Our friend Kermit, the poisonous frog.
I won a stay at Kurà Design Villas in Costa Rica through an Instagram contest by @hiphotelsgiveaways!
If you're on Instagram there are lots of giveaways that you can participate in - start looking for them by searching "travel giveaway" and lots of accounts will come up. I am obsessed with them and up to now have won twice! (Thanks to all my friends who let me tag you- you are the best xo)
First of all, let me say how amazing this hotel is!! (They are not paying me to say this!) We had such an amazing time that it deserved its own blog post.
From the moment I won the contest I was so excited (obviously) and began talking with the hotel to plan our stay. The staff is incredible! Our voucher was for use during Costa Rica's "Green Season" and they let me take advantage of Kurà's Green Season Promo- stay three nights and get the fourth night for free! If you take a look at their prices you'll see why this made me so happy!
Fazineh and I decided to plan a trip to Costa Rica to visit our friend Nikki, who has been living there for a few years (see my post: Costa Rica) and so that we could use this voucher. Flights were not included, but we decided to make a trip of it anyways and take the opportunity to stay in a luxury eco lodge, visit Nikki and see Costa Rica together. I had gone to Costa Rica with my brother in 2017, so I knew that I loved the country and wanted to go back to see places that I didn't get a chance to go to on my first trip.
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Ava Vanderstarren
Kurà thinks of every detail and is a very special place. Upon arrival you receive a cool facecloth and welcome drink- Kurà's signature Jaguar Colada- along with a tour of the place that ends with you being shown to your villa. The view is even better in person! I was worried that I would be let down because I'd looked at so many photos of Kurà before arriving. I'd obsessed about the hotel for months in advance :) but I was not disappointed at all!
I freaked out when I saw our room. There are only 8 suites on the property and we had a junior suite. The balcony is huge! It had a double hammock, glass double doors into our room, king size bed, double shower and an amazing view! I understand why people stay in their rooms for most of their stay here and only leave to go to the infinity pool or to the restaurant. It is definitely made for couples as a retreat.
We spent our 4 nights and 3 full days relaxing in our room, enjoying breakfast in bed, romantic dinners (their restaurant is amazing!), swimming in the incredible infinity pool and watching the sunsets.
The one time that we did leave the hotel during our stay was to go check out Parque Nacional Marino Ballena (Marino Ballena National Park). If you want to walk out onto the whale's tale sandbar, the staff will check the tides for you. We left at 6 am and were dropped off at the park. Kurà provides a free beach shuttle each day, you just need to book the time you'd like to go and when you want to be picked up. The fee to enter the park is $6 USD for foreigners or 1,000 colones if you are a resident of Costa Rica.
It was so nice to be there so early in the day! There were only a few other people on the beach and lots of the time we were essentially alone. We walked along the beach for a while to the whale's tale and went out to the end of the sandbar. As the tide was coming in, we went swimming off the side of it. It's a beautiful park! I felt like we were on the set of Jurassic Park (minus the dinosaurs). We sat on the beach and watched as the tides came up on both sides of the sandbar - a very cool sight to see waves crashing into each other.
From the park we walked into the town to the Farmer's Market. We had fresh coconuts and bought some fruit and Costa Rican Casado for lunch, before being picked up and heading back to Kurà.
We took a sustainability tour of the property on one of our days and I was super impressed! The hotel is managed by the Cayuga Collection, which runs sustainable luxury resorts in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.
Some of the notable things are:
-solar panels heat the water
-no single use plastic on site
-bamboo straws
-provide biodegradable toiletries in the rooms in refillable glass jars
-include biodegradable and natural bug spray and sunscreen
-waste water is filtered and used to water the gardens
-have a greenhouse on site where they grow veggies and herbs
-compost leftover food from the restaurant.
-other produce is organic and local
-only serve sustainably caught seafood
-hotel is built with sustainable and eco-friendly materials
-provide year round employment to their staff, great training and room for advancement
-support local school programs and charities