Lapa Rios Lodge

Amazing stay at this wonderful lodge . Cannot rate it too highly. The people , the space , the wonderful walks and many more. I now wish that we had booked to stay in more of their lodges . They have the perfect model. We had planned to do outside tours during our stay but the the walks kept us busy and fully engaged . The guides are so knowledgable and passionate about the environment . People define the quality of vacation around the staff - at all levels they were excellent . Friendly but not too overbearing allowing us to really enjoy all amenities that were available . Cannot recommend it too highly - we will be back .

I had dreamed of going to Lapa Rios for many, many years, since I first read about this ecolodge not long after it opened. It did not disappoint. The location is unreal. We were completely surrounded by the rainforest and its many inhabitants, and also had phenomenal views from our Lapa Rios Villa (and there were beautiful views throughout the property). The amount of wildlife at our door step was breathtaking. Just on the walks from our room to the dining hall we saw all four kinds of Costa Rican monkeys, sloths, coati, toucans, scarlet macaws, a red eyed green tree frog, and a herd of peccary. All close. We also saw many mammals and birds from our villa, including close encounters with monkeys while we were showering! It was really thrilling. If you go to Costa Rica to see wildlife, as we did, stay at Lapa Rios. Lapa Rios is also a beautiful, comfortable place to stay. Our villa was huge and we had plenty of room for our family of four (2 adults and 2 young adult children). There are no windows/glass. There are large sliding screen doors and screens instead of window panes so you do feel like you are in the rainforest. I was concerned about bugs and being too hot in the room, but neither was an issue at all (as long as we kept the screen the doors closed). Because you are so immersed in the forest you will hear the very loud howler monkeys early in the morning. If you have a teen who wants to sleep until 11:00, that will not happen. We also had the light from the sunrise shoot straight into our eyes at 6:00 each morning (we were in villa 17), but even our kids in the next room did not experience that so I think it depends a lot on the exact angle of your bed and the time of year. But bring eyeshades and ear plugs just in case. That helped me sleep a bit longer. Also, our villa was at the edge of the property which meant more animal sightings but also a longer uphill walk to the dining room/lobby. It was OK for us and gave us more opportunities to see animals, but we did need to plan extra time into our day to walk back and forth to the room. The food and service at the lodge were very, very good. We really enjoyed our guides, one of whom - Danielo - had been guiding on the Osa Peninsula for decades and was an incredible fountain of information. Everyone was kind and accommodating. The only downsides were the sun in our eyes at 6:00am, noted above, and some confusion/miscommunication about our boxed lunch during our trip to Corcovado. Different staff told us different things about what we could order and the menu was confusing. We ended up with very little food for a tiring 9 mile hike and the drinks we thought we'd have at the end of the trip were not delivered. I know this is a minor thing, but it impacted our enjoyment of what was supposed to be the highlight of our time in Costa Rica. I was really dragging at the end of the hike and normally 9 miles, even in hot weather, would not be a problem for me.

A fantastic hotel the suite was superb and food excellent. The wildlife on view amazing. The staff were fantastic and so helpful.