Our guides were Summer-Rose and Greivin. I thought they were fantastic.
I think we got very lucky on this trip in a couple of ways. First, it was a small group. 33 people booked, but 4 cancelled at the last minute. So only 29 people, which was really nice. There was a good mix of kids that happened to pair up pretty well. 2 young boys (about 7 years old). 3 young girls (7 -8), and one slightly older (about 12). 4 kids who were 13 -14 years old and had a good time together. 1 older kid (about 17) who stuck with his family. One 11 year old boy who was pretty independent or hung with his older brother (he was mine, and he didn't seem to mind not having a playmate the way almost everyone else did). we had 8 only children, and only 2 pairs of siblings. 2 single moms and 1 grandmother with her grandson. We liked the group. Everyone seemed to get along pretty well.
Also got very lucky with the weather. It was really good. The only day it really rained was a bit in the morning of our chocolate rainforest tour. Even that wasn't bad. We got some sprinkles other times (including at the very end of the ziplining and very briefly on the river cruise). But never even really needed our rain gear, which I consider extremely lucky. And it was very hot at the beach. 95 and sunny. I loved that, but some might find it too hot.
I honestly liked almost everything about the trip. The things I didn't like were pretty unavoidable. The bus rides were obviously not ideal. But I preferred it to a plane. And I liked the varied itinerary. So nothing that I think could really be done about it. They handled them as well as possible. Also don't think the early mornings are ideal. But again, I don't see a viable alternative that wouldn't adversely impact the itinerary. So I wouldn't change it.
We found the food to mostly be very good. A couple of kids with allergies on the trip, and they did a fantastic job accommodating them. 2 people (including one of my kids) got food poisoning one night. But we could never figure out what caused it. Seemed very random since they didn't necessarily eat the same things and no one else was sick. The breakfast buffets were all very good (Kioro Arenal was the best to us, because they made the best omelettes). Lunch after the jungle cruise was the worst for us. And although the food at El Mangroove was generally good, if you don't eat seafood (and I don't) your options are extremely limited. I am looking for good recipes for the arroz con pollo and rice and black beans. I miss that already.
Lodging was all fine, if a bit quirky. If you are used to (or expecting) American 5 star accommodations, you would be disappointed. But they were clean and spacious and comfortable and very nice. The San Jose Marriott screwed up our connecting room request, and failed to give us our welcome packet (so we had no idea we needed to find our guides the afternoon of our first day). So not particularly a fan of the service at that hotel. Kioro is quirky (shower never functioned very well and the layout is bizarre), but the views and hot springs are amazing. El Mangroove was the nicest of the three.
Overall, I went from being a very nervous skeptic at the start of the trip, to a big fan who has another trip booked for this summer and will almost certainly do another one at some point before my kids leave the nest.