El Remanso Rainforest Lodge

Fabulous lodge beautifully located in the rainforest on the Osa Peninsula. The authentic rainforest experience - no lawns or manicured gardens here. Your villa is amongst the trees (with monkeys and birds at eye level) with the natural lie of the land giving you impressive views of the ocean. Stunning sunset views from the bar/restaurant and Happy Hour encourages you to enjoy them! We were in Costa Rica for 3 weeks and this was, by far, the nicest place we stayed. Excellent guides (Edgar in particular but all the guiding was very good). This isn’t a wildlife park or a 5 star city hotel - the wildlife has to be looked for on jungle walks (not difficult but require mobility) though you may be lucky and wake up to monkeys around your villa, a toucan on the tree in front of your balcony, scarlet macaws flying past your villa several times a day. There is plenty of wildlife here and we loved waking to the Dawn chorus of howler monkeys and insects/frogs and birds. The accommodation is very luxurious for a jungle location- beautiful villas, well appointed whilst keeping to a sustainable ethos. No air con (the fans are great), no water bottles in your room (the tap water is drinkable and there are places to fill your personal water bottle so please pack one!) Hairdryers a waste of time here as the humidity means that your hair will not stay straight anyway! I packed rechargeable straighteners that failed miserably to tame my hair for long. No teeny toiletries - full sized bottles of really nice products were in the shower room. No facial tissues or cotton pads so bring your own. They really are trying to be sustainable here. Bring ear plugs and eye masks if the lack of curtains and glass windows troubles you, but you will miss so much - settle into the rhythm of waking with the monkeys, enjoying the coffee delivered in thermos flasks to your door, watching the day begin. And go to bed when the forest goes dark. It is part of the experience. We weren’t troubled much by mosquitoes - the breeze, fans, netting and lack of standing water meant we didn’t see as many mosquitoes as we expected and our non DEET bug spray kept them at bay. But we wore long sleeves at dawn and dusk the first few days to check if we would be troubled. The restaurant/bar area is stunning and the food is extremely good. Yes there is a 2/3 day rotation but each menu has several items and everything was well presented and delicious. We are vegetarian and had the best meals we had in Costa Rica. As vegetarians we lacked protein in many of the places we stayed but fared much better here. They coped well with my gluten intolerance too. Staff here in general were willing to please - lovely team in the restaurant in particular. Remember this is an isolated location run off grid and what they achieve is really excellent. We were asked at least twice a day if everything was ok - were we happy? Did we have a good activity? Did we need anything. Reasonable reques

A truly amazing location that lived up to its reputation as one of the world’s top ecological hot spots - superb wildlife - first class guides - lovely private bungalow amongst the forest with views of the setting sun over the Pacific Ocean - great food & excellent service - woken each morning by howler monkeys in the surrounding trees - we’ve just returned from 2 weeks in Costa Rica & the 4 nights at El Remanso were the highlight of the trip. Craig&Sue

Our third visit to this exceptional eco lodge for the fabulous wildlife experience on the OSA Peninsula. The service, employees!!!, food, and wildlife viewing are awesome! We have noticed wonderful improvements each visit: Plunge pools to cool off; Early morning tea and coffee awaiting at your room; excellent food and choices; trail upgrades... We came for a once in a lifetime vacation several years ago… now it has been three and counting!

Perfection! We stayed in a classic bungalow for 5 nights, this was the last spot on our tour of Costa Rica and we definitely saved the best until last. The bungalow is stunning and huge and we loved the outdoor shower, but for me it was watching scarlet macaws picking the almond fruit from the tree above our terrace, and being woken by the jungle waking up at 5am - it was all glorious. El Remanso is unique in it's location with wildlife everywhere and the most knowledgeable guides to show you around. No sooner had we checked into our bungalow, Dari had us booking our activities - the first up was zip lining! So many activities to mention but these were our favourite... Zip lining was a huge challenge for me as I suffer from vertigo but the guides (particularly Eli) were fantastic and despite being terrified I managed all 5 platforms and repelled down - thrilled to bits that I'd made it - it was incredibly safe and deep-down I loved it. Happy hour at the bar was very welcome after such a thrill! The River Walk with Edgar, who pointed out so many aspects of nature, this ends on the most beautiful deserted beach you've ever seen, complete with lagoon to swim in before climbing the steps back to the hotel. So pleased I borrowed a pair of the hotels wellington boots, in places the river was quite deep, my walking boots wouldn't have coped! The Matapalo tour, an absolute must! Again Edgar was brilliant, spotting so much wildlife, we saw a sloth, 4 types of monkeys, witnessed a howler monkey troop stand off which was fascinating, zillions of birds with the best being the 'stick' bird! It was all fantastic..... The Night Walk with Roy (that guy can spot!) we saw frogs, snakes, tarantula and the highlight a sloth descending a tree for his weekly poo! So cute, I could have stayed all night to watch.... The hotel is perfection, the staff are some of the best who've ever looked after us, the restaurant delicious, happy hour fun as the sun sets.... big shout out to Rosa, Karol, Melissa, Bryan, Rinaldo for making our stay so special. NB: If flying, travel light. Our bags, whilst 18kg and within the weight limit, followed on the next flight because if the flight is fully loaded it's not unusual for the heaviest bags to come off first and follow on. This was a bit stressful but thanks to Jose (aka a young Bruce Springsteen!) who met us from from El Remanso and who without hesitation said he would wait with us for the bags to arrive we were quickly reassured all was fine in the world or as they say in Costa Rica 'Pura Vida'

This was the nicest place imaginable. Wonderful friendly staff. Super knowledgable guides. Really comfy room. Monkeys and parrots from the deck, the amazing rainforest all around and sound of the ocean to go to sleep by. The loveliest place. Food was also delicious and the flora and fauna from the open air dining room was always changing, humming birds, monkeys, macaws, toucans. And then you have the sundowner sunset watching the sun drop below the waves....

When we arrived at this VERY expensive eco-lodge and where shown to our room by a very arrogant lady, I was thinking of leaving this property right away. No air condition, no bottled water ( she showed us the tap in the GARDEN in front of the house and told us, we can fill our bottles from there. Well, we can, but I even would not do it in a youth hostel. So for 1000 Dollars a night? The plunge pool looked sad and dull, the terrace kind of looked sad and unfurnished, the furniture in the room lacks any nice design. It is the cheapest material put together to get the maximum out of the clients. The restaurant has two menus, one for every second day, very exciting, so better not stay for a third night, as we did. Food is mediocre, to say the least and the activities are not at all of any excitement. When we went for a forest walk, we asked for some water on the way, and where told we can fetch it from the room. In any lodge in the world (at least for this price) I get a metal bottle I can re-use, and refill at the reception if needed, here they have them for SALE only. Most of the staff kind of play the macho Chez Guevara behavior, with an attitude that the guest are merely disturbing their precious time. As a travel agent myself, I would never ever bring clients to that place. We had booked it for March and I cancelled this reservation the day I arrived (survived). And I am sure they are happy about it, so nobody bothers them for the 1000 Dollars per night. Ah, and do not try to organize any individual excursion, the term individual does not really means anything to them. It is extra work, so that is not what they offer:-). Never ever again, waste of money!