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.

This was a lovely place, but a little off the beaten path. You need an SUV type vehicle to negotiate the incredibly bumpy steep roads. We saw the volcano briefly when we arrived but after that the weather didn't co-operate. The mists set in, then very heavy rain.

The rooms were quite nice with big windows; the hosts were very gracious; and the food was quite good and reasonable. Yes, the lights are dim but they use a waterfall for their power, after all. It just adds atmosphere to the place. They also have a very friendly Golden Retriever who adopted us for our stay.

If you have a sturdy vehicle and time to wait for the weather to clear, this is a very unique place.

Prepare to be secluded in a rain forest. No phone, no TV, no grocery store.
The staff was friendly. Our hostess walked outside to meet us as we drove up. Her English was as bad as my Spanish. However, we did get through the check-in process and made dinner reservations (it's the only place around for dinner unless you want to drive 30 minutes, one way, over a bumpy, unpaved road into the village of Santa Elena).
Our room had recently been varnished, so the strong odor was still present. We stayed in one of the suites. It was clean with private shower. From the room we could see Lake Arenal and the Arenal Volcano when the clouds moved away.
The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is just a couple of miles away. We went and stayed all day. Didn't get to Monteverde Cloud Forest. I understand that you see the same things at Santa Elena that there is at Monteverde, only less crowded at Santa Elena.
The hotel has their own hiking trail on the property.
Electricity at the lodge is provided by a diesel powered generator in the dry season (hydroelectric in wet season from their own waterfall). The power is shut off a 10pm and on again at 630am. Lighting is very dim, hard to read brochures or books.
Careful with the hot water. Get the water warm, get wet, turn off the water and soap-up. Then, turn water on and rinse, quickly. Hot water runs out quickly.
Dinner - I don't think we got our $12 worth. Expensive for gallo-pinto with chicken or shrimp. The second night we made sandwiches from our food stock for dinner.
The complimentary breakfast was plentiful and good. Bowl of granola with milk, eggs to order, gallo-pinto, fresh fruit of bananas, pineapple, papaya, and mango, juice and coffee.
I'm glad we stayed for the experience and views.

I hate to bash, especailly considering that we own a B&B but...this place would be great if they charged half the price. At about $100/night for the 3 of us I consider the accomodations to be really poor. As everyone stated the views are truely amazing, we were so psyched upon driving up and seeing Arenal from the cloud forest, this feeling quickly vanished when we were shown to our "Deluxe Suite". Not only was it incredibly dingy with black mold on the ceiling, no lights, paper thin curtains, sheets & towels but the beds which were typical Costa Rician platform style, didn't have a platform just a few slats!!! Ther are no hooks to hang things, no chairs outside our room (I had to take some from another area) and only one night stand. The bathroom rug was just gross and we didn't have hot water until I asked someone. He then went behind the cabin & did something that should have been done prior to our arrival. The walls are paper thin, we heard people 2 doors down like they were next to us, the floors are warped & dirty. The breakfast was ok, good fruit but if you want water, you pay for it! Dinner was also ok but overpriced by Costa Rica standards. The kicker is that although upon reserving the room they say they take credit cards (but prefer cash) they have signs in you room saying that they unfortunatly don't accept credit cards at this time. We complained and were told we could in fact pay w/credit cards at the local supermarket. When we went to pay they tried to put a 10% service fee on top! Again we complained & the nice guy at the super market called them and they waived the fee.
The trail to the waterfall is not for the average tourist, it is very steep and of very poor construction. I build trails in Vermont and have to say that they broke every rule for sustainable trail building. I doubt they will last more then 2 years. They view which is spectacular is due to a huge clear cut in front of the cabins..not so eco friendly.

Again if we paid $40/night I would have no complaints. There are plenty of nice places in Santa Elena & Monte Verde.