Hotel Cerro Lodge — Hotel in Lagunillas

DO NOT STAY AT THIS HOTEL! Not only the worst display of hospitality in Costa Rica but hands down, the most horrendous experience of any hotel I have ever stayed in globally. Price wise, this hotel is a premium particularly for Costa Rica yet the way you are treated by the manager is aggressive, condescending, rude, and obnoxious. It all started with us arriving to the hotel and being given a queen room that had not been cleaned, beds clearly slept in, not to mention the used sanitary towels strewn on the bathroom side. The staff member was apologetic and gave us a new room which was a downgrade with no reduction of price which was disappointing, but by no means the end of the world. We then went for food which took an age to arrive and when it did, came out one at a time where each of us in turn had finished before the next arrived. Bread was grey as if it had been wiped on the floor, the burgers were so hard we couldn’t even eat them, the chef was seen collected wood and smoking in the same gloves he was cooking with. This lead us to refuse to pay given the state of the food and the insanitary nature it appeared to had been prepared in. Throughout this, the waitress who was lovely was being instructed in a clearly aggressive manner to deal with us by her manager who never once made any attempt to resolve any issue directly. Sometime later, we had a knock on our door by the manager and a mob of kitchen staff demanding payment for the food. I explained the experience only to be told “pay, or I’ll call the police”. After trying to defuse the situation, the manager got more and more irate swearing at us, being physically intimidating and also threatened to debit my card on file for “any figure I like”. We asked to leave and be refunded for the room, this was refused. We asked to have the bill for the food discounted, this was refused. Just to keep the peace we paid the bill in full in cash and shortly after the manager left (who we could hear screaming in the distance). Instantly, we realised we had no proof of the payment as it was in cash and went up to the restaurant to get a receipt where we were told “I’m calling the police you foreign *” still all the time screaming in our faces. Needless to say, although we paid be the room and breakfast, we left that evening and instead lodged at a really nice homestay just up the road. Please, please, please, do not stay at this hotel, it’s beyond awful how this place is run with no care for customers or staff, it truly was the worst display of human behaviour I’ve even seen in the hospitality...

We were very disappointed with our experience here. Things started great with good hospitality and an easy check in, but went downhill from there. Our room had no view (in spite of paying for a premium suite) and backed up to an old vacated building. The room had a hole around the shower water control that meant a steady stream of ants came in. The trails are non existent anymore and have not been maintained. The pool had biting insects in it. They fed the macaws which was nice but the feeding station for other birds was lackluster and not what it use to be. They also fed the monkeys which might seem nice but can lead to very bad behaviors and is discouraged.

We were told on check in that breakfast was included but then on the last day we were told we needed to pay very rudely and after we had ordered (and left most of our food behind because it was very dry and clearly had been left on the griddle for a few hours - likely they cooked it at the start of the breakfast period and left it on for the duration). They also dug a bill for breakfast out of the trash from the first day as well. I understand that they made a mistake and breakfasts weren't included but we would not have eaten there given the poor food and high prices. We only ate there because they had said it was included. If you make a mistake like that you should own it and not put it on us.

Overall you can get a lot more for your money and I wouldn't recommend staying here as is no longer the birders paradise it once was, some of the staff are very rude, they will do a bait and switch, and the grounds and rooms are mediocre at best (oh yeah they also hold you hostage to "check your room" when you go to check out....

Overall a very good stay. There was no evidence of the viewing tower other reviews mentioned, maybe it fell down. The view from the restaurant is amazing and you don't really have to be eating there - they don't care if people just hang out birdwatching. Yes, they feed the macaws (they claim they're rescued pets unable to make it on their own, maybe that's true? they did have a band on their feet), and in the morning you're pretty much certain of a sighting. Lots of other birds too to be seen. . No monkeys but pretty sure we heard them on our roof. The pool was always clean and inviting except for after a heavy rain when it got dirty. The room was good with strong AC, the bathroom's a little odd with a "missing wall" that is replaced by shrubs/fence-like thing that gives 95% privacy. Mosquitoes didn't seem too bad even though it's open to the outside. There is a coffee maker in the room. THe restaurant has very good pizza, $15 - $20 per person (ouch). Drinks are pricey, $4 for a coke. Might want to stay away from the kids meals, we met a family where 2 people got food poisoning and were pretty sure it was from the kids meal.

The breakfast is good, standard rice/beans/eggs/fruit and some hot dog meat like thing. We were there at opening and lounged around for 3 hours just slowly eating multiple rounds of breakfast and watching the birds, a very relaxing morning.

Wifi was pretty weak in the room, but we set up a repeater just outside and that...