Sangregado Lodge — Hotel in La Fortuna

We were so excited about staying at Sangregado based on the pics and reviews. Sadly, our experience did not live up to those expectations. ||Francisco and Luis were wonderful hosts and helpful with recommendations, reservations, and general assistance. The villas are lovely with amazing views of the rainforest and the volcano (but it’s covered by clouds most of the time). The grounds are exquisitely gorgeous, and the villas are perfectly nestled in the rainforest. ||The issues:||Location The property is directly across from hanging bridges park which creates a lot of traffic. As mentioned before, there is no restaurant or other amenities on-site, so avoiding that traffic bottleneck is impossible. ||Website description This is not a lodge. There are no amenities on-site. Breakfast is included in your stay, but you have to drive or take a shuttle (that you have to reserve) down the mountain to the Lost Iguana’s restaurant. Had we known just that one thing, we would have stayed at the Lost Iguana!||Villa 13 |- The website description said there is a hammock on the balcony from which I imagined myself enjoying morning coffee and a great view. There is no hammock. When we inquired about it, we were told that there’s nothing to hang it from, which is true. There were no chairs either, which basically made the balcony useless. So why does the description say there’s a hammock?||- The website shows a full size refrigerator in the villa photo. The refrigerator in the room is actually dorm-size. So… no restaurant on site and no way to refrigerate provisions that you bring so you have to leave to get food. This was especially problematic when it rained hard for six straight hours. The last thing we wanted to do was drive in the torrential rain at night in Costa Rica. ||- Though the bathroom does have a lovely view, the top of the window is actually a screen and bugs get into the villa. Mosquitos, spiders, beetles, etc. we had to keep the bathroom door closed. The screen also created humidity in the room which prevented our towels from drying. The bathroom was soaked after the torrential downpour. ||- Internet. My husband and I are both self employed and rely on stable internet to stay in touch with our offices. It was completely unreliable, despite the claim of high-speed internet on the website. Seriously maddening. | |- Television/cable. We're not big TV watchers, but with all the rain, we decided to give it a try—and quickly regretted it. The setup was incredibly frustrating, involving two remote controls and a ridiculously complicated process just to get to cable TV. Audio and video rarely worked together, and every single time we managed to get it running, we ended up having to unplug the cable box to reset it—sometimes even in the middle of a show. Clear instructions could have made a world of difference, but none were provided. This system desperately needs streamlining or, at the very least, a simple guide to avoid the endless trial and error. Also maddening. ||Overall, we were disappointed, but we are an active couple and seek high-adventure vacations. Though we appreciate rest and relaxation, we like more to do than hang out and look at the volcano (from our bed since there are no chairs on the balcony). It wasn’t a home-run for us, but it is the perfect getaway for nature lovers who are seeking rest and relaxation without the need for reliable internet, tv, or easily...

Like anything in life, experiences are often informed by expectations. I booked this location for our anniversary and specifically picked the junior king suite hoping to make the occasion special. Unfortunately, after 10 hours of travel, when we arrived we were given a standard double room and informed that the room I booked had been double booked on another website. We were comped 2 passes to mystico Park even though I had paid more for the suite. Fine. Unfortunately, №4 villa is the 2nd from the parking lot to mystico. You can hear the engines of shuttles busses coming and going. We were also jarred awake our 1st morning by construction on the villa right next to us. So all in all, not super peaceful or romantic. Beyond this mix up, there are some details that should simply be made clear on their website so you can make a decision as to whether this is the right place for you. The resort is in/next to the mystico park, so quite a few people around, though you don't see them from your Vila. The 'included' breakfast is either at the cafeteria for the mystico park, which isn't anything special, or in the Hotel Iguana. I naively assumed that breakfast was somewhere on location. I had sought additional info from the Lodge about breakfast and was told 'it could be served in the restaurant or the room'. The info missing is that the 'restaurant', which has the better breakfast, it's at hotel Iguana which is a 20 min walk up and down a very steep hill. Not easy to do in a downpour or for those with mobility issues. A shuttle can take you there for 10US, but then, is it really 'included'? I think if you're including breakfast you should be clear that you'll need to hike, or pay for a shuttle. Otherwise, the staff were friendly, the concierge was very responsive via messaging and helped us arrange transport, the rooms were clean, the views are nice. But, for us, it was one unexpected thing after another that dampened our experience. At least if we'd gotten the room we'd booked, we could have started our vacation on the right foot, and more detailed info about the other things would have informed our expectations. For us, we will likely go somewhere else next time. This just wasn't the romantic stay we had planned and hoped for when we booked...

Loved our stay!||Villa 1 had everything we needed! The space was wonderful and the beautiful! So much peace! Two bedrooms and two bathrooms. A King in one room and 2 queens in the other bedroom. ||The housekeeping staff were amazing and provided us with excellent service. Villa 1 was always stocked and when we needed anything either housekeeping or reception immediately took care of it. The cost was worth the value of our stay.||Breakfast at the Lost Iguana was fantastic! It was an easy drive, and we were well cared for. Delicious! The pool at the Lost Iguana was very nice. We only used it once, but I have no complaints and the staff were wonderful. ||The Sangregado Lodge staff are the true superstars. Everyone was fantastic and went out of their way to take care of us. We have so much respect for this staff. Everyone went above and beyond to take care of us. Every single recommendation was spot on. Staff understood our family and our needs. Every recommendation for tours and restaurants exceeded our expectations. ||The staff helped surprise my daughter with a birthday celebration that gave her so much joy. The signed and laminated birthday wishes were such a personal touch that she will cherish it forever!||Special shoutout to two of your staff persons: Francisco and Luis! They simply spoiled us! Both were filled with knowledge about their region, restaurants and activities! Both took the time to talk about La Fortuna, the volcano, local customs, food, history, and the best routes to get to anywhere. Francisco gave us EXCELLENT recommendations on where to eat (Tiquicia Restaurant was a huge hit!). Luis gave us a wonderful account of a sloth tour that exceeded our expectations - Callidryas Tours). If this is not one of your normal tours, consider adding it to the list. Amazing! And we saw seven sloths in their natural habitat!!||The Lodge is across the parking lot from Mistico Hanging Bridges. Another great recommendation!||So much wild life around the Lodge too! We saw a capuchin monkey, a wild boar, a Tucan, so many birds, lizards and other animals while sitting on our deck. ||If you want a villa right in the rainforest, quiet, individual villa and phenomenal staff -...