Costa Rica

The bungalow was definitely the best accommodation of our trip to Costa Rica. It was large, had a proper kitchen, and a great outdoor area with a dining table and hammock from which you could watch and listen to the hustle and bustle in the garden, or should I say “jungle.” Due to the agoutis that apparently live there, the macaws in the trees next door, the monkeys and iguanas, and the howler monkeys that can always be heard, a visit to a national park was hardly necessary. We already miss our morning coffee on the terrace. The path to Playa Chicita, which was criticized in some of the comments, is perfectly fine, but I would recommend other beaches (Punta Uva) anyway.

The breakfast can't be described as bad, but perhaps as lacking in variety, so that by the third morning we didn't really feel like eating it anymore. The swimming pool was fine, but unfortunately the water wasn't really, so our swimsuits turned slightly green.

Carlos and his staff created a truly beautiful place. Everything is well organised, at any time you have a WhatsApp contact to assist you and at the lodge you are well taken care of by Orlando, who is very kind and helpful. Plan to have dinner at Fauna Lodge! It’s delicious and comes with a special little dessert each time. The location of Fauna lodge is remote (which goes along with peace and quiet), but doesn’t cause any trouble: you can have meals at the lodge and they organised the transportation in case you came by boat and don’t have your car around.

A beautiful hotel with friendly owners. The hotel also supports educational projects in the surrounding area. The hotel itself and the rooms are tastefully decorated. It is also only a 5-minute walk to the center of Santa Elena. The breakfast was also good. We were able to park in private parking spaces right next to the hotel.

We stayed in the very nice family room, which was unfortunately a bit small for 4 people. We wanted to visit the national park in the afternoon and had asked the evening before if we could use the room before the official check-in time of 3:00 p.m., but unfortunately this was not possible. However, we were able to store our luggage.

Beautiful apartment with high quality furnishings. Everything was brand new, felt like we were in a boutique hotel. Loved the pool and gym. The communication with the management Ignacio Pazos was excellent. He was extremely helpful, friendly and fast with communication which was only via what app.

Not a dislike but a recommendation We nearly didn’t book this apartment because we could not pay via booking.com. The only way we were allowed to pay was by IBAN which is expensive or cash. We paid cash to a friend of Ignacio Pazos who met us at the apartment. This felt a bit dubious but Ignacio Pazos was very reassuring and made the process go smoothly. I would recommend setting up a payment service with booking.com or with PayPal to make it easier for international travellers. It was a 20 min walk into town. Not a problem for us but other less mobile might not like it.

Nice little hotel complex in the middle of all the important places, such as the volcano, the waterfall, the town of La Fortuna, Lake Arenal, and the agencies organizing the excursions and activities. Very friendly staff. Quite affordable in comparison.

The apartment was a little small for four people and the breakfast was not the best we've had. The pool area could have been a little nicer and one afternoon there weren't enough sun loungers for the guests.

A nice hotel with a lovely pool area in a prime location near the entrance to the national park and the beach. The breakfast was also good. There was a dehumidifier in our room, which helped to dry our clothes overnight.

Maybe the price :-)

The hotel and rooms are pretty stylish. The reception area is beautifully designed and the courtyard is really cute. There is a good supermarket right next door. The staff was very friendly.

We felt that the hotel was more about appearances. The breakfast was by far the worst of our two and a half weeks in Costa Rica, no juice, no milk, no eggs, no gallo pinto. The smell in our room was a bit unpleasant and we found a cockroach in our bathroom. Even the much-praised Escalante area didn't really convince us.

Very spacious, our shuttle driver and host was exceptionally friendly and professional, a prior Tico!!!