El Remanso Rainforest Lodge

This place is near perfect if you want a comfortable (expensive) experience in the rain forest with a lot of wildlife in and the grounds and around. The lodge we had was high up with the tree tops all around that attracted birds and white-faced monkeys to be metres away. The plunge pool and both indoor and outdoor showers were a delight. The food was very good with attentive service and a beautiful (new) restaurant with, again, lovely views. The WiFi in the room was good but poor or non existent in the restaurant. They offer a range of activities and you can them do more walks on top. The guided night walk was outstanding. The bird walk in the grounds was outstanding. The drive to an open area bird walk was excellent. The drive (copying an African safari) was not worth it in our minds. We also hugely enjoyed walking out together to pure (never silent!) rainforest - no one else around. The wider round trip walk to the beach was demanding and excellent. The massage my wife and I had was lovely - very good indeed. The only thing this place let itself down on was the back office which managed to accidentally overcharge us on check out and they told us times and days for the activities that were different to what they actually booked. Both rectified but that could easily be improved. Overall the best of 6 places that we stayed in within Costa Rica.

El Romanso really is a little bit of paradise in the South Western corner of Costa Rica. Our room was the best hotel room I have ever stayed in and I have travelled all over the world, often on business, over the last 50 years. The staff are really amazing, so friendly and helpful as well as knowledgeable, they are a big part of why our stay was so magical. The lodge is situated in the middle of the rain forest and the wildlife is incredible, often fight outside your room or whilst you are sitting in the restaurant.

Good food, helpful local staff BUT choose your room carefully. We were put in a Poniente room which was a good size, clean and tidy but no views at all. The published plan on the website suggests a garden but in fact there is two high walls and a narrow border and mostly gravel in front of a fence to stop people using the path on the other side looking in. All of the other rooms we could find on site had a much more open aspect and some sort of view over the rainforest . The closed in garden also meant there was very little movement of air even if there was a breeze elsewhere. We felt It was quite expensive for such a poor outlook and although we did ask for an upgrade it seemed nothing was available . Be careful which room you choose.

It is hard to fault this lodge. We booked direct and all communication was quick and efficient. Flights to the resort and shuttle afterwards were all arranged for us. The pictures of the facilities are representative. There are 2 menus with several choices offered in rotation. Tea and coffee and home made cakes or biscuits available throughout the day as part of package. Other drinks are reasonably priced happy hour cocktails $6. If you want drinks in room you could stop at supermarket in Peurto Jimenez and take some cans with you but bar drinks can be taken to room. 1 included activity provided free of charge per nights stay. Service is outstanding. The staff are very polite, helpful and cannot do enough for you. The food in the restaurant is excellent, fresh local and very well presented, The only suggestions for what would have improved our stay would have been to have fruit available alongside the cakes and biscuits throughout the day. It would also have been helpful for offsite paid for trips to be coordinated with other guests so cost of transport and fixed price activities could be shared as for a couple these could work out expensive

A true Tarzan Jane treehouse experience with five star beds linens towels, private plunge pool, deck secluded in the tropical forest overlooking the pacific. What more could we want? Excellent guides, vast array of birds, wildlife, ecological sustainable foods and power. We loved every minute of our 4 night stay and could have stayed longer to do more. Beautiful

The presentation on their web site appears accurate from our experience last week. We stayed 6 nights and enjoyed each day. Meals and staff were great. This is dry season and we had one short rain. Their staff was very informed, guiding us to hike the trails as well as locate and educate about the diverse and colorful flora and fauna.

I respect everyone’s views and way of living. Well, almost everyone’s. I am also sure that many people will find the life habits of my wife and I together with the way we run our own house to be peculiar to say the least. But one thing is the ways you run your private life and place of living. But it is completely different, if you suggest to people to come to your place for their holidays being lured by your promise of luxury – excuse me, “eco-luxury” - and pay you quite a bit of money for it, like owners of El Remanso do. In this case you must understand that your own views may not be shared by everyone or even by majority and you have to adapt your “concept” to general public. Or, at least, to be more precise in what it is that they are going to get in case deciding to spend their time and money at your property. OK, here is how El Remanso “eco-luxury” looks like: Rooms/villas: DON’T have air-conditioning, NO hairdryers (female customer can dry their hair in less sustainable places), NO minibars, NO drinking water (you are supposed to drink from ecological taps), NO body lotion (though somehow they do have shampoo-conditioner-body wash trio), NO facial paper tissues!!! (when I asked what I am supposed to do, if I need to blow my nose, the answer was: use a towel, we will bring you another one). All of these aren’t ecological and sustainable, and I am sure I forgot to mention something else that isn’t there, because there is nothing. Strange somehow, they have unsustainable toilet paper. Why not suggest clients also use towels or may be sustainably do it with their fingers? Being anti-ecological and, maybe, even anti-social my wife and I – being on holidays – sometimes like to sleep in late or take a nap after lunch if getting up super-early for a wildlife viewing in the morning. Not so easy in epicenter of eco-luxury. The walls of the rooms consist perimetrally of window size holes being covered with mosquito nets only. No curtains or blinds whatsoever. They are not ecological, I guess. So, it is superbright starting from sunrise at around 05:40 a.m. till sunset. Locks: or their absence, if to be correct. There are no locks whatsoever either on the entrance or terrace doors. “People roam freely together with monkeys” – as El Remanso site says. OK, one should trust his stuff. But so far nobody has figured out a waterproof formula against cardinal human sins. Not that I heard of at least. And speaking roaming monkeys: monkeys are super-intelligent animals. Once in Malaysia I was witnessing as one was expertly opening a zipper of my sports bags and starting to look inside with interest, when I woke-up from my frenzy and started running towards it shouting, which finally saved the contents of the bag. So, opening sliding terrace doors, which are not locked or secured in any way at El Remanso will be a piece of cake even for any kindergarten age monkey. And I saw a couple not further than 20 meters from our terrace on the first morning. Laundry: