Booking ahead in Costa Rica

i have to say, sarah, that trying to use a guidebook from 2001 is a little like eating food that is 10 years old.

for the time of year you are planning to come, so i would make reservations in advance - it's a busy time of year. but not 3 months in advance, for sure.

whether you book your first few nights and then "wing it" depends on how you feel about not getting your first choice or having to look around for a place to stay when really you just want some food and a little lie-down.

if you decide to "wing it" then make a short list of places you want to stay in whatever areas you end up visiting. then you can just drive or take a taxi from one to the other until you find a suitable place.

note that some areas are more amenable to this than others.

You haven't said where you want to be, but anywhere of interest WILL be very busy at least between 28th Dec- 5th Jan (when people start to drift back to work). I would strongly recommend that you book for these dates, and may well already find choice to be limited. After the 5th if you are pretty flexible as to what you are prepared to accept you can take a somewhat more adventurous approach...
I agree that its probably about time to splash out on a new guidebook!

Thanks guys!

Regarding the out-of-date guidebook: a shiny new one is on its way from Amazon, but the old one is all I have to hand until it arrives. I was just using it to get a rough idea of what there is to see, but the bit about booking way in advance scared me!

I always consult here first.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3382/4619979648_aedd5a2261.jpg

And end up with swinging reservations to places like this. It works.
http://i.pbase.com/o6/21/571721/1/103914973.vTqEMzud.1960s_CastawayBeachDance_315H.jpg

I sometimes use hotels.com to book, although, this surprising little booking company, yeego.com sometimes has much better prices, albeit with fewer properties. I haven't had any problems and I've used them 3 times so far.

i would highly recommend making hotel reservations now from the day that you arrive dec 28 through at least the end of first week of jan as Boomer1 said... especially if you are heading to one of Costa Ricas popular destinations. i would suggest making some rough plans of places you may like to visit (beach areas to mountain areas) so that you aren't wasting your precious vacation time starting from square one.
i really enjoy the beaches of guanacaste (northern part of costa rica) and would highly recommend seeing the moutainous areas, such as, monteverde and or Arenal both amazing for seeing wildlife and for walking through amazing rainforest.

good luck and enjoy this beautiful country

For Chrismas and New Year time, is better if you book some nights. After that over the way. Check Trip Advisor hostels.

Highest of High Season is Dec 20 to Jan 8 or so, then it tapers off a tad. New Years at the beach venues will be the most crowded.

In more out of the way places you may have better luck and be able to wing it, but the Big 4, Arenal, Monteverde, Manual Antonio and Playa Papagayo/Tamarindo NW Pacific areas will be low vacancy.

Just a note to say I'm headed down to CR around the same time - Dec 27 to Jan 4 - and I've had no trouble so far booking places to stay (in Liberia, Monteverde and Brasilito).

A.