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

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!

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....