Xandari is lovely. It's close to the airport, which makes it super convenient if you want to make sure you're there on time. There's a shuttle service that can get you there too. The grounds are stunning. The owners of the property have clearly spent a lot of time, money and love in developing them. The botanical gardens, orchards, orchid house and walks to waterfalls were all very beautiful. The room was nicely appointed, very large, and the balcony was nice and private. Their newest pool was gorgeous, too, with sweeping views. Their continental breakfast was probably the best I ever had, too!

All that said, after coming from Makanda by the Sea, I felt it not quite the lush resort it promised to be and did not have quite the soul that Makanda had, so the place left me a bit cold. It also bills itself as a resort, which I always think of as having several eating options, activities on the premises, and almost certainly a gym. I know it sounds silly, but if I'm paying such a high price, I expect more. The shampoo was just the shampoo/conditioner hybrid, terrible for my hair, so I ended up using the kind I bring. They offer to bring you weights to your room and there's a ping pong table, but I wanted a treadmill (the walking paths weren't conducive to running) and there is really no place to go outside of Xandari. Also, while I appreciate their efforts to be green by using efficiency bulbs, the lighting was horrible in our rooms. There must be a better way to be environmentally friendly and shed some nice light?

All in all, I wish I had spent the money a different way, but it's certainly not a bad place to stay and as long as your expectations are set that it's more of a nice hotel with your own casita and some pools and walking grounds, with a restaurant, I think you'd probably be just fine. I think my expectations were just set too high!

Just got back from CR,we spent our last night at the Xandari Resort and Spa and were able to negotiate a price of $ 200 per night, but left just a bit disappointed. Let me start with the positives, the views and grounds are spectacular,though we really didn't get a good introduction/orientation from the front desk staff, so be sure to ask for one. As I wish we had budgeted more time for a hike before taking off for the airport. The trails lead to a few waterfalls and are really well maintained . The restaurant was fantastic and actually reasonable in regards to the quality and service. Our dinner there was one of our best meals in CR.

The main negatives-
1) The front desk staff seemed only barely interested in us, I think in part because we had the discounted rate, there was no formal introduction/orientation. The property is large and I was lucky to find a map of the grounds in the room and read about the natural features of the property.

2) the rooms are large and offer sweeping views of the valley below. But are dated, with weird Ikea like light fixtures and awful halogen lighting. (the showers are awesome semi open into a private courtyard and having a mini kitchen was nice).

3)Even though the 3 pools are "heated", none were adequetly heated, as it does get a bit chilly in the evening. Which explained why for the most part the pools were empty. Even the hot tubs were tepid.

(4)The included breakfast was continental had a wide selection but even so if you wanted something more substantial, like eggs,it was as add on. Kinda of a rip if you paid sticker price.

We stayed at the resort for one evening on Jan 30, 2012 before returning home.
The resort is close to the airport and a great location for a last day of relaxing before flying home. The grounds are nice as is the lap pool near the room. The rooms are large and functional but need to be updated. The shower was very nice but toilet and sink are are very dated as well. The patio was nice and large but a jacuzzi would add a lot to the ambiance.
There is no air condition or even ceiling fan. We were told it is best to keep the sliding door locked at night so it got very stuffy in the room. When we finally did open the sliding doors we realized that there were no screen doors. There is no TV or WiFi in the room and the very poor reception for the internet in the lobby are as well.

All in all it is a very decent hotel but way overpriced. For $299 a night I expected more luxurious and updated accommodations. If you can reserve it for $199 go for it!

My husband and I stayed in a Prima villa (the base room category, villa 12) for 2 nights in January and it totally exceeded our expectations. Our room was huge, and had a beautiful view of the central valley. It had a comfortable queen size bed, a large shower with a view of the garden outside, and a small kitchen area with a sink and mini-fridge. It was spacious and beautiful, but simple in terms of amenities, not luxurious. The highlight of this resort is the grounds, which are lush and beautiful - there are flowers and palm trees everywhere. We loved the sunset pool, which has an amazing view and a nice outdoor hot tub - we went there 4 times during our stay and we had it completely to ourselves each time (we were advised that the resort was not full - however we saw many other guests there, so it was not empty either). The food in the restaurant was delicious and healthy, and the restaurant also has a beautiful view. We were very surprised by how inexpensive the items on the menu were - drinks were well priced too. Continental breakfast is included, but you pay for hot dishes separately. However, at $265 per night the room itself was our most expensive in CR. The service at Xandari is top-notch. When we arrived at the airport, William was waiting for us. He was very knowledgeable about the area and gave us some great tips for some of the other areas we were visiting, as well as around Alajuela. We also arranged for him to drive us to our next hotel, which was well over a 2 hour drive, and the resort charged us only $100 (this was actually cheaper than renting a 4x4 and much more enjoyable). We thought it was excellent value, especially when we compared it to prices at other resorts we stayed at in CR. We also did a full day trip to Poas Volcano, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and the Doka Coffee plantation. Rodrigo was our driver and guide, and he was incredibly knowledgeable about the sites we visited. He was very patient, allowing us to customize our tour exactly how we wanted. Xandari charged us $150 for the full-day private tour, which again was excellent value (other resorts charged higher than this for GROUP tours). Both of our guides spoke English fluently. My only regret is that we did not return to Xandari for our last night before flying home - it would have been the perfect way to end our trip (it is only 15 or so minutes from the airport).