La Choza Inn in La Fortuna … This place is great. It's extremely clean. (It didn't matter what time of day I was in the reception area, there was always someone sweeping or cleaning the kitchen. They're a little fanatical, but it was much appreciated!) The rooms come with linens already on the beds and the community bathroom is huge (and also very clean)! The staff are the best though. They helped us arrange a canopy zipline tour and a night tour to the Arenal Volcano and got us a super cheap cab back to San Jose. All this for $5 a night! (We stayed in a three-person dorm with no a/c. We didn't need the a/c though cause it gets cooler at night.)
Arenal Backpackers Resort in La Fortuna … The staff always seemed friendly. The dorm rooms are immaculate. The AC goes on automatically at certain time slots. Very organized internet room, pool, and good cheap restaurant right at the hostel. You get into the rooms with a key card, which was really surprising to see at a hostel in Costa Rica. I admit, the tours they posted were much more expensive than what you could get in town. They also have a security guard at the gate door at night and he will only let you in as long as you are wearing the wristband that they give you at the front desk. It definitely seems more like a resort than a hostel.
La Choza Inn in La Fortuna … A really nice budget place to stay! The rooms were very clean (although there were a couple of cockroaches) and the owner was very friendly and helpful. The view of arenal from the hostel is spectacular, and you can organise tours through the hostel to visit it at night (as well as for other activities). I would also highly recommend these tours!
Arenal Backpackers Resort in La Fortuna … One of the best I stayed in in Costa Rica! Nice sized room and a great big bathroom with each room was great! (no wandering around the halls looking for an available bathroom) The people were very helpful with tours... definitely do the canopy tour and baldi hot springs and if you are going to Monteverde, opt for the jeep-boat-jeep tour. Its shorter and more fun! I didn't go in the pool but it looked like fun.
La Choza Inn in La Fortuna … I highly recomend La Choza Inn, just outside the balcony you can watch incredible birds who live in the nearby trees. The tours are good except the horseback riding tour to the nearby waterfall was done with sickly and overworked horses, so avoid that one if you can. But do go to the waterfall, it's amazing!
La Choza Inn in La Fortuna … Absolutely do not book any tours with the tour company that runs through La Choza! The tour company is called Eagle Tours. We paid them $88 to go to Monteverde for a canopy tour and they failed us every step of the way. They forgot to hire enough vans to drive us to Monteverde on the "Jeep-Boat-Jeep" part of the tour so were stuck sitting on the dirt road for an hour waiting for one to come and pick us up. Then they forgot to book the canopy tour and we had to accept a time that was two hours after our arrival date in Monteverde. After it was over they didn't pick us up from the canopy tour office and we had to wait another two hours in the dark for another van. (We were hungry but told that there would be no time to grab food because the van would get there "any minute.") When we were finally dropped off on the side of the lake there was a man with a flashlight who helped push our boat onto the water while our driver navigated back without any lights on the boat! It was pitch black…
Jardines Arenal Lodge in La Fortuna … I loved this hotel!!! The environment is great and the service is excellent!! The owners are very, very attentive and the rooms are just great! These reasons make this simple but cozy hotel a five-star hotel!!! I highly recommend this hotel to everyone!!!
Cerro Chato Eco Lodge in La Fortuna … This lodge is an oasis of calm outside La Fortuna. It has lovely clean rooms, in tropical-feeling gardens with fantastic views of Volcan Arenal. The owner, Miguel, is a friendly and welcoming host, and his wife cooks a fabulous breakfast served in the garden. I wouldn't stay anywhere else!
Jardines Arenal Lodge in La Fortuna … This is the nicest hotel I stayed at in all of Costa Rica. The hospitality I expected to find I received from the Ticos. Being here felt more like visiting friends of the family, rather then going to a hotel.
Lands In Love Hotel & Resort in La Fortuna … I visited Lands in Love in June. Great place. They gave me a discount when I showed them my student card. It came out very cheap because we were three friends, all students, and we shared a room. Beautiful rooms, amazing view and all the good staff- coffee maker, mini bar, twenty-nine inch cable TV, free fast internet (my friend had his laptop and he send mails to about half the world). The price included a large breakfast (you can order anything you like). We did our canopy tour there -- very professional and mucho mucho fun. The staff is amazing -- lots of young people from Israel. We join them for a live jam-session in the lobby after dinner -- unforgettable experience. Give them a call you will not regret it.
Hotel Fortuna in La Fortuna … This budget hotel was perfect: clean, safe, and cute, with hot water and comfortable beds. The family who owns the hotel was incredibly friendly and helpful.
Cerro Chato Eco Lodge in La Fortuna … My husband and I recently traveled to the Arenal area and stayed at Cerro Chato Eco Lodge and LOVED it. The proprietor Miguel Zamora and his wife Carmen were fabulous hosts. Our room was clean, comfortable and morning breakfast was always delicious and filling! Miguel was so accommodating and spoke perfect English. After seeing other places to stay in the Arenal and La Fortuna area, we were so happy that we booked with Cerro Chato. We would recommend this lodge to any travelers who are looking to get off the beaten path (Costa Rica is very touristy!) and stay in a quiet family owned B&B at the base of the volcano. This lodge is recommended in the travel books and we concur with all the praise for Cerro Chato!
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