Ostional Turtle Lodge

I didn’t get to stay at the lodge, but I had a great experience with Vero, an esthetician with over 20 years of experience. She did sugaring, or waxing, with homemade sugar, and it didn’t hurt at all. She was professional, sweet, and easy to chat with, and everything was clean. She got back to me quickly on WhatsApp and is a perfectionist, just what you want for an esthetician. I’ll definitely come back to her on my next visit to CR, and hope I can fit in a facial too. I can’t recommend her enough.

We stayed in the standard room for five days. It’s minutes from the beach, the room was cleaned daily, and dirty towels were replaced. There was plenty of hot water, and the Wi-Fi worked great. Luis was a great host and suggested lots of places to visit and eat. There’s no kitchen, just a fridge and coffee maker, and both worked well. We hadn’t noticed that when booking, but made do, and that was our mistake for not reading carefully. There’s no TV either.

The hosts were lovely and shared lots of information about the area. From the clean, comfortable treehouse, we saw a raccoon, hummingbirds, squirrels, vultures, and lots of crabs living underneath. It had a hot shower, AC, and a lovely balcony to sit on. There are two restaurants and a shop within walking distance, with the supermarket a 20 minute drive away, and plenty of great beaches and trails nearby. It’s a five minute walk to Ostional beach, which made the 5 am and 7 pm turtle tours easy without driving in the dark. My only small complaint is that an electric kettle and a bit more clothes storage would’ve been nice. We didn’t want to leave!

Luis, the owner, was very nice and helpful, and the treehouse had a certain novelty to it. But that was about the extent of its appeal for us. It was clean enough, though its old, rustic condition made it feel less clean. It took the coffee pot about an hour to brew one pot. The location works well if you’re there just for the turtles, but there isn’t much else within walking distance, and the room wasn’t nice enough to make us want to spend time inside. If we return to the area, we’d stay in Nosara, where there are more options, and make a trip into Ostinal to see the turtles.