Hotel Villa Tucán — Hotel in La Fortuna

I am a life-long avid bird watcher and this place just blew my mind.It is an oasis in the middle of Fortuna suburbs, an old farm, and the owner family has left tall trees, a banana grove, fruit trees and a lot of shrubs so that the grounds really are a “mini jungle”. However, birding here is magnitudes better than in a dense jungle because the semi-open woodland with taller trees scattered among clearings and bushes offers more variable surroundings and better sighting opportunities. ||We spent 4-5 days on the Tucan grounds, as we made a couple of day trips during this Costa Rica visit (our 5th). Had I known how fantastic birding Villa Tucan offers, I would have skipped one of these other activities. During that short time, I identified 67 species of birds at Villa - and of course a lot of sightings went unidentified. I used Merlin’s sound app for Costa Rican birds and took photos with my eternally old pocket camera, so that I was able to afterwards identify my sightings using the big bird guide book of “Birds of Costa Rica”. With my humble camera which has minimal zoom I got so amazing photos that I got really excited about taking more and more, although photography is not one of my hobbies- I just enjoy seeing and listening to birds. ||Villa Tucan is true to its name. One species of toucans nests on the yard and I saw three! species of toucans (the chestnut mandibilled, keel billed and collared aracaris) on the grounds. The keel billed and chestnut mandibilled were hanging around every morning and afternoon. Two species of hummingbirds lived in the garden. Brilliant colored honey creepers, euphonias and tanagers were like bright jewels among the green foliage. Red lored parrots and orange-chinned parakeets visited. There were 6 species of orioles (counting in the two species of oropendolas), 6 species of tanagers and 10 species of flycathcers. I was able to identify only 4 species of warblers- a lot went unidentified or unnoticed among the constant new sightings. The Costa Rican national bird, the humble appearing clay-colored thrushes. buff-throated saltators and melodious blackbirds were singing.||The lush garden had fruit trees and flowers to attract birds and Bernice’s father had platform bird feeders where he set up bananas. The bird traffic was amazing and the most beautiful sight was a big group of brilliant blue honey creepers having a feast. The garden had a little waterfall which also attracted a variety of birds. The garden melted into the semi-open forest where I saw a blue-crowned motmot! and a bright white masked tityira. A big group of chachalacas graced in front of our house.||There are currently 3 guest houses, 2 apartments in each. Our room was excellent and the beds and pillows very comfortable. The area is secure: there is a big metal gate which opens with a combination lock. On the other side of the road were 3 breakfast places. One is a “highly rated” but very crowded tourist spot; we preferred the two local ones. Just across the road was a superb Italian restaurant which made their own pasta. The pizzas were fantastic. There is an “upper scale” Peruvian restaurant next block. Plus, Villa Tucan has a fully equipped community kitchen if you want to make your cooking. We had some breakfasts on our porch.||You don’t need to rent a car: there is a minimarket and laundry about hundred yards away and a supermarket at about a t mile’s distance. When going to night frog watching tours or the hot springs, you can take a taxi. If you take day trips, the companies pick you up.||I cannot wait to go...

I was drawn to this place because of the good reviews but, unfortunately, my experience was not too good. We arrived at 10pm due to the traffic jams in San José and Berenice was very understanding about that. However, she gave us the keys upon arrival, took the money and didn't explain anything else (at all) about the area or even gave us the Wi-Fi password, which we had to get from other guests as we never saw her again at the main hut or anywhere around. There was a strong smell of dampness in the bedroom when we got in which didn't go away throughout our stay, even though we kept the windows open. Someone came into our room the second day, while we were away, to take a bedside table and another stool away. They didn't made up the room though. I would have appreciated if they had let us know that they were going to enter the room while we were away. The walls are very thin. Our neighbours were really loud until late during two nights, with music, videocalls and laughing really loudly until 2am and you could hear absolutely everything. The garden is beautiful and the pool is very good. The hot tub water is not hot, just warm. Hence, unfortunately, we were disappointed with the customer service and...

Our stay at Villa Tucan was fantastic. We wished we could have stayed longer! We had 2 rooms as we weren't sure our tall teenage girls (16 & 13 yrs) would happily share the second bed in our room. We were probably right, but if your children are younger and/or happy to share, one room is definitely spacious enough for a family of 4. The rooms are lovely - well decorated/furnished and very clean, and the covered patio is a great place to sit outside and take in the wildlife. The communal area & kitchen is a fantastic place to sit in the evening and the kitchen has everything you need to make a meal. The pool and jacuzzi are very relaxing, set in beautiful grounds. The whole site was idyllic!

We didn't meet Berenice as she gave us clear instructions on how to gain access to the site and our rooms, and we had no problems so we had no need to contact her. But her messages before our arrival were always efficient and helpful.

We would definitely stay here again and we would recommend...