Montezuma is tiny boho town accessible by bumpy dirt roads. It is full of surfers carrying their boards with ATVs and moto strapped on and arisans selling hand-made jewelry and other goods in the street. The hostel we stayed at was Luna Llena, which translates to full moon. It's a gorgeous hostel that offers cabinas in the jungle, where you'll be embraced by jungle sounds like, like howler monkeys and insects that sing at night, and a beautiful ocean view on the top deck.
The hostel, though lovely and full of nice people, screwed us over three times (not on purpose). First, though they said they would happily organize our transportation, they dropped the ball and didn't send the form to the transportation company. When I e-mailed to check the transportation times, they replied saying that it wasn't booked. We tried everything under the sun to get to Montezuma, and finally our hotel in Arenal (Roca Negra- an amazing hotel! Everyone in Arenal should stay there) was able to hire us a private cab, which was the only way, besides flying, to get to Montezuma because everything else was full. It costs us $175 more than a shuttle, so when we got here, we weren't able to do any tours or activities that cost us money because it shot us way over our budget. The plus side is that we got to spend a day with an amazing taxi-driver, who was super fun and kind (thanks Wilson!).
When we arrived to the hostel, we found that they moved our booking without asking us, despite sending an e-mail saying that we were going to still be arriving as planned. So, after spending $175 dollars to get to Montezuma, they didn't have our room. They had to organize to send us to a hotel down the street. The next day, we came to the hostel and everything went smoothly. I booked an extra night. I told the hostel that Jaclyn was leaving on Thursday afternoon, and I was leaving Friday morning, so that I'd like to book another night.
Yesterday, when Jaclyn left, they made their third mistake by booking an extra night at the end of our stay. So, they again didn't have the right room for me to stay in. I had to pay double what I was expecting. All in all, we had to pay $195 more for our trip to Montezuma than we expected. I guess next time I have to pull out my calendar, and spell out day by day what days I'm staying. I've traveled a lot, and I've never had problems like this with a hostel in my life.
These hiccups are a part of life and a part of traveling. I'm not letting it get the best of me, but it did teach me that I have to spell out exactly what I want. Traveling woes :)
Pura Vida <3
