Was given a horrible room with a mattress so thin that I had to pad the underneath with towels so that I would not feel the wooden slates under my back! The night before departing, Judy told me that she had given me the "wrong" room because she couldn't extricate the other guest from my originally "booked" room. Only a few rooms are air conditioned and altho I was seriously requested one, I did not get it. When I returned home and emailed her curiously requesting the room rate, she surprisingly and rudely told me that she didn't want my future business! (Not that I would have ever gone back! I just wanted to see how much the tour company was charging me. And get this...I paid EXTRA for a single room!! She made a HUGE mistake with my booking and then blamed me....I never even complained to her about my room. She came to me.

We stayed at the Sloth Sanctuary for 2 nights. It was a little challenging to get here, so if you don't have a car, be prepared to face some logistical challenges. We took the bus to Cahuita from San Jose. What we didn't know was that this place is not actually in Cahuita--it's about 20 minutes away from the town on the road to Cahuita (so, as you drive from San Jose--it's San Jose-->Sloth Sanctuary-->Cahuita). At the rest stop along the way, we told the bus driver where we needed to get off, but as we zoomed past it in the bus, I had to go up and ask the bus driver to stop the bus. He was (understandably) really angry about 1) stopping the bus on the side of the road, 2) the fact that our bags were way in the back because he thought we were getting off in Cahuita along with everyone else. So, it was harrowing to get there at first since we basically had to jump off the bus in the middle of the road, then hike back with our bags to the hotel. Unfortunately, there is not a lot within walking distance around this hotel, so you should be prepared to take the bus down to Cahuita for meals, etc. or plan to buy food and bring it back to the hotel because only breakfast is available there. Be careful taking the bus late at from Cahuita--the schedule is not always clear, and the buses stop running at 8. Also, limited taxi services are available so you could get stuck down there. As for the hotel itself--breakfast was very good, rooms were basically clean, and the hot water was strong. The sloths by far are the main attraction. This hotel is really more about sloths and less about being a hotel, but we thought the rooms/amenities were decent. I woudl suggest the owners make it more clear when you arrive what you should do in case issues arise. There is no staffed "front desk" after the sanctuary is closed to the public (around 3 p.m.) but I think some of the owners live on site....but we weren't told where that was in case of emergency (like when the power went out one of the days and we didn't know if it was our room or the entire site). We got to play with the baby sloths, hang with Buttercup the sloth, and took a really good tour of their facility. They have something like 100 sloths there, so it is definitely a unique experience! However, I do think you could get a pretty good "sloth experience" simply by staying in Cahuita or Puerto Viejo, and taking a day trip up to the sanctuary. We stayed two nights but I think one would probably suffice. Overall a positive experience but again, I think you could get a similar one by staying somewhere else and visiting the sloth sanctuary for a few hours.

not a luxury place but lovely setting,nice walks and great to learn more about those unusual creatures,the sloths.shame some people had negative experiences.I enjoyed my stay and seeing lovely birds and a poisonous snake(not too closely,fortunately!)

My daughter and I recently spent a week at Aviarios and we can't wait to go back to visit again. Judy, Luis, and all the other people at Aviarios made us feel like "one of the family" from the beginning. We began each morning with a delicious hot breakfast prepared by their excellent cook and a long visit with the baby sloths who have found their way into the care of these wonderful people. The accommodations are not fancy, but are very comfortable, clean, and well-maintained. The airy balcony that serves as livingroom, diningroom, and baby sloth center is probably now one of my favorite places on earth.