Our Trip Advisor Reviews

Read some of our Trip Advisor Reviews below. Thank you to all our clients who take the time to write about your experience. Read more reviews and see some of clients photos on our blog.

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I just returned from a 9 day trip to Costa Rica. Catalina Cuervo with CR Referrals booked our entire trip and I can not praise her enough! She was so great to work with from beginning to end. I started out with Costa Rica Expeditions and although I am sure they are a reputable company, I did not like their policies regarding 1. no itemized expenses, 2. a deposit is required after 3 proposals, and 3. their prices seemed higher. Catalina provided total transparency and worked through a variety of scenarios and pricing until I found the perfect trip. And her service did not end upon booking. We went to 4 different areas of Costa Rica and each time we checked in, the hotel mentioned that Catalina had just called to make sure our room would be available for early check-in. We requested a slight change to one of our departure times and she quickly accommodated us. Bottom line - CR Referrals exceeded our expectations! My husband and I travel frequently and I have dealt with African Travel, A&K and various other travel planners. I can honostly say that CR Referrals is the best!

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They are terrific. Our family of four had Catalina set up a ten day trip, The tours, hotel, and transfers were perfect. It was really customized to our family and met our needs perfectly. Catalina will keep working with you until you are comfortable with everything. She is very prompt and professional. - Donna

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I just returned from a 9 day, 8 night trip to Costa Rica. We went to Tortuguera, Arenal and Monteverde. Our trip to Tortuguera was wonderful but we went specifically to see the sea turtles lay their eggs. I think the season is over by the time you take your vacation. You can't go wrong in Arenal. There are so many activities. I highly recommend Desafio Tours's Lost Canyon rapelling if you are looking for high adventure. It is amazing. We also went mountain biking with them. For zip line, we chose the Sky Trek, Sky Tram and were pleased.

We stayed at the Arenal Nayara and thought it was exceptional. I think it's on the high end price wise. Monteverde was also quite nice. Selvatura Park is an all day trip that can include zip lining, hiking over the hanging bridges in the cloud forest, butterfly garden, insect exhibit, reptile exhibit and hummingbird garden. I don't know if you are booking yourself but I used CR Referrals and worked with their manager, Catalina Cuervo. She did an exceptional job and will work with any budget. I envy you as my husband and I did not want to come home. The people in CR are so warm and friendly, the country is beautiful and the food is delicious.

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Wonderful trip with magnificent help from CR Referrals

My sisters and I just returned from a 2 week trip to Costa Rica. It was just spectacular and I will post some more specifics. We could not have had such a marvelous experience were it not for Catalina at CR Referrals. She was so responsive, very tuned in to our specific interests and was attentive to every detail. We made a few changes as we went along and Catalina was able to implement every change we requested. We went to Tortugero, La Fortuna (Arenal), Monteverde (St Elena), Manuel Antonio and Hacienda Baru. The highlights were definitely Tortuga Lodge at Tortugero and Hacienda Baru. We were delighted with our trip and throughout the trip we kept saying "we are so grateful to have found such fantastic assistance in planning our trip." In addition, profits go to helping animals. Thank You, Catalina!!!

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Just got back last night! I worked with CR Referrals to plan my trip to Costa Rica. I told Catalina that I would be traveling with my mom and my aunt, who both like bird-watching and are relatively fit but probably would not want to do anything too adventurous (my mom is 70.) I also told her that based on what I had read on Trip Advisor (thanks to all who post on this forum!) that I wanted to go to Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio and had 7 nights/8 days. She basically planned the entire trip—which for me was a total relief. I am constantly traveling for work and coordinating meetings and conferences and so I really wanted a stress-free vacation, and that is exactly what I got. I would definitely recommend working with CR Referrals—everything went incredibly smooth which I think has to do a lot with both Catalina’s great work in coordinating the trip and also with how solid Costa Rica’s tourism industry is. I constantly was amazed at the quality and efficiency of service there.

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Hi there. crreferrals is top notch in every category, including trustworthiness. They have my unconditional recommendation. My wife found them online and decided we should plan our trip though them. She and I and our four kids were in Costa Rica from 1/8 - 1/22/11 and it was like MAGIC every time the driver showed up at exactly the time the itinerary said they would and every time the hotel folks welcomed us. Every single activity and tour company and hotel was better than we expected. My family is WELL-travelled but this is now our favorite trip and favorite country of all time...and a lot of it has to do with how amazing Catalina and her company are. We were not surprised when we ran into a young couple from England who had also booked their entire trip through crreferrals. They were totally happy with the results, too. I have to say, I wondered if I was nuts for wiring a boatload of money to Catalina's bank account. But it turns out my wife's intuition was on target. And there is NO WAY you will find someone as responsive and organized as Catalina. She is available for itinerary changes during the planning process before the trip and she was available when an unexpected 15-hour flight delay happened for 5 of the 6 of us on the way down there. I could go on forever. If I was a TripAdvisor expert, I would know if you can respond to me with additional questions. But I'm a novice so I don't really know how this works. But, if I receive any additional questions, I'll be happy to respond. You're going to love this trip and you'll love working with crreferrals. Pura Vida! - The Kunzelmans

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My husband and I took a last minute trip to Costa Rica in October 2010. With the short amount of time that I had to plan this trip, I needed help. I found CR Referrals online and contacted them by email. Within 24 hours, Catalina contacted me with an itinerary. We communicated back and forth several times before our departure and she designed a trip that was PERFECT! While we were working out the details, of the trip, I thought that we would like to drive while in CR, so that we would be on our schedule and not someone else's. Because we were arriving at night, I did arrange for a car to pick us up at the airport and take us to our first destination, which was La Fortuna. After the drive to La Fortuna, I quickly decided that I had no business driving in Costa Rica. I called Catalina when we arrived in La Fortuna (around 10:00 p.m.) and told her that I would like to make a change to the itinerary. I expected to get an answering machine or someone other than Catalina, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that she answered her phone. She was very pleasant and helpful. She cancelled the rental car and made the arrangements for other transportation. I have dealt with many travel agencies and have never gotten the individual attention that I received from Catalina. Our last night in CR, we stayed in San Jose because our flight left early the next morning. Catalina called me to confirm that we had made it back to San Jose and asked if the trip had enjoyable. She is very knowledgeable about the country and is extremely helpful. The accomodations that she arranged for us were wonderful. We will definitely be going back to Costa Rica and I wouldn't use anyone other than Catalina for planning our return trips! I have already recommended her to friends and I feel certain that anyone who uses her will get the same amazing service. I hope you let her help you plan your trip! – Misti Grant

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"Paradise!!"
We recently spent 3 days at the Hotel Nayara. We used CR Referrals to plan this portion of our trip. We couldn't have had a better experience :) there were 9 of us, ranging in ages from 20 to 74. Catalina from CR referrals spent a lot of time conversing with me through email to make this a magical trip for all of us. She called upon our arrival to make sure we were satisfied with our lodging, and offering their services if needed for the remainder of our trip. We did call her last minute on 2 occcasions (from our second stop, Playa Conchal) to book us tours for the next morning. She did not disappoint us! Arenal Star transport greeted us at the airport, transported us to Playa Conchal & then back to the airport at the conclusion of our trip. All for a very reasonable price. CR Referrals booked our tours, Water rafting & Canyoneering, through, Desafío Adventure Company, loved them!! Great guides lots of fun, meals were delicious. We came away smiling with great memories!! Our only regret was that we had to leave!!!

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"STRONGLY recommend CR Referrals for planning your trip"
Just wanted to get the message out there that my friends and I had a WONDERFUL experience with CR Referrals, specifically dealt with Catalina one of the managers. They were so resourceful and helpful in planning the perfect trip for our groups needs. They helped find the most wonderful housing in our price range and took care of all the arrangements for reservations of housing and car rentals, activities, etc. Even once we were in Costa Rica, they checked up on us to make sure things were going well and were available for phone for any needs we had. Best of all, there is no charge for this exceptional service!! The vendors pay a certain fee to CR Referrals for being having their services recommended, and they the comany uses half of that income to donate back to local animal relief efforts. Truly amazing!

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"Recommending C.R.Referrals if you travel to Costa Rica"
I just got back from an amazing trip from Costa Rica and I really want to recommend C.R. Referrals to anyone who is looking for deal to travel to CR. They booked all the hotels, transportation and all the fun activities we chose. They were really helpful and super affordable. All the hotels were beautiful and the activities super fun. Thanks again C.R. Referrals

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"CR Referrals for planning your trip!!!

We travelled to CR mid march, we wanted to try something different. This trip was a Christmas gift to our children, 2 of whom were recently married & traveled to Mexico & Greece for their honeymoons. We've been to Mexico, Virgin Islands, sunny spots in the US, several cruises. We were looking for something to WOW our family. CR was the place :) and without Catalina @ CR Referrals we never would have discovered the magic of CR. The only input we got from our local Liberty travel agent was to stay at the RIU in Guanacaste region. Thanks to these forums on Trip Advisor I discovered that we would have missed so much if we had taken her advice. And thanks to Trip Advisor we found CR Referrals.

CR Referrals, set up our transportation from Liberia airport to Arenal, Arenal to Playa Conchal, Playa Conchal to Liberia airport. The cost was 1/2 of the price quoted by Liberty for transpo from Liberia to Playa Conchal then back to Liberia. Vehicles were roomy, air conditioned, clean and our drivers were friendly and spoke great english. Stopped to show us some amazing sights on all legs of trip. We stayed 2 nights at the Hotel Nayara, BEAUTIFUL!! Did a few day tours with Desafío Adventure Company (set up in advance through CR Referrals) So much fun!! as well as educational. We then headed to Playa Conchal, where we stayed at the Paradisus. Also very nice. We called Catalina twice from the Paradisus as we discovered tours we were interested in, she successfully set all 9 of us up for these tours, for the following morning. Can't say enough about CR & CR Referrals! We can't wait to come back :)

I am just hoping to save fellow travelers time and the aggravation I went through while planning our trip to CR. I went through 3 travel agents here in NY that didn't have any idea of where to go, or what to see in CR. (Ended up having to use one of these agents for a portion of our trip, as we did put down a non refundable deposit before I found CR Referrals.) I spent hours and hours on Trip Advisor reading posts and hoping to find a company I would feel 100% sure of using. I was planning what we considered a 'trip of a lifetime' my husband and I, being able to travel with all our children & my parents. Costa Rica was the perfect place to visit and I know we wouldn't have seen and experienced the beauty of your country if we hadn't found this company. So I guess I'm trying to write the kind of recommendation that I was looking for 3 months ago.

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"C.R Referrals was EXCELLENT! to use for a travel agency"
So I just came back from Costa Rica with my girlfriend and had an amazing time. This was all made possible by using a company called C.R Referrals, the owner of this small company is a fantastic lady named Catalina Cuervo who was our travel agent as well. We started planning our trip a couple months prior to our departure date which was in the beginning of March, ( great time to go to Costa Rica by the way ) we searched and searched for the right travel agency to organize an itinerary for us but just could not find the right fit. We eventually came upon C.R Referrals along with Catalina and knew that this was who was going to plan our fabulous vacation. However I will admit I was somewhat skeptical at first because there was not a whole lot of information regarding this business because of how new they are. Not to mention because of the fact they are based in Costa Rica and being a new up and coming agency, they require payment proceedures that seemed to be a little unusual. I was very hesitant to wire money to this company based in Costa Rica, it seemed strange at first that they could not use pay pal or there wasn't any other secure way to pay for this vacation. However, I can tell you from experience and dealing with Catalina and paying for my trip in full that everything will be just fine. I was able to contact Catalina by phone and email before during and after all payments were made. She is extremely helpful and was always available when I would call as well as quick responses via email.

After payment of our trip and wiring the money I received payment confirmation , via email and phone conversation from Catalina which put me at ease and not have to worry about this being a scam. C.R Referrals was able to plan our trip exactly how we wanted it, no questions asked, along with excellent prices that seemed to beat out any of the other companies that I had researched. Catalina and C.R Referrals handled everything before we boarded our plan from Los Angeles to San Jose, we arrived in San Jose greeted by a driver that took us to our hotel in the Arenal volcano area, the man greeted us with a sign that had our name and C.R Referrals stated on it so we knew exactly who was taking us to our destination. Everything worked out perfect from that point on, from transfers to pick ups to hotel stays and meals that were included, to even all of our fabulous adventure trips ( white water rafting down the El Toro river, ATV tours to La Fortuna waterfall, hanging bridge expeditions, zip line tours in the Osa Peninsula, hot spring spas in the Arenal area etc etc ). After our three day stay at the Arenal Volcano and seeing all there was to see around the volcano and La Fortuna area, ( an area that I recommend highly for no more than three days, you can see everything there is to see in two to three days and get plenty of enjoyment out of that, dont forget to raft down the class 3-4 rapids on the El Toro river ) we took a charter flight to the Osa Peninsula and stayed at the luna lodge. Our trip to the luna lodge and the Osa was amazing, the jungles were unbelievable and the hotel nestled in the canopy of the rainforest was just out of this world ( highly recommend the Osa Peninsula and the luna lodge as well, very remote and get the whole Costa Rica jungle feel, animals birds and all ). Catalina and C.R Referrals set all of this up, the additional charter flight to the Osa from San Jose, pick up points and flight times etc, Catalina did a great job on making all this synch together at the right times without any problems what so ever. In conclusion, dont have any worries about using this company and dealing with Catalina Cuervo, in fact I recommend dealing with only her if you plan on planning your trip to Costa Rica. Thank you Catalina for making our adventure a memorable one, it was amazing thats for sure. Ill be using C.R Referrals for more Costa Rica trips to come.

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"Fabulous place to stay in a great location!!"
Traveled with four girlfriends for a beachy get-away. Loved town of Manuel Antonio, as well as the Villa!! It was the perfect location for us -- a good walk (~20 mins fairly steep but so picturesque and a good workout) or short drive to several incredibly beautiful beaches or the national park. Short walking distance to tons of restaurants and nightlife.

The villa has wonderful kitchen, infinity pool, and jacuzzi. There is AC in the bedrooms. Safe locked parking. Great amenities and a great price! Very clean, rooms serviced every day. We snorkled, did a canopy tour and surfed -- all easily arranged with the help of the owner, Lorenzo, or by self on beach. Also strongly recommend the travel company CR Referrals to help plan your trip, they are wonderful and do not charge for your travel arrangements.

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I just returned from a two week "Best of Costa Rica" trip planned by C.R. Referrals. It was AMAZING! I am so happy with this company that I am already planning to book another trip with them for next winter (Jan 2012). Everything was perfect. I was worried about all the transfers between hotels that my friend and I were going to be taking but all worries were soon gone. We were met at the airport by a company representative, driven to our hotel in San Jose, checked in by this representative, and given a booklet of vouchers for all of our remaining hotel stays, interbus transfers, and activities. These vouchers made navigating in a new country simple and hassle free. All we had to do was rip out a voucher and hand it over to our driver, hotel, or tour guide. What a good idea. We are so excited to get back to Costa Rica next winter. Can't wait. Thanks C.R. Referrals

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Being a hotel owner... our dealings with CR Referrals has been professional. You could tell they were very conscientious about trying to meet their clients’ needs versus just shopping for a commission. From where we sit, there are very few that we would give this kind of reference to. – by Colinisto – Destination Expert on Trip Advisor

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When I began planning our Costa Rican vacation for our family of four (at the last minute, I might add), I was completely overwhelmed. I saw this post about Catalina and CR Referrals and decided to check it out. That was the best thing I have done in a long time! She completely handled everything. We gave her a list of the type of activities we were looking for and she provided us with the perfect itinerary. She used outstanding providers of all services. She called the tour operators/transfers, etc. each day prior to our arrival to make sure everything was in order. She even called us while we were there to check in and be sure all was well. As a result, our vacation was completely stress free. It was wonderful. Thank you so much Catalina!

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I cannot say enough about CR Referrals and, more specifically, Catalina. She was an absolute star from the planning to the organization of everything and the support she gave us while we were in Costa Rica. She is AMAZING! Having never been to CR before, my husband and I didn't even know where to start. She helped us with where to stay, what to do, etc. and when we arrived at one of our hotels and we didn't like it (not one that she had recommended) she helped us find somewhere else to go, rearranged our transportation and even helped us with a refund of our money. If you are looking for a travel agent in CR, you must use Catalina at CR Referrals!!! She honestly made our honeymoon amazing!!!! - Thanks Catalina! -Claire & Dan

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Thank you to all our clients who took the time to write such nice things about us. We hope you come again soon!

Contact our Travel Experts
travelexperts@crreferrals.com
info@crreferrals.com
Office: (506)-2-446-5339
Agent Direct (506)-8-358-8350
P.O. Box 272 - 4013 - Atenas, Costa Rica -20501

We accept all major credit cards

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