We stayed in the new building, which has four spacious rooms which are unfortunately bare. There was no bedside table, let alone a lamp to read by in bed. The room also lacked even one side chair----odd in a place where you overlook a vista which is presumably spectacular (we were there during the rainy season).

The property is truly remote, and if you plan to drive back at night after dinner go easy on the wine. The road is a rough one, but not really any worse than the main road from Monteverde down to Highway #1.

The people running the place are very nice and try to be helpful, but one has the feeling that they lack experience.

OK - good news first. The Costa Rican couple who run the hotel are extremely pleasant and obliging and do their best with what they've got. The view is as advertized - spectacular.
However, there are some significant problems with this hotel! I can confirm other reviews that the walls are very thin and in fact the buildings are quite old and of entirely wood construction, giving lots of dark crevices which, unfortunately, provide lovely hidey-holes for insect life - we found several very large cockroaches in both our rooms. I'm not implying the place is dirty - this is the tropics where bugs are a fact of life and if I'd been staying in a hostel or a backcountry cabin I wouldn't have commented - but this is supposed to be a superior hotel. I can also confirm that the rooms are very dark and gloomy and it's very difficult to read in the evening. The food is OK, but very limited - we were offered a choice of pasta or a casado the night we arrived.

The other problem is the remoteness. We liked the idea of privacy and getting away from the crowd, but the road is extremely rough and a drive that is pleasant enough in the day is an absolute nightmare in the dark when it's raining and the clouds are right down giving limited visibility, which is just about a given in the rainy season. There are lots of great evening activities available in Santa Elena - night hikes, the ranarium, a nice range of restaurants - but then we were faced with the desperate drive back (we really didn't want to eat at the lodge more than once and it was a bit grim spending an evening out there). The view is only a compensation in the dry season - we were there in the wet season and only had one clear night with a view of Arenal.

Leaving the view aside, this is a very basic hotel and very overpriced. It needs some significant investment to bring the accomodations up to an acceptable level.

This is the perfect place to stay if you want to get away from it all! It is a 30 min. drive from downtown Santa Elena. Don't let this hold you back, though, because EVERYTHING is a long drive on the gravel mountain roads of Costa Rica. You could stay closer to downtown, and have no view except the road and other hotels, or you can stay here in the midst of nature all around. This is one of the only hotels in Santa Elena with a view of the Volcan Arenal.

Ok, so yes, the sheets are a little damp if you go there during the rainy season. But it is a CLOUD FOREST, people. This means you are literally in the clouds, which are damp. The place doesn't have air conditioning (which would draw out the moisture) because it is nice and cool even in the middle of summer. Bring your jeans and a jacket.

The staff are amables, bonitos (nice & wonderful)! I think the problem that some people may have faced is that the staff are not 100% fluent in English. They are proficient and can tell you what you need to know. I am proficient (not fluent) in Spanish, so together, we could understand each other very well and became friends. (Also, it breaks the ice when you're willing to try to speak their language.) Spanish helps a lot but is not necessary to stay here and communicate effectively with the staff. The are very helpful.

And no, the chimneys do not work, unfortunately. Part of the problem is that the wood is so wet it doesn't really burn, it smokes. Again, you will be staying in a cloud, what can you expect, really?

Do the horseback ride to the Lake!!! It was fabulous!!! But the horseman doesn't know any English (I taught him "right" and "left"). But he will get you where you need to go. The horses are the best trained horses I have ever seen. He has them on voice command.

No electricity at night, but they have candles for you. Very romantic! And honestly, if you want to go on a nature adventure like us, it is not a problem. The sun is only up from 5:30 AM- 6:00 PM, so if you want to make the most of your visit, get up at 6, go to sleep at 10, so having no power after 10 is not a big deal at all. If you want to party, this is not the place for you. If you want to relax, there is nothing like it.

Overpriced accommodations. Rooms were dark and damp, thin exterior and interior walls.

Stayed here towards the end of our two week vacation and had hoped to spend a little more and pamper ourselves... this was not the place to do that. I'm not sure how they justify charging over $90 a night here. BTW they only accept cash and if pressed will take travelers checks though they did give us a hard time about some of our signatures not matching exactly—despite watching me sign several of them.