Tortuga Lodge & Gardens by Böëna

Just the journey to Tortuguero is exciting, you either need to fly in on a small plane or arrive by boat. We felt very well looked after at every point of our stay, the staff were lovely. Lots of trip options, all worth going on. It rained quite a lot and we were out of turtle season but the wildlife did not disappoint. What a privilege to see it all. The food was excellent and the rooms lovely with a view over the water and in our case, a toucan perched directly outside.

Whether you are an experienced eco-tourist or a first time visitor to Costa Rica, Tortuga Lodge is a perfect choice. From the moment you arrive, you are treated like family by everyone on the staff. Picked up at the airport by a friendly boat captain, who takes your bags and settles you in for the brief boat trip across the canal, where you are greeted by smiling friends-you-have-yet-to-meet, offering a refreshing welcome beverage and a cool towel to clean your face and hands (the airstrip can be a bit dusty, so both were most welcome). The delightful campus contains everything you can hope for, whether you want to relax by the pool or experience a challenging rainforest hike--as well as special experiences you can sign up for, like a wildlife boat tour with an expert ecologist who will point out for you the fascinating local wildlife and the beautiful array of bird species. Forgot your binoculars? Pura vida!! Tortuga Lodge thinks of everything. If you are there at the right time, you can sign up for a trip to the beach with a turtle expert who will show you the nests and even coach you whilst you witness the struggle of baby turtles to make their way from the nest to the sea. At night, you can drift off to sleep with the sound of howler monkeys and the gentle wind through rushing through the nearby rainforest jungle, and wake to a delicious breakfast prepared by an expert chef using local ingredients. I recommend the Gallo Typico - the breakfast hailed by the Blue Zones diet as the key to a perfect dietary start to your day. But literally everything on the menu is delicious, served with attention to aesthetics and presented with a smile by a caring and attentive server. I am a very picky traveler. I can't think of a single thing I would change about Tortuga Lodge and my time there, except maybe to stay a lot longer next time. Whether you are going for a romantic getaway or to spend time with friends or family, you really can't go wrong here.

Among the worst customer service I've experienced from a hotel. During the booking process we received practically zero check-in information, aside from a phone number and an instruction to check in before 6:00 PM. On check-in day we got very delayed on the road to Tortuguero due to a bad accident. By the time we arrived at the dock we had missed the last shuttle. My wife and I tried calling the number we were given for the hotel in our confirmation email many times, but no one ever answered. When we finally found a working number we got an automated message that it was outside of working hours so they could not respond. By then it was around 6:00 PM, and this is a hotel. We lingered near the dock for a couple of hours trying to get in touch and work out a way to get there, but never could. In the end we ended up driving to San Jose and booking a last-minute room. We canceled our plans in Tortuguero and essentially scrapped that leg of our trip. As you can imagine, this was not the way we wanted to spend a day of our trip, and we were very sad not to spend the intended time in the National Park. We reached out to hotel management the next day. Their response was, in a nutshell: Sorry, you booked through a 3rd-party (Capital One), so we can't help you, and there's nothing we can do. It's simply a no-show. Better luck next time. So that was our experience. We can't speak to the quality of the resort itself or the people working there. I'm sure they are wonderful. But their management company, Boena, leaves much to be desired. I would be very careful when interacting with this property.