El Toucanet Lodge & Restaurante

I highly recommend the Toucanet Lodge. I stayed four nights in one of the Cabins and would certainly go back and will recommend El Toucanet to friends and family. The cabin in which I stayed was clean and comfortable. Local Costa Rica. Coffee on the porch in the morning was a great way to start the day. The Lodge and dining room were spacious and well appointed. I love the pictures on the wall of the local attraction, the Quetzal. I also appreciated having wildlife guides and birding books to help me know what I had seen during the day. The grounds were well kept with plenty of flowers that attract hummingbirds. The grounds include an extensive trail that went up to much higher elevations. I was able to walk more than a mile and found a forested section with large cedar trees and eventually found a spot to see the entire valley. I took several photos. The food was excellent with many choices. I especially enjoyed the trout fillet and the two different ceviche appetizers. The amount of care taken in the meal preparation, local natural ingredients used and the table service were outstanding. Jonathan, the chef, has excellent skills and showed creativity in every meal he prepared. Taking a few minutes to share a conversation with me after each meal made the experience more personal, warm and friendly. Michael did an excellent job as host and manager. Each morning Michael was available and constantly checked in on how I was doing. From my initial contact with the lodge, Michael was able to answer my questions, make some suggestions and always handled my requests with care. I was able to have the best of vacations because of Michael’s assistance. I wanted to see birds and other wildlife. Michael was able to arrange local guides to assist. Both guides that were arranged were great. Both knew the places to go and when to be there. I was able to see six Quetzals, a couple of Capuchin Monkeys and the Costa Rican Pigmy owl. In addition to these highlights, I saw many more birds and have some of the best coffee Costa Rica has to offer. The guides made the experience seem effortless and I am now left with great memories. Both Michael and Jonathan are excellent ambassadors of the fine country of Costa Rica and the Dota region. I highly recommend El Toucanet Lodge.

From the moment we arrived, we were made to feel right at home at this beautiful ecolodge! Our family of 4 spent three nights at the Toucanet, and it was an incredible experience. From the charming reception, to the delicious made to order breakfast, to the stunning surrounding grounds, it was everything we could have hoped for. We wanted to be immersed in the cloud forest experience, and with the help of our Toucanet concierge, Michael, we were able to book an intimate and extraordinary tour of a local coffee plantation as well as a guided bird seeking expedition. We didn’t glimpse the elusive quetzal, but we gained a ton of knowledge about the region and toured the beautiful highlands of Copey. This is a true ecolodge with few frills in the cabins, but they are immaculately kept, the grounds are lovely (with a creek running through), and the view from our large balcony overlooking the valley made morning coffee taste all the better. Thanks, Toucanet Lodge, for an unforgettable stay! We will be back!

My wife and I own a small birding tour company called Epic Nature Tours. We have brought several tours to El Toucanet Lodge in the last few years and every stay has been fantastic. They have an incredible variety of hummingbirds coming to their feeders (we saw 9 species at the feeders on theost recent trip) as well as spotted wood-quail calling every morning around the lodge and lots of song birds in the trees. A drive up the road gave us close to 70 species of birds, and a Quetzal tour in the Copey Valley is just you and the guide and the Quetzals, not the hundred + bird enthusiasts clogging the road for a look at a Quetzal in San Gerardo de Dota. The food is also amazing!