Celeste Mountain Lodge — Hotel in Bijagua

We stayed with my family (3 boys 17,15, 5) stayed here early August 21'. The hotel is situated on the mountain in the rainforest. The view is absolutely stunning and completely private. The lodge is owned and hosted by the most amazing and interesting French man named Joel, who made us feel welcome, and helped us with our entire stay. It is entirely eco-friendly and open to the environment. You can't help but pick your jaw off the floor as you gawk and stare in awe at the surrounding rainforest mountains around you while sipping your coffee or other beverages. Be certain to arrange to eat meals at the lodge if possible. Their chef is absolutely amazing and special efforts are made to provide delicious and fantastically presented food. The grounds around the lodge you may wander which are loaded to the gills with birds and a huge meticulously groomed garden. It is really something to behold. Birders rejoice!, you're sitting in a hot spot to view 100s of new species around you. It is truly special. The location is ideal for the are for day and night trips. Their rain forest night hikes in the area is literally across the road from its entrance and we saw everything you can imagine you'd ever want to see in the rainforest, (frogs, snakes, insects, reptiles, and other birds and animals). Set up a hike with their local recommended naturalist guides to take you. (a local named Marlon was amazing). The Sloth Sanctuary tour in town in just down the road a mile and is also excellent. Lastly, Rio Celeste Waterfall in just a couple of miles up the road and you'll be able to sneak out and be the first on the trail and only one to enjoy the trail and waterfall and river before the rest of the tourists ruin..., ahem....arrive. The rooms are comfortable and clean. You will want to spend the majority of your time in the common lobby areas and outside because they are so beautiful and Joel and his staff are fantastic to talk to. We left wishing we'd have stayed here much longer than we did and we can't wait to return. The entire world melts away when you are here and you'll understand why when you get there. I can recommend this place enough and we are so thankful to have discovered and enjoyed the hospitality of Joel (and his bottles of Rose' ;) at the Celeste...

The food is insanely overpriced, and the quality of the food is all style no substance - well presented but the cooking itself is the low end of average at best (chicken and pork overcooked, steak undercooked).

The food is served in a communal dining style, however you are forced to sit on shared benches with no back support - which is a problem if, like my wife, you have had back surgery. She also found the bed incredibly uncomfortable, and she struggled with back pain in the morning - this only really happens when the bed provides little to no back support.

The shower is so slippery I went flying the second I stepped inside for the first time, hurting my back. We were told by the manager that they had never had this problem before, but then the owner told us it had happened a few times before - contradicting each other. My wife and I both agreed that the shower was so unsafe (especially for someone with existing back problems), that it was unsafe to use and we didn't shower throughout our stay. The owner said that smooth floor tiles with no mat was used because rough floor tiles and mats are unhygienic according to the WHO, however rough floor tiles are used throughout the entire rest of the room.

We asked for a soft drink at the bar on day one to be told rudely by the owner "we don't serve soft drinks, you clearly haven't read the booklet in your room" - no we haven't, but then we've only been in the room for 2 minutes. They claim the reason no soft drinks are served is due to difficulties recycling, yet various types of alcohol also in glass bottles are served, so this makes no sense at all.

The owner was generally just consistently rude, making sarcastic remarks and clearly not caring at all. He also reacted very defensively to any criticism, inventing excuses - just as he has also done to all of the even vaguely negative...

This is a small boutique eco-friendly hotel high on a hillside with very personal service and useful advice from the owner. The view from rooms is fantastic - we were lucky to be allocated the "honeymooners room" even without them knowing it was our wedding anniversary, though our daughter's room was also very comfortable! We had dinner on two evenings and found the food both good value and excellent, as it largely uses local ingredients, though many items had a French twist, reflecting the chef's nationality.|We also liked the well-lit lounge area (that overlooks and blends into the gardens and trail), both for reading and socialising. |We also opted to go to the recommended Chocolate Tour and found it excellent - our daughter had done one in Colombia and found this more informative and very good value. Sadly we missed going on the recommended Bird Watching tour, only managing to do one in Monte Verde (though many birds are naturally different).|The trek to Rio Celeste and the waterfall in Tenorio National Park is well worth it. We entered shortly after opening time at 8 a.m., when the wildlife (coatees, tapirs, and numerous varieties of birds) had not yet been scared away...