Stayed for 2 nights. Great place - We had one of the premier rooms with views of volcano- although it was hidden in cloud for the majority of our 2 days. But the room was lovely, spacious with two double beds, balcony and large shower room. The Resturant was ok, serving perfectly adequate food considering the relatively high price- but then no option! The “free” morning tour was brilliant with a knowledgable guide who was able to point out various animals we would have missed. The paths around the resort are easy to navigate, the “nest” lookout is worth conquering any height fears and climbing up!

Incredible View of the Volcano with on-site trails! Nature at your back door! - We stayed 2 nights here with our children in a Smithsonian. While there is no AC on this property, you don’t need it. The climate is incredible! The best part of our stay here were the tours we did with the onsite tour guide Eduardo (?). We went out on the morning hike that is provided with your stay and the knowledge we all took away from this experience was awesome! We loved every minute! Not knowing we would get the same guide, we booked the night tour. We saw so many things! Our kids walked away with so much to talk about! We saw frogs, snakes, and spiders! You don’t feel rushed and really get to take it all in. When we ran into Eduardo(?) during our last day, he took time out to help my kids find monkeys off the trail. The property is covered with pollinators everywhere! So many birds! We woke up everyday to a view of the volcano! The view is amazing! We all took a nap one day when it was raining, and I was able to lay in my bed and just watch the clouds roll in front of the volcano. You sleep with the screens open and awaken to the day beginning in the magical place. It’s so peaceful and serene, it embodies every bit of Pura Vida! We used the pool as well, and it was very relaxing. The property is very clean and super maintained. We felt extremely comfortable. Breakfast and lunch were great. I really enjoyed the breakfast and all the fresh fruit! We didn’t care for the heaviness of the meals offered at dinner, and truthfully that menu could use some tweaking, but we asked our server at lunch if we could be accommodated at dinner with some of the lava burgers and they delivered on our request. The service in the restaurant is 5 stars. We booked the Original ATV tour here and Randall was our guide. The hotel handled the reservation and we were picked up from the property. Randall helped me feel safe with my 6 year on the ATV and ensured our safety the entirety of the trip. We even got a mini facial on the tour! Book this experience, you will not be disappointed. I felt so relaxed and comfortable during my stay here with my family! We will be back!

Rustic lodge right in the Arenal volcano area - The hotel is located inside the arenal volcano park area. Although it’s privately owned. We well manicured lawns and gardens. It’s rustic and not posh but we were there to see monkeys and birds. The property is spread out. Not sure about other Rooms but for sure 1-3 are great as each day at 5:30 am the monkeys traverse the trees. At 5:30 pm they go back the opposite direction. It’s very cool to see. Those rooms also close to restaurant and bird decks. The pool and covered hot tub are close walk across a hanging bridge. The hotel is cool as there are several trails within its property. Spa on site but we didn’t use. We did morning bird tour $159 which was excellent. Very hard to see birds unless you are experienced or have the scopes/binoculars that the guide has. Includes hot breakfast and fruit and cereal buffet and 3 breads . The only downside is we felt a bit trapped as nearest town ( tiny hidden town with just a few restaurants and butterfly sanctuary) is 15 minutes which is close but really would not drive at night as toads STEEP and winding. It’s dark at 6pm. Fortuna the larger town is 1/2 hr. This is where many activities located. We did ATV and Mistico. 3 nights was perfect. See mtvSuperquad ATV review. EXCELLENT. Mistico good too. Not sure u need a guide. Binoculars are highly recommended

We came for the view - We made a last minute decision to stop here and we were so glad we did! We weren’t ready to do any serious hikes so the walking path to the frog pond and to the nest were perfect. The path to the nest takes you across the property and a small suspension bridge up a platform where you have such an epic view of the volcano. You will see birds and other animals around the property and there are several trails. Next time we come back we will do other trails. It was $18 per person to go up to the lodge and do the hikes. I will look into staying there in the future.

Fantastic- go if you like birds! - My husband and I had booked a morning bird tour here. I had corresponded with them before we left the UK and they were very responsive and helpful. I decided to wait until we got to La Fortuna in case the weather was bad. The night before, I reached out to see if we could still book the tour as it was too late to book online. Anyway, there were spaces so we booked it and they organised a taxi for us. When we arrived, there was only one other couple in our tour. Our guide, whose name I forget (I have a rubbish memory) was wonderful. There were some serious birders there with extreme zoom lenses, but our guide wasn’t any less enthusiastic to see me with my somewhat small camera! It was dark and raining when we arrived, but this didn’t stop the birds being pointed out from literally the first minute, in bushes right outside the reception area, and I cannot rate him highly enough. After about 2.5 hours, the tour ended, but by then the sun was out and we decided to wander round the beautiful gardens and spot more birds ourselves. The feeders with fruit are a magnet for the birds (and coatis and monkeys) and at one point we were the only ones there. We spent 4 hours there and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. In our entire trip around various parts of CR, we did 3 other birding tours and this ranked as by far the best value for cost and time. We loved it so much we decided to return a few days later, just buying the entrance fees and roaming the grounds again and watching the birds at all the same spots. One thing that irritated and disappointed me was a bunch of older teenagers feeding the coatis under the fruit feeder. Totally irresponsible and quite dangerous as one of the girls was scratched (lightly) by them as they (naturally) reached up to take a banana from her. All for that “must have” photo. There are signs saying not to feed the animals of course but apparently it doesn’t apply to these idiots. This is no reflection on AOL, they can’t police the site and a little part of me wanted the coati to take a bite out of her!😂 But that aside, fantastic place and if you enjoy seeing birds, come here! And the guide emails you the list of birds that you spot with him, nobody else did that on any other tour so another big plus. We were also lucky to get a fantastic view of Arenal once the rain clouds cleared.

Best views and trails of the trip, and some of the best food! - We did not stay on site, but paid the admission to enjoy the grounds. This place has the best views, trails, and dining in the area. This is the one to do! Tip- make sure you have a car with some good clearance. Getting here is a rough road!

An incredible, wonderful, timeless experience - This place is simply wonderful! Very well designed accommodation for our large family of 7 people, a breathtaking view of the lake, observatories, kilometers of walks within the park itself (departure on foot from the room) and a fantastic swimming pool with jacuzzi. We were enchanted by the place, the ecotourism approach of its founders and the kindness of the entire team!

Lovely Place; Horrible Food - Arenal observatory Lodge has lovely, very modern rooms and bathrooms. The grounds are beautiful. We took a night tour which was great. Breakfast is included, fruit was very good, service is nice. French toast was soggy and only cooked on one side—it was actually white, never turned over in the grill. My husband’s bacon was literally raw- thick pieces of fat lying flat on a plate. After complaining, the server said “you want it well-done?” No—just cooked. We luckily had a car so weren’t captive eating 3 meals for 4 days in their dining room and went out to lunch everyday. But after 2 very poorly prepared dinners, we got food from other places and brought back to our room. I can’t figure out why they don’t pay for a great chef like they did at Marala Hotel in Puntarenas. It totally detracted from all of the nice things they offer there.

Beautiful walking paths,... - Beautiful walking paths, unable to walk to the waterfall due to weather supposedly. Attempted to go to restaurant and waited, no one greeted us or assisted us so we left. For the fee we paid it wasnt worth it, unable to see Volcano due to cloudy weather