Albergue Heliconias Lodge — Hotel in Bijagua

I am very surprised at the 3.9/5 average rating of this hotel. I rarely write bad reviews, but don't like people traveling so far to be misled and getting so little for their money. Perhaps a bad review will force improvements on this establishment whose potential will remain unrealized until management is willing to sink more effort and more money to bring it up to par.|I went with a tour group and stayed in 8 different lodgings on this trip and this was the most problematic of the 8.|Definitely do NOT recommend||SUMMARY|no repairs on this broken down hotel|no internet|no staff available eve or night|no hot water|no A/C|large 4 inch scorpion in room and no one to call UGH||EXPLANATIONS:|Lovely locale at first sight and in photo, but no repairs have been done. |1-Curtain fell off window and as there was no chair in room I could not climb up to remount curtain rod.|2-No hot water or pressure in shower. Tiny sticker on wall says right only. What did that mean?? Apparently it meant right was hot water, but there was no hot water. Same for sink. I looked under sink and tubing to hot water was freely dangling with plug in its end. Obviously no intention of offering hot water.|3-There was an apparatus that seemed to be a dehumidifier but it was not obvious how to work it and whether it worked at all. It only blew at 77F and could not be adjusted for temp or humidity. I gave up and assumed it didn’t work.|4-My room consisted of a king, a twin, and pair of bunkbeds. Odd since I was alone, and another pair who were not a couple were assigned a single bed, which they did not want.|5-Clearly the bunk beds had not been used in a long time, because there was dirt/debris which had fallen from the ceiling onto the linen of the top bunk.|6-One couple had a FOUR INCH scorpion on their ceiling late at night, and they had no one to turn to for help. Finally our tour guide came to the rescue since obviously no hotel staff was available, not even to call.|7-My sliding door was falling off its tracks and needed two hands to unlock or open. Daylight gap between main doorframe and wall. I can see how a scorpion could get in. |8-After complaints lodged by tour leader, hotel agreed to change my room which had no hot water. So I got the vacant deluxe room. Fancy A/C and TV. Fine, the A/C was a blessing. But again NO hot water, and pipe was cut off, meaning they did not have intention of offering hot water. I turned on TV out of curiosity, but you have to put in your own Netflix password (I certainly was not going to leave my password on their system.) Worse, I did have internet in the first room, but here in the deluxe room, there was no WiFi. Neither network provided worked and yet it was less than a stone’s throw from the hotel lobby. Later I saw a lobby sign: Internet is turned off at 8:30 pm. Not very useful since we were out during the day and came back for the evenings.|9-Staff consisted of 2 very young girls who seemed inexperienced and had no supervision. They checked us in (a rather disorganized process) and served us dinner. Then they went home for the night. No one on premises all night. No warning of this and no emergency telephone number.|10-Food was the most mediocre of all the meals we had in our nearly 2 week stay in CR. It seemed like weak attempts at American food. (Perhaps the young girls cooked it.)|11- Paths to the rooms were wet and slippery. Wet I can understand being in a rain forest, but perhaps less slippery paving should be used. Adding to the danger, rooms are on a steep hillside.|12-You cannot see the path to the room or see the keyhole to your door without a flashlight at night because the light bulbs have burned out and have not been replaced.||This is no way to run a hotel. For $200+ a night and no services, no hot water, no repairs, and no internet. Someone needs to take a class in basic hotel management and hospitality. And from what I see of previous one and two star reviews, they suggest this neglect has been going on for quite a while, and they are getting away with it. Interesting location but ridiculously expensive for what you don’t get.|DO...

Bijagua is lovely and still understated--- but I can see it becoming as popular a destination as La Fortuna and Monteverde in the years to come. My friends ( a couple) and I stayed for 3 nights at this charming, clean, quiet, "albergue". My bungalow was stellar--- Ultra king size bed and giant shower were opulent for 1 person; Very comfortable and impeccably clean. My friends ended up in a family room (several beds). They had A/C. I did not. My strong fan was just fine for me. The staff is DELIGHTFUL and attentive |The ( included) breakfast portions were PLENTIFUL; dinner options were solid and fairly priced but not "haute" cuisine. ( NOT an issue for us!) Having nature trails including 3 long hanging bridges on a loop right outside the door was a huge plus. We did not see many birds nor any other wildlife but simply "forest bathing" in the primary forest was very satisfying. Just to mention, we only saw 1 eyelash pit viper snake and NO birds in the state park! |We did do a night tour--- Tapir Valley--- and our guide worked very hard to locate these remarkable creatures. SUCCESS!! It was close to full moon and clear skies...wildlife does not apparently really like these conditions. |We did enjoy an hour in the rio celeste river. The easiest public access is about 2 min. past the state park entrance. The 1 year old Blue River Brewery (restaurant) offers artisanal beer and excellent food and atmosphere at great prices. |I WOULD highly recommend the Heliconias Rainforest Lodge to anyone although there are stairs to navigate that could be hard for differently...

We were here for the Hanging Bridges Trail. It was amazing to experience the rainforest from canopy level. This tour was recommended to us by our hosts, Donald and Pippa, from Casitas Tenorio. We loved walking through the rainforest on the small winding trail. The trail is around 1.5 kilometers long and takes you inside the lush rainforest. You enter a heavily forested area that extends all around the Tenorio Volcano and is uninterrupted by human development. That is why the chances to see wildlife are very high. We saw an ant eater, howler monkeys, lots of birds and butterflies. The hanging bridges are impressive! Around 100 meters long and 35 meters high, they allow you to have a closer look at what goes on at the top of the rainforest. Epiphytes, the plants that grow on the trees, are abundant. The bromelia plants look just like pot plants perched on tree branches. In the distance we could see Lake Nicaragua with it's distinctive volcanoes in the middle. The view is breathtaking! Looking down you can try spotting animals through the dense vegetation. On the way back we saw the tapir's favourite tree, the Jicaro Danto, that has low hanging fruits that look like cucumbers, and nearby we saw fresh tapir marks. After the walk we stopped and had a really nice lunch back at the lodge. I highly recommend this experience if you find yourself...