Hotel Bosque Verde Lodge

Hotel Bosque Verde is a small family-run place in an older building, with the cabin feel we wanted. The polished wood paneling on the walls is part of its charm, not drywall. There are no screens or air conditioning, but we didn’t need either. We opened the doors and let in the cool mountain breeze. Our first-floor triple room had a clean, comfortable bed and a hot shower. If this kind of stay suits you, it’s hard to find somewhere better than Hotel Bosque Verde.

A lovely little hotel with friendly staff and clean rooms that feel distinctive, thanks to the wood paneling on every wall. The road in could be a bit rough in a regular car.

We’d happily come back. The place is quiet and peaceful, with beautiful mountain views and a cottage-like feel we really enjoyed. It’s near Santa Elena’s shops and good restaurants, and close to the things we did: the cloud forest bridge walk, coffee tour, and night walk. Ziplining and bungee jumping aren’t really our thing. Staff were friendly and helpful, breakfast was tasty, with gallo pinto, pancakes, fresh fruit, and more. The clean rooms have balconies where we enjoyed our morning coffee.

The grounds were pretty, breakfast was good, and there were lots of hummingbirds, a few kinds of toucans, and a cute, friendly dog. Service was good, the rooms rustic, and there was a separate game room with board and card games. We were there for two nights with a school group and had the resort to ourselves. But there were serious problems in the rooms: scorpions in two beds, wasps in another room, and spiders in one more. I understand we were in the country, but that much wildlife indoors wasn’t okay. There was also a tortilla chip piece between the covers of my bed, making it seem like the bedding hadn’t been washed. I didn’t sleep in my room either night. The resort said they deep cleaned the rooms and washed all the bedding before our second night. My son’s bath faucet wouldn’t turn off unless the handles were positioned just right, and the bathroom light switch wouldn’t turn off either. Poor maintenance overall. I wouldn’t recommend staying overnight.