About
Location :
Added by Jopie, at 23 February 2017
Opening Hours
- Monday 7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
- Tuesday 7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
- Wednesday 7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
- Thursday 7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
- Friday 7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
- Saturday 7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
- Sunday 7:00 AM – 11:00 PM
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18 Reviews
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12 April 2018
Brought our 6 and 8 year old daughters here for the day. Hiking trails are awesome. Unbelievable views and truly an incredible place. We had a low tire and they were very quick to help. Awesome place to go!
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02 April 2018
Came to this lodge to hike their trails! Did the popular trail to the Dante waterfall. Saw some beautiful birds around the well manicured grounds. The falls were easy to get to and sprayed a wonderful mist into the air. This place gives you the best view of the Arenal Volcano from the observatory area. Thank you to Drew at the front desk for the exceptional service at the front desk. His English is wonderful and he is very friendly and helpful! Love from Canada!
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13 February 2018
We stayed one night in the junior suite and the room was awesome! Two beds, large bathroom and a large porch with numerous beautiful hummingbirds to view. Grounds are very well kept and beautiful. Desk staff and wait staff were excellent, but the food is overpriced and terrible. They really need to work on their dining experience as this is the only place to eat unless you want to go down the mountain.
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04 February 2018
We were only staying in the area for one night, so figured we might as well get as close to the volcano as you can get. So pleased with that decision. This is a charming and beautiful place. We stayed in one of the Smithsonian rooms (2 adults/2 kids) with a veranda directly overlooking the volcano and the wonderfully manicured gardens. The decor feels a little dated, but the beds are comfortable and everything was very clean - the floor to ceiling windows really steal the show anyway. Take the lava flow night walk tour, really great experience with a highly knowledgeable guide - highlight (aside from the incredible views) were the amazing tiger frogs. We didn't do the morning guided tour (instead preferring to do the walk alone as a family) and this was definitely a good choice. The paths are easy to navigate and it meant we could enjoy the waterfalls and jungle in a more authentic and uninterrupted fashion. The grounds are simply stunning - flowers and birds everywhere and everything is so well looked after. Full credit to the grounds staff who appeared to work incredibly hard. I'd really recommend at least 2 nights here, if not 3 - 1 night just wasn't long enough! We didn't have time to visit the hot springs which was a great shame and I could have definitely enjoyed the simplicity of a little more lingering in the amazing grounds. Negatives: The restaurant isn't great, I mean it really wasn't great! I can cope with overpriced food, and bad food, but not when they come together! Top whack prices for reheated food! The chicken Milanese was soggy throughout - not an experience I'd look to repeat! Service in the restaurant was very poor / bordering non existent - we had to go and hunt someone out at the end of our meal as all the restaurant staff had disappeared! Easy fix - eat off-site and just use the restaurant area as a bar. The reception staff in contrast were great, fantastically friendly on arrival, really helpful when booking tours, highly attentive all round. Despite the restaurant, I'm still giving this beautiful place 5 stars simply because it's location is incredible. You won't regret a stay here, just steer clear of the restaurant ;-)
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29 January 2018
A lovely, modern lodge. Room very comfortable with a great view of the feeding stations, great for observing wildlife right from your balcony. We were very close to the restaurant but there are rooms in diverse areas. All seem to be in beautiful locations. For us to get to pools we have to go down steps and across a swinging bridge which was fun. Food was great at the lodge
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11 January 2018
This was our first stop on our first trip to Costa Rica, and I can't say enough great things about it. First off, the property is beautiful. Our room had an incredible view of the volcano. We shared a room with 2 other friends, and 4 people fit very comfortably in the room. Bathroom was a good size. The breakfast buffet is great, and the view from the restaurant is incredible. We LOVED the fruit for the birds they put out every morning. The pool area/hot tub is well maintained. The hiking area is our absolute favorite thing - you must do some hiking while you're here. We wish we had spent more time here!!
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30 December 2017
Beautiful hotel and facilities. We really enjoyed our stay here and the ambiance was amazing for viewing Lake Arenal and the volcano. The grounds and gardens are great to walk around. I suggest doing the river walk but be prepared for the strenuous uphill unpaved path coming back up.
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20 December 2017
EDIT to Respond to the below comment from the observatory: it is one thing not to provide the basic necessities that any hotel should, but it's another to completely lie about what happened. Your hotel never made a phone available and never told me that one was available at any time both during my stay and after I spoke with you twice, at night and in the morning. So unfortunately you are now resorting to lie. Second, I spoke with you the night before my departure and no offer to compensate or accommodate was made. In the morning you informed me that there was nothing you could do. I said that if this is how you treat your clients, then I will not recommend you to anyone and will tell people of my experience. That is not extortion. That is my response to your lack of professionalism and care.
The salad I am speaking of was the three leaf salad which actually only had one leaf and a half egg. It was listed for $6,900 colones or approximately $15 U.S. Please see the picture attached.
Resorting to lies to protect your business's name is the worst kind of business practice.
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As beautiful as nature around this place is, our experience was totally made unenjoyable and uncomfortable by the money schemed attitude of this hotel and its management. This place is extremely remote with one restaurant that charges $15 for a small salad that only has lettuce and a half egg as its ingredients. They do not provide a mini fridge for your room so you can store your food. You have to have all your meals here and pay for them at exponentially high prices. There is no internet inside any of the rooms. There is extremely spotty and unusable internet at the reception area which is not comfortable or welcoming.
There is no phone for you to receive international calls while the internet is not working. You have to buy a $5 card from the hotel to use 10 minutes of international calling. There are no phones in your room. We had to drive in and out for 4 hours to find data/internet to make an international call. When I told the hotel that we need basic necessities at this hotel while paying $200 per night, they just shrugged their shoulder and did not address our concerns except saying this is a remote sanctuary. While I understand remoteness, basic necessities and amenities should be provided to make guests who are paying hundreds of dollars per night comfortable and not stressed out. We had to pay $100 for NOT staying at the hotel after we found it impossible to have any communication with people who were not inside the resort. The hotel did not provide a full refund and continued to say they are going based on their 'guidelines' and guest's views were irrelevant.
There are numerous resorts and hotels around this area which offer the exact or better services, views, etc at much lower rates and do not look at everything as a money making scheme. All the hotels around this area provide necessities, much more amenities, friendly staff and will bend over backwards to make sure you have a good experience. Our experience was hindered by the attitude of this hotel and its staff. We will not be coming back.response / report this review -
18 December 2017
The hotel was amazing and staff were very accommodating! They helped us seemlessly book adventures everyday at last minutes notice and did it with a smile on their face. Our trip wouldn't have been the same without the amazing hospitality they provided. The facilities were great too and the grounds have a very relaxing and exciting trail network. Would recommend to friends and family!
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01 December 2017
Beautiful location, although the rain can hinder views. Rooms are large and clean (smithsonan). Travel to and from the lodge is via a pretty terrible road and can be expensive to go to other sites in arenal if you have no car. Food is pretty average and breakfast finishes quite early. Wildlife tours on the grounds was good and there was plenty of animals to see, even in a massive downpour.
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29 November 2017
Amazing place. Lots of animals in the park, great view on the volcano, beautiful rooms, friendly staff. The restaurant is excellent too.
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27 November 2017
Beautiful grounds, great staff, beautiful rooms. Recommended guides and trips were great -- the evening "Lava Tour" with Eduardo was actually kind of incredible -- beautiful sunset and the frogs (rana tigre, red-eyed tree frogs) were incredible. Rooms were great. My only "complaints" are that our bed was quite hard and after a long day of hiking, etc, we could of used something a bit more comfortable. (We are used to sleeping on the ground when we camp, so this bed was especially hard.) Also, the food is quite good at the lodge, and the dinners were good, but I wish there was a bit more food for the money. You are a bit isolated out there (that is the point I think), and there are not a lot of choices as to dinner places!
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04 July 2017
Pagamos el ingreso diario de 10 U$S y recorrimos sus senderos. Si buscas contacto con la naturaleza, no es el mejor lugar. El ascenso al volcán Cerro Chato lleva 1 hora mÃnimo y es de dificultad alta, pero cuando llegas al lago que está en su cráter, vale todo el esfuerzo hecho para subir. Si está nublado, es una buena idea quedarse un rato a esperar que despeja, por la vista es hermosa.
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02 July 2017
Amazing food! Crazy good!!!! Especially after a long hike
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21 April 2017
Le repas est très bon, la piscine super belle et l'on peut voir plein d'animaux non domestiqué
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20 March 2017
Lots of wildlife, beautiful view of the volcano, gorgeous waterfall, many trails, spider monkeys, self paced and self guided worked fine for us.
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15 March 2017
Fantastische lodge met eerste rang uitzicht op de vulkaan. Daarnaast prachtige tuin met veel vogels
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02 March 2017
Great views and nature watching. I recommend the hike up Cerro Chato. Give yourself 4-5 hours.
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