16 Best places to stay in Costa Rica

Luxurious four-poster beds sitting on polished hard-wood floors scattered with expensive kilims, huge marble bathrooms with walk-in al fresco showers and geothermal tubs,  hummingbirds flitting through the resort’s extensive, orchid-filled rainforest gardens… no other Arenal 5-star resort offers such a sense of comfortable, intimate seclusion in nature. Or more spectacular volcano views.

Bedrooms with floor-to-ceiling glass walls open onto private plunge pool decks. These are open-air, yet completely shielded from view by extensive greenery – perfect for in-room dining or under-the-stars swimming for two.

The restaurant (sitting over a huge shared pool) is one of the best in the region and there’s a first-class spa (with geothermal treatments and outdoor Jacuzzi pools) set next to a beautiful clear-water mountain river. Adults only.

Spread over a hilly, five-hectare nature reserve, deep in the magnificent coastal forest of the Manuel Antonio National Park, this boutique bolthole offers all the comforts of a city hotel transplanted into wildly beautiful surrounds.

A cluster of contemporary whitewashed buildings house contemporary-feeling, super-comfortable rooms; high-thread linens, polished-wood floors – and top-of-the-line service, including private butlers.

This is a fantastic choice for wildlife lovers; Gaia’s nature reserve is home to sloths, monkeys, raccoons, iguanas and a wide variety of birds.

A range of activities – from hiking to zip lines and all-terrain vehicles – offer different ways to explore the landscapes, or just lie by the shimmering infinity pool and drink in the dreamy Pacific Ocean views.

Only a half-hour drive from San José international airport, this re-wilded former coffee hacienda is a good choice for a pre- or post-flight stopover. There are wonderful views from pretty much anywhere in the hotel.

The plush Ultra Villas – with floor-to-ceiling glass windows – look across the central valley to the twinkling lights of San Jose and the rippling Cerro de Escazu mountains.

The hacienda sits in extensive gardens on the edge of forest, cut by wildlife trails – some leading to beautiful waterfalls.

By far the best reason to choose to stay at the Observatory Lodge is that it is the only accommodation inside the Arenal Volcano National Park. And that means as guests you are in the park at dawn – the best time for seeing animals and a full two hours before the gates open to the general public.

You’re not coming for luxury. Colourful art and scatter cushions can’t disguise the functional simplicity of the older tile and whitewash standard rooms – which were built for visiting scientists in the 1970s. They do have tall windows opening onto wonderful balcony views. Smithsonian rooms are a little plusher and as well as balconies, smaller windows offer views of the volcano at every turn.

From the dining room and bedroom balconies though, the mountain’s cone is so close you could almost touch it. And the wild is literally outside your window. Guiding and wildlife-watching facilities are excellent; and include an observation tower with 360-degree views. You’ll see white-faced capuchin monkeys and ultra-rare birds like guans or even resplendent quetzal in the forest around the hotel grounds.

The hotel has a spa and a pool set in beautiful bird and tree-frog trilling woodland gardens. 

Tucked into the cloud forest on the outskirts of Santa Elena, this intimate little B&B is comprised of a series of bungalows that are built right into the trees.

The bungalows sit in five hectares of misty cloud forest, dotted with orchids and bromeliads perched over a jungle-filled valley. This area is rife with exotic life, including hummingbirds, toucans, capuchin monkeys and the occasional slow-moving sloth.

Rooms are rustic – in warm woods and fronted with large terraces overlooking the valley. Some have Jacuzzis and the largest is big enough for a family of five (min age for kids though is 15).

Best of all are the vistas: the lodge is perched on a hillside with extravagant valley views.

It’s all about the wild at La Tortuga: the lodge abuts Tortuguero National Park – the best location in the Americas to see nesting and hatchling turtles – and sits beside rivers and forests filled with life. It’s the only hotel in the area to have its own private reserve and it offers a full menu of wildlife excursions – from boat rides on the crocodile-filled rivers to birdwatching.

Accommodation is kid-friendly – with suites, a pool and excursions suitable for kids over 10. The open-sided Green Turtle restaurant makes the most of the spectacular forest views by day; in the evening, lit by tiki torches and candles, it feels wonderfully atmospheric.

The best of the surfer-chic beachside boutique hotels in laid-back Santa Teresa village, Florblanca is intimate, small-scale and integrated with nature.

Secluded villas in lush hardwoods have huge terraces and al fresco showers open to the surrounding rainforest, and they sit just off the sand on the best beach in the village.

There are plenty of activities on offer (surf classes, spa pampering, horseback riding and scuba diving), the food is organic farm-to-table and the resort is perfectly positioned for romantic Pacific Ocean sunsets and cocktails under the stars.

Monteverde isn’t the only cloud forest in Costa Rica. This country retreat (formerly owned by president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Carazo) sits in its own private reserve on the edge of a vast tract of mountain cloud forest.

The hotel is rustic ranch house comfortable. Whitewashed villas – with roaring fires in the grate, terracotta roofs, and terraces with granny rocking chairs under the eaves – overlook the mountains and forest.

Guided trips run straight from the grounds into the wild and white-water rafting, tree-top adventures and canopy tours are all on offer nearby.

Only accessible by boat, this tranquil lodge is set on the Golfo Dulce tropical fjord between steeply-climbing rainforest ridges and a long, half-moon, black sand bay. Remote and Walden-wild, the garden is fragrant with mangoes and brilliant with the flickering flight of sapphire-blue hummingbirds; the rooms – sitting in wooden huts with hammock-strung balconies – are a touch rustic, but with a location this beautiful, few guests complain.

The excursions – hikes, kayak rides, fishing trips and whale-spotting tours are first class and the organic food served in the kitchen delicious and healthy.

In the late 1980s, long before today’s wellness trend hit its stride, Costa Rican architect Jaime Mikowski recognised the healing powers of the Tabacón Thermal River and the Arenal Volcano and set about developing this 900-acre rainforest resort.

Channelling the country’s largest network of natural thermal springs, he constructed waterfalls and pools, planted lush gardens featuring more than 200 native plants and built sleek, fuss-free rooms with walls of glass to bring the outdoors indoors and offer a confidently pared-back refuge from the 21st century.

This is a spa for water babies: the action centres around the mineral-rich pools, which range from 25°C to 50°C, all heated by the now-dormant volcano. One has a swim-up bar and thermal waterslide, others are dotted through the gardens. To intensify that connection with nature, treatments are taken in open-sided thatched cabins and use lotions made from local plants, blending Costa Rican customs with ancient practices from around the world.

This exquisitely restored whitewashed, British colonial-style wooden house sits behind twin, gently curving beaches of white pepper-fine sand on the Caribbean coast.

It looks like a 1930s writer’s retreat, with its shutterboard panelling and tile-roofed turrets. You can imagine Graham Greene or Hemingway tapping at a typewriter on the wrap-around balcony. Interiors designed by the artist-owners are all-white, with splashes of Caribbean turquoise and heliconia red from the bright furniture and abstract art. The seafood-focused restaurant is one of the best in the region.

With heliconia and hummingbird-filled gardens trilling with tree frogs and cicadas, waves lapping sugar-white palm-shaded sand, laid-back, reggae-throbbing Puerto Viejo village fifteen minutes’ cycle ride away – Aguas Claras is quintessentially Costa Rican Caribbean.

Set on a lush hillside overlooking Arenal volcano, this elegant family-friendly hotel has spectacular mountain and rainforest views from just about every villa. These sit in carefully tended, semi-wild jungle gardens visited by hummingbirds and parakeets.

Wooden walkways lead through the trees – giving guests close-up contact with nature. Villas for couples or families – with palm-thatch roofs and lush hardwood floors open onto private balcony-terraces with Jacuzzis or baths. The hotel has one of the region’s best spas.

Close to modish Uvita village – a low-key, beach-and-rainforest alternative to nearby, tourist-busy Manuel Antonio – this hillside eyrie offers a sense of romantic wilderness isolation with restaurants and bars on the doorstep.

Glass-walled villas dominated by huge four-posters sit in secluded forest groves on a hillside in lush semi-wild rainforest.

Light floods into the rooms and the villa fronts are faced with al fresco terraces, poised to catch views of the setting sun as it drops over pristine jungle to the distant Pacific Ocean.

Suites have private plunge pools; there’s a spa set next to a tinkling stream and a wealth of wildlife and light adventure tours (horse-back riding on the beaches, whale watching, zip-lining and jungle hikes).

Stays at Remanso are all about losing yourself in nature. One of Costa Rica’s wildest stretches of rainforest sits outside your villa door and a pristine Pacific beach is a stroll away.

Palm-thatch villas in rich hardwoods perch on a hillside; The best have sweeping forest and ocean views from the luxurious king sizes, with generous plunge pool terraces outside.

The lodge keeps environmental impact to a minimum: recycling, running on renewable energy and gathering fallen wood to maintain and build cabins.

Lapa Rios combines David Attenborough wilderness with honeymoon comfort. Jungle suites are boutique hotel luxe and come with wonderful from-the-bed views: through floor-to-ceiling windows over rolling, rainforest-carpeted hills to the shimmering blue Golfo Dulce tropical fjord.

The Briza Azul restaurant, set on a decked terrace with more glorious sea views, serves up classic Costa Rican dishes, with dock-to-dish fish and seafood, and fruit and vegetables from its own garden.

The lodge’s eco-credentials are impeccable; it generates its own natural gas (from kitchen-scrap-fed pigs), has a solar heating system and has been supporting local schools for over 25 years.

Getting to this plush rainforest retreat is half the adventure. Arrival is by white-water raft – on a rushing, rapid-run river through a plunging forested gorge. Despite the remoteness, sleeping is as luxe as wilderness gets. Suites fitted with honey-coloured hardwoods open onto balcony terraces with private plunge pools and sweeping rainforest views.

There’s a gorgeous forest-view infinity pool and a big menu of wilderness excursions, and all is sustainable – from the on-site generated electricity and the construction materials (cut from reforested lumber on Pacuare’s replanted reserve) to the extensive support for local campesino and indigenous communities.