Browse by stay type

For a real rainforest stay in Costa Rica, sleep in the lowlands where the forest is wettest: Sarapiquí, two hours from San José, for a first night; the Caribbean coast at Parismina and south of Puerto Viejo; or the Golfo Dulce and the Osa Peninsula in the far south for the deepest forest. The 100 hotels on this page spread over 24 towns, with an average rating of 8.9 from 20,480 reviews. The largest groups are in Jacó and Monteverde (21 each), Parismina (11) and Sarapiquí (8). Parismina is the lodge village most people search for, and it has no road. You take a bus or taxi from Siquirres to Caño Blanco, then a boat of about 15 minutes. Its 11 hotels are small: Lirio Lodge (9.4, 122) has the most reviews, Esmeralda Lodge (9.8, 25) and Green Gold Eco-Lodge (10, 24) the highest ratings among those with 20 or more reviews, and Casa Grande Eco Lodge sits on the Pacuare Reserve. Leatherbacks nest on the beach from March to June and green turtles from July to September, and the local group Salvemos las Tortugas de Parismina runs the night patrols. Sarapiquí is where I would put a first-timer. La Selva Biological Station (9.4, 224 reviews), run by the Organization for Tropical Studies, has guided walks every day at 8:00 and 13:30 with bilingual naturalists, never more than 12 people per guide; overnight guests may also walk the trails alone, which day visitors cannot. Tirimbina Lodge (8.8, 604 reviews) sits on a private reserve of about 345 hectares, crossed by a hanging bridge of about 262 metres over the Sarapiquí River. In the rest of the valley, Hotel El Bambú (8.4, 912 reviews) is the town option, facing the sports field in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, about 15 km by road from Tirimbina. The others are lodges outside town: Ara Ambigua (9.0, 843 reviews), Selva Verde (9.0, 567), Sarapiquí's Rainforest Lodge (8.6, 354), Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat (9.2, 190) and the small Tico Rainforest B&B (9.8, 24). I would sleep in one of those rather than in town: the reason to come to Sarapiquí is to wake up to birds, not to traffic. Whatever lodge you choose, the animals are mostly found by a naturalist guide, not by you. Night walks start after sunset and last about one and a half to two and a half hours; with a flashlight, a guide finds red-eyed tree frogs, glass frogs and sloths that you would walk past alone. Tree Houses Hotel Costa Rica (9.4, 245 reviews), seven tree houses about 30 feet up in an 80-acre private forest at Florencia, between La Fortuna and Ciudad Quesada, runs a guided night walk every evening at 8. Never feed or touch what you find. The Golfo Dulce holds the forest that feels least touched. Esquinas Rainforest Lodge (9.4, 125) borders Piedras Blancas National Park near La Gamba, about 30 minutes by car from Golfito airport and reachable by road all year. Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge (9.4, 121) can only be reached by boat from Golfito or Puerto Jiménez, about 35 minutes across the gulf, and sits on a 165-acre private reserve bordering the same park. Playa Cativo Lodge (9.6, 135) is on the same shore, and Golfo Dulce Retreat (10, 54) and Hotel La Gamba Rainforest Lodge (9.2, 29) complete the area. On the Osa Peninsula, Drake Bay has three hotels here: Copa de Arbol Beach and Rainforest Resort (9.6, 118 reviews), Aguila de Osa (9.4, 219) and Hotel Villa Manolo (9.0). Drake Bay is the boat gateway to Corcovado National Park: boats leave for the Sirena ranger station daily, a ride of a little over an hour, and you can only enter the park with a certified guide. Book the guide with the room. Further south, Tiskita Jungle Lodge is near the surf break of Pavones. On the Pacific side, the Osa Peninsula and the Golfo Dulce follow the national pattern: drier from about December to April, green season from May to November, with September and October usually the wettest months. Some remote Osa lodges reduce services or close for part of that stretch, and some tracks become hard to pass, so look at the lodge's opening dates first. The green season is no reason to stay away: the forest is at its greenest, wildlife viewing stays good, and the trails are muddy rather than closed. The south Caribbean mixes forest and beach. Around Hone Creek, Sonora Jungle and Yoga Retreat (9.4) and Samasati Retreat Center are jungle retreats away from the beach road, with Hidden Jungle Beach House (9.2, 72) and Hukats Secret Jungle (8.4, 20) close by. In Puerto Viejo, Cariblue Beach and Jungle Resort (8.8 from 1,293 reviews) is the big name near Playa Cocles, with Cabinas Hukats Secret Jungle (8.7, 111) in town, and Plaza Tucanito (9.6, 58) is the one hotel here in Cahuita. September and October are often this coast's driest months, when the Pacific is at its wettest. Around Arenal, the choice is between town and lake. Casa Luna Hotel & Spa (8.9, 1,164 reviews) puts you near La Fortuna. Around Nuevo Arenal, on the lake, Lucky Bug Bed & Breakfast (9.6, 181) has lake views and Niru Rainforest Suites (9.6, 76) is nearby, while Mystica (9.4, 105) is a yoga lodge in the hills of Sabalito, about halfway between Nuevo Arenal and Tilarán. Rancho Margot (9.2, 148) is a working farm of about 420 acres above the lake near El Castillo; its road is unpaved, and a 4x4 helps. Nicoya and Guanacaste are not rainforest country. Much of the northwest is tropical dry forest, and the jungle around Santa Teresa and Nosara is coastal hillside forest behind the beaches. I would not book these for the forest: Nautilus Surf & Yoga Villas (8.9, 153) and Ocio Villas Mal Pais (9.1, 106) in Santa Teresa, Jungles Edge Hotel in Nosara (8.1, 49), and Selva Boutique Resort (9.6, 181) and Casa Laureles (9.6, 31) near Playa Coyote, are beach stays among trees. The exception is Blue River Resort & Hot Springs (8.4, 268), on the wet north side of Rincón de la Vieja, with natural hot springs. On the central Pacific, Rafiki Safari Lodge (9.6, 197 reviews) has safari tents on raised platforms along the Savegre River, about 25 to 30 km southeast of Quepos; Esquipulas Rainforest (9.4, 72) is also inland from Quepos, at Naranjito. For a luxury rainforest resort on the sea, Arenas Del Mar at Manuel Antonio is the pick, with 9.6 from 659 reviews. Further south, Cascata del Bosco (9.0, 258) is up in San Vito, near the Wilson Botanical Garden, not in Ciudad Neily itself. Two more inland groups complete the page. For the turquoise Río Celeste in Tenorio, Hideaway Rio Celeste (9.6, 1,064 reviews) and Río Celeste Black Chalets (10, 51) are the stays here, and Sweet Jungle (9.8, 55) is near Ciudad Quesada, like Tree Houses Hotel. Near the airport, Xandari Resort & Spa (9.0, 302) is a resort in the hills above Alajuela and Tacacorí EcoLodge (9.2, 107) lies north of Alajuela city. The Hyatt Centric San José Escazú (9.0, 389) is frankly a city hotel with no forest at all: fine for an arrival night, nothing more. Be clear about two of the biggest groups. Monteverde is cloud forest at altitude, cool and often misty, a different forest from the lowland jungle, and its 21 hotels suit that trip. The 21 in Jacó are mostly beach hotels and condos; the forest is on the hills behind, and Hotel Villa Caletas is the one I would pick there. Rainforest means rain and humidity in every month, and clothes dry slowly. I would not send someone who hates humidity straight to the Golfo Dulce: Sarapiquí, two hours from the airport, is the easier test.

23 destinations

River Rafting Lodge

Adventure lodges beside Costa Rica's top white-water rivers.

0 destinations

Surf

Steps from the breaks, with board storage and surf-camp energy.

12 destinations

Treehouse

Elevated cabins and treehouses up in the canopy.

3 destinations

Villa

Private villas with your own space, pool and kitchen.

29 destinations

Volcano view

Rooms framing Arenal and other volcanoes, often with hot springs nearby.

14 destinations

Wellness & yoga

For a wellness stay in Costa Rica, choose the region by the kind of rest you want: Nosara and Santa Teresa on the Nicoya Peninsula for daily yoga and surf, La Fortuna under Arenal for volcano-heated water, Monteverde for cool mountain nights. The 315 hotels on this page spread over 40 towns, with an average rating of 8.8 from more than 120,000 reviews. The biggest groups are in La Fortuna (33), Jacó and Santa Teresa (30 each), then Nosara and San José (22 each). Eighteen of them take adults only. Nosara is where I would send anyone who wants yoga at the centre of the trip. Its best-known studios, such as Bodhi Tree and the Harmony Hotel's, are at Playa Guiones and take drop-in students, and the Nosara Yoga Institute sits up on a forested hill. Of the 22 hotels here, Esh Hotel & Spa (9.0, 80 reviews), a Design Hotels member in Guiones, has a full programme on site: its Vitalis Spa runs yoga, Pilates, a sauna and a cold plunge. The roads are dirt, so this is a place for early nights, not for nightlife. Santa Teresa suits couples who want surf in the morning and a mat in the evening. Horizon Hotel & Yoga Center (9.4, 112 reviews) has a wooden yoga deck above its tea house, which looks out over the Pacific. Several of the 30 hotels in town are adults-only, including ARjAU, LALOON, Blue Mist, Mint and Vista del Alma. The single main road is dusty in the dry season and muddy in the green season, so a hotel within walking distance of your class saves daily shuttles. Jacó, with 30 hotels on this page, is the wellness base for people who also want a town. It is about an hour and a half to two hours from San José by Route 27, the beach is a beginner surf break, and the bars of Avenida Pastor Díaz stay open late. That is also its limit: crowds from the capital fill it on weekends and holidays, and a quiet retreat is not what the town does best. Fuego del Sol Beachfront Hotel (8.8, 1,130 reviews) is the most reviewed of them. If Nicoya's dirt roads put you off, Dominical on the south Pacific coast is the yoga-and-surf alternative to Nosara, with 11 hotels here. Danyasa Eco-Retreat runs daily yoga on a bamboo deck set among the trees and in an open-air studio; its rooms are converted shipping containers and it takes adults only. Hotel Villas Rio Mar (9.1, 1,071 reviews) is the most reviewed hotel in Dominical, and the river and the surf beach are both close to the village. For the Arenal wellness retreat that most people picture, the thermal water decides. Of the 315 hotels, 31 have hot springs, and 24 of those are in La Fortuna. Casa Luna Hotel & Spa (8.9 from 1,164 reviews) has four hot tubs, some semi-private in the garden, and a spa that uses volcanic mud; Baldi and Ecotermales are about ten minutes away by car. Book for the water, not the view: Arenal's summit is often in cloud, and no room can promise it. On the far side of the volcano, The Wellness Park & Tierra Esencial Ecolodge (9.8, 108 reviews) is a different proposition from the La Fortuna spa hotels. It sits in a private rainforest reserve about 2.5 km east of the Arenal dam along a cobblestone road, so you sleep by the lake end of the area rather than in town. The park was built around health: yoga and meditation sessions, spa treatments, trails with hanging bridges, a frog sanctuary and a labyrinth, and rooms with large windows facing the volcano. I would book it for quiet and forest. Guanacaste has a quieter thermal option. Hacienda Guachipelin (8.8, 794 reviews), at the foot of Rincón de la Vieja, runs the Río Negro hot springs: ten pools on the riverbank, reached by a 350-metre forest path from the changing rooms. The ritual is hot volcanic mud on the skin, dried, then rinsed in the cold river before going back into the warm pools. On the coast nearby, Playa del Coco (16 hotels) and Potrero (8) are beach bases, not retreats; the best rated among those with at least 50 reviews are Hotel Good Life (9.4, 515) in Coco and La Quebrada Eco Lodge (9.4, 349) in Potrero. Monteverde is the cold-weather case. Nights in the cloud forest are cool and damp, so a heated pool matters more than a view. Hotel & Spa Poco a Poco (9.1, 149 reviews) has an indoor heated pool, which is rare in Monteverde, plus its Naroa Spa, and you can walk to the centre of Santa Elena. Reviewers note the water can feel lukewarm on windy days. Of the 12 Monteverde hotels here, it is the one I would pick for soaking after a wet hike. If you need a proper gym in San José, the downtown choice is the Sleep Inn Paseo Las Damas (8.7, 3,351 reviews), across from Parque Morazán, with a 24-hour fitness centre. In Escazú, the Sheraton San José (8.6, 975 reviews) stands 350 metres west of Multiplaza mall on Route 27, with a fitness centre and a steam room; it is close to a busy highway, so ask for a room on the far side. Both suit a business trip or a first night more than a wellness week. Near the airport, the Hilton Garden Inn San Jose Airport City Mall (8.5, 2,191 reviews) has a 24-hour fitness centre with cardio and weight machines, next to City Mall Alajuela. Most of the 20 Alajuela hotels here serve the night before a flight; Xandari Resort & Spa (9.0, 302 reviews) is the one built for a longer stay. For a spa a short drive from SJO, Finca Rosa Blanca (9.2, 179 reviews) is a coffee farm in Santa Bárbara de Heredia, about 20 minutes from the airport. Timing changes everything. On the Pacific side, from Nosara to Guanacaste, the dry season runs roughly December to April. On the Caribbean side, September and October are often the driest months, when the Pacific is at its wettest, so a yoga week in Cahuita or Puerto Viejo (22 hotels between them) makes sense in those two months. I would plan a week in one place for yoga, and two or three nights for hot springs. If you want a full medical spa under one roof, this country is better at outdoor water and open-air decks.

40 destinations

Wildlife

Beside reserves and national parks — sloths, monkeys and toucans nearby.

31 destinations

Yoga Retreat

Dedicated yoga retreats in lush jungle and beachfront settings.

0 destinations

We earn a commission when you book through some links on this site, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which hotels we list or how we rank them.