From the website, my girlfriend and I were very much looking forward to our time at the Eco Lodge, and were happy to pay a relatively large sum of our budget towards the accomodation and activities in advance. On arrival, it was clear that all was not as had been promised. We were met by a man who spoke no English, and forced to pay for the transfer which was meant to have been included in the price we had already paid. The room we stayed in was dank, and the towels and sheets had clearly not been changed prior to our arrival. In fact, they were not changed throughout our brief stay, nor was our bin emptied. The room was dusty and covered in cobwebs. There was no running warm water, and all of our clothes by the end of our stay were damp from just being in the room. We were also not supplied with a bed net, and only managed to acquire a spare from one of the other guests. There was no fridge, coffee machine or safety deposit box, all of which were promised on the website. We were promised on the website buffet meals, in fact we ate what we were given for breakfast and dinner. Towards the end of our stay (we did leave a night early), the police had to be called to deal with a drunk local, who was the same person who met us on the first day (but according to the owner, did not work at the Lodge) because he was threatening the owner with a machate. The final straw was when the owner cancelled a trip we had organised for ourselves without telling us. We moved out of the Lodge after this, and stayed a night in Drake Bay. Since then, we have voiced our compalints with the owners, and they agreed to refund us $250. This has still not been received, and I am now unable to get any sort of response from them.

Please, if you do anything in Costa Rica, do not spoil what will no doubt be a wonderful trip by staying at this lodge. It will leave you frustrated, disappointed and feeling ripped off!

This was our trip of a lifetime, 5 weeks to the wildlife paradise of Costa rica to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Getting to the Osa pensinsula from Sierpe by water taxi was the beginning of what we thought would be THE place to be, in one of the Top End hotels for Corcovado.
Meeting Carlos off the boat we embarked on the 4x4 trip to the lodge. When we arrived we were shown to our room - which was little more than a rotting shed. The wooden bed frame had termites building up each leg, and running across the doorway. The bamboo walls were wet and rotten, and the wall behind our bed was so mouldy that breathing in spores all night made your chest sore. The shower was a dripping pipe, we told Carlos that it was cold and he apparently fixed it by messing with some wires outside. It was warm for a few minutes, when I tried to adjust the temperature on the shower head I got an electric shock!! We did have a fridge and coffee maker that both worked, but had to ask for the items to make a drink. we love all wildlife, even creepy crawlies but the holes in the walls for things to get in were slightly alarming. The mosquito netting around the top of the shed was broken in several places, the bathroom sink was not attached to the wall and closing the door to the bathroom caused the whole wall to move! We were supplied with a mozzie net over the bed although it was filthy and full of holes. Everything smelt damp. We were so disappointed and couldn't believe we actually had to sleep in there!
We had paid for 3 nights with the 4th night free but wanted to leave immediately.
To top it all, in the morning we were told that we had only paid half (to Marna, Carlos's wife who actually lives in Canada) and Carlos was expecting us to pay another $465 !!
We couldn't believe that they wanted nearly $1000 for less quality lodgings than most hostels, this did include some pre-booked tours. After telling Carlos that we couldn't pay that, he cut out 2 tours and we stayed 3 nights only - but we still had to pay another $180 on top of the $465 pre-paid to Marna. We were basically trapped as we couldn't get off the island without Carlos arranging it. We were well and truely conned out of a lot of money.
The open-plan restaurant was great as all insects could join us and we could hear all the sounds of the jungle - Carlos's tales of Pumas and Jaguars, and the frightened cat that was recovering from a Puma attack made for exciting evenings. When I asked for black tea I was given a packet of very mouldy teabags!! However, when I showed Carlos he did come back from the village with a new box. The lady and her children that cooked and brought our meals could not do enough for us, the food was an acquired taste and we were starving after two days.
A meager sandwich and banana supplied for an all day excursion was less than expected for $70 per day for all meals.
The two tours we did were all day horse-back riding , through muddy trails, knee-deep river crossings and along the beach front where the horses drank seawater! The other was an all day trek through the jungle with Carlos - this was rainforest of the purest form, it was a shame that it poured with rain all day so no animals were seen but we did expect rain in October.
It is fair to say that Carlos did everything he could to make the best of a bad job, we talked for hours about the locality, tales of jungle animals, his life and family, and we had very mixed feelings by the end of our stay. We do feel that we really experienced life in the jungle - more basic would only have come from a tent!
When you look at the website for the Eco Lodge it sounds fantastic, notice though that there are no photos of the lodge. The Lonely Planet guide bills this accommodation as Top End - it is way overpriced and was by far the worst accommodation and facilities we experienced on this 5 week adventure in Costa Rica. If you had paid $10 a night you would expect this type of place, we certainly would not recommend it to all but the most intrepid of explorers. Certainly an experience we won't forget.

Travelers Beware: We paid well in advance for seven nights and were offered one free night for a total booking of eight nights. We knew immediately upon arrival we would never make it the full distance, but stuck it out for four nights primarily due to the challenges of locating and arranging other accommodations from this remote location. Our major reasons for leaving early were:

* The operator's website purposely contains a number of misrepresentations and key omissions. The cabinas are crude and primitive and both the cabinas and the wooden walkways are in poor condition. There are no box springs on the beds, just a mattress thrown over some ill-fitting boards. Advertised amenities such as a mini-bar and clock radio are pure fantasy and we were only brought the promised coffee maker and small refrigerator after we made it an issue. A book in the cabina warns to shake out any shoes left inside to make sure no scorpions have crawled in. Such accommodations are fine if accurately represented, but a rate of $140/a night for backpacker-style digs not disclosed as such is gouging and it is dishonest. Far superior accommodations are available for less money in the village.
* This location is not in a rain forest as touted. The compound is in a grove of second growth trees (former pasture) surrounded by pastureland. The dominant animal species for miles are of the barnyard variety. We experienced more wildlife in the village of Drake Bay in the same time frame than we did out here.
* The location is very inconvenient, requiring for two people a $40 to $60 round trip taxi fare to access the beach and most of the area's tours. We stayed in Drake Bay for 11 days after leaving here and took several other taxis. The driver used by this operation is Bolivar and he is substantially more expensive than any of the other drivers in this area. This indicates Carlos is not doing a good job of cost control for the client and may be in cahoots with the taxi driver. We are absolutely convinced he is.
* There is no public phone for miles and across a river so that all incoming and outgoing communication is controlled by Carlos, who is often absent. When he calls for a taxi, he calls his own very expensive guy. When we asked to use a phone to make other arrangements, we were told variously that his cell phone was "broken" or was "left" someplace else. We eventually got assistance through the use of his phone, but Carlos initially called a lodge other than the one we wanted to talk with. He called someone who likely pays him a referral fee for sending them his unhappy customers, a not uncommon event. A young couple from Florida who left a few days after we did was so desperate to escape they walked the roughly three miles to Drake Bay with fully loaded backpacks and had to wade the river with them.
* As they have so few guests to share the costs, most tours and especially tours requiring boats are uncompetitive relative to those of Drake Bay operators.

Cleaner, less costly and more convenient lodging is available in Drake Bay, all with access to the area's best tours. If you want to hike in the Corcovado from the Los Planes Ranger Station, there are excellent guides who can bring you out in a taxi from Drake Bay more cost-effectively than staying out in the cow pastures of Los Planes. If you want to do the canopy tour, those operators will provide your transportation to and from your accommodation in Drake Bay.

Disclosure Note: We wrote a complaint letter to Marna, who now lives in Canada, requesting the return of our money for the three nights lodging we did not use explaining our reasons for leaving early in great detail. We even sent her photographs of the rat inhabiting our cabina and the rat droppings on her sheets. We also explained we had no hot water in the shower until the end of the third day of our stay, a great inconvenience in a hot and sweaty tropical climate. She has never acknowledged our request and has kept the full $1,060 we had paid her, even though we only stayed four nights. As they require cash payment in advance and do not take Visa, we have no recourse to recover our money from this dishonest operator.

The area is what is advertised, but the facilities are not quite.
The jungles of Corcovado are definately off the beaten track and if you are looking for wilderness this is a great destination. The snorkeling we did was a highlight of the trip. A private beach with macaws flying in and out and even an eagle ray.

Carlos' sister was a wonderful hostess at the meals. She even did our laundry for us and gave me a class on how to make fresh fruit juice.

I expected rustic and got it. I didn't need to have four used bars of soap in the shower and a large hairball in the drain. When I told Calos about having no hot water it was not a big deal, but he said he would take care of it for three days, but did not. A cold shower in the hot jungle is a refreshing experience. I asked before coming if I needed to bring fins for snorkeling and was told that they had them. I was told again at the lodge that they had them and when we got to the beach Carlos said he did not bring them because they were too small (for both me and my wife?)

The lodge is on a dirt road with several small homes nearby, not exactly on the edge of the forest. When we arrived we asked about bird watching nearby and we were advised to walk up and down the dirt road. They do own a section of old forest across the road, but we were not really invited to go out on our own there. The trails are not well established or marked, so it is best to trek with Carlos as we did on our third day.

All in all they are getting a good start, but not yet as polished on the little things that would make it a more pleasant and memorable experience. Regular cleaning and maintenance would help. Marking and/or mapping a short loop trail on their property would allow visitors a chance to go out a little on their own when they don't have anything else planned. Carlos' sister is a sweetheart and I couldn't recommend any improvements!

Good luck as you grow.