My cousin and I spent a week here (in exchange for an RCI timeshare) and had a fabulous time. It is NOT a resort, that's true. But it can't be beat for its location just west of the city center, resident travel company, and the arrangement of the condos around a central courtyard (very conducive to meeting and greeting the other guests). We took a tour each day to a different part of the country and thoroughly enjoyed the contrasts (Christian is, indeed, an incredibly talented tour guide). Almost all of the tours included at least one meal and were a very good value. What an easy way to see the country!
The only downside (if it can be called that) is that Mark, the owner of Sol Tropical (the resident travel company), tries to accommodate absolutely everyone. This means that the pushy people could push your vacation off track if you are not forewarned! Just make sure you understand what you are getting (even if this means you have to sit down with Mark and calmly and clearly identify all the details). Things can get rushed on Monday morning when everyone is swarming around setting up their tours and you may think that you know what you are doing the rest of the week only to find later that everything has changed. We did find that some details of our tours were later changed but when we spoke up and identified to Mark or Christian what we needed, each made every effort to accommodate us. (This included Mark coming to the office on Sunday to drive us personally to the airport when he learned of an accident that was causing a terrific traffic jam). I will definitely return if I have the opportunity.