El Remanso Rainforest Lodge — Hotel in Puerto Jiménez

Wow - I had a 7 out of 5 star experience! El Remanso really matches the epitome of luxury lodges anywhere in the world, such as the top properties operated by Oberoi or Taj. Where do I begin... I was wowed by the stylishness and comfort of my room (more below), loved the pool, and fell in love with the setting deep in the rainforest, seeing and hearing the Pacific Ocean in the background, and experiencing the fauna and flora in daily walks. Yet the two most outstanding features were the people and the food.

I learned in the introduction of the hotel in the in-room hotel guide that it is a local family business hiring only locals from the Osa península. The experience, however, was the best I've ever had. Everything comes from people's heart - they not only are most professional (as they must be trained extremely well) but everything they do seems to come from a deep desire to make their guests happy. For example, the driver who picked me up from the airport already tried to spot animals to show me during the 1-hour drive to the lodge, stopping along the way where he found some. They offer "at least" one guided tour every day and they actually arranged two for me every day even though some were private tours as I was the only guest that had requested certain tours during my stay. At the same time, when I asked about one of the paid tours mentioned in their list of tour options, they told me that given the length of my stay, they would recommend that I focus on their free tours which they honestly considered the best choices! Which other hotel would intentionally forgo a chance to generate some extra commission only to give the best possible experience to the guest?

The food was just as outstanding. In spite of the small number of guests during the rainy season, they offer a choice of about 10 different dishes for every meal. They not only have different menus for lunch and dinner but also alternate daily between two completely different sets of menus, thus giving you endless choices even for long stays. You furthermore can request changes to every dish - e.g., making the meat and fish dishes vegetarian or even vegan, or adding some animal protein to the many vegetarian/vegan dishes. Every dish was incredibly delicate - innovative, delicious, and beautifully presented. In addition, they had an amazing cocktail menu, matching the food in creativeness and flawless execution. If the Guide Michelin ever passed through El Remanso, I would assume that their Bib Gourmand would be a given.

The room was beautiful and stylish. It was really large, and I loved my private outside shower. Everything was so thoughtful. The lodge consciously has chosen to produce all its electricity itself with solar and hydro power, and in order to conserve energy, it doesn't have air conditioning and instead uses a fan and thoughtfully designed natural ventilation. While I understand that this may not be everybody's cup of tea, I felt that it actually enhanced my stay - because of the natural ventilation, I constantly heard and even felt the jungle around me, and that together with the incredibly lush surroundings kept me 100% immersed in the rainforest for my entire stay. I slept very well, and when after three days I returned to Puerto Jimenez, I was shocked how unnatural it felt to be in a town again.

The private ground of the lodge has a quite extensive system of hiking paths, and the guides were so sweet, carrying a huge magnifying glass on a tripod and demonstrating almost superhuman skills at spotting animals everywhere.

The pool was a magical place to relax, and little treats from the lodge complemented my stay (starting with coffee appearing in front of my room in the morning).

I truly fell in love and can't recommend El Remanso enough. The value for money is fabulous. The sticker price appears high but once I realised that it includes three delicious meals per day, the tours and everything else I need for a great stay, I found it cheaper than other properties that charge half as much but then charge extra...

The lodge is absolutely beautiful and secluded, basically sitting in its own rainforest. It feels like high end camping with plumbing and good food. Getting there is an experience from the airport. The hotel driver met the plane and we were off. He said it would be "bumpy" -- that was an understatement. Not only were the roads not paved, they weren't even flat. So you go slow and it takes about an hour. Check in was easy when we got there. Our room was amazing, overlooking the ocean (in the far distance) and the rainforest. We had a huge deck, outdoor shower and plunge pool. Total privacy. The staff were all amazing, friendly and helpful. The food was always good and sometimes great. The pool was small but adequate for its purpose. Because of the road getting to the top, we decided to stay rather than take tours that required us to go back down the mountain since we only had a few days and there is plenty to do with the lodge's activities. Other guests did a bird watching tour off property and they said they liked it but probably wouldn't do it again just because of the travel time. A couple of things to know. There is no air conditioning anywhere on the property-- they are eco-friendly and solar powered. It gets hot.|The fan in the room could not get fast enough to cool us down until late into the night. Also, there are no windows, just screens. That's nice to go to sleep with the sounds of the jungle but not so nice when the sun comes up (before 5 am) every day and you wake to the sounds of Macaus and howler monkeys screaching. We thought it was fun but did rob us of some sleep. Speaking of the sun. There are also no curtains so you room will be daylight very early every morning. Also in the afternoon, the sun came directly into the room and heated it up to an unbearable temperature. We either had to hang out in our plunge pool (not a bad option) or head up to the lodge pool which many people did. It was only a problem when we were coming back to the room to change between activities. Also, once the room was heated by the afternoon sun it took a long time to cool back down. |Note to Lodge: think about adding some blinds or curtains that can block the afternoon soon and keep the room cooler. |We did the nature hike (3 hours) and our guide was amazing at spotting the animals. We never saw a sloth but it wasn't for lack of trying and we did see an anteater sleeping in a tree which is rare apparently. |We also hiked down to the beach-- it was beautiful and wild (you cannot swim in the violent surf) -- our timing was off so we didn't get to go into the tide pools. The hike was challenging. 1200 foot...

My wife and I went to El Remanso for our honeymoon in May, and we couldn't have been happier with that choice. From the minute we were picked up in Puerto Jimenez, the staff were extremely friendly and genuine. On the car ride to El Remanso, our driver stopped when he noticed monkeys in the trees and pointed out birds that he noticed along the way. It was great chatting with our driver and getting to know him and the local area more. ||When we arrived at El Remanso, we were greeted with a cold beverage and a tour of our bungalow. The bungalow was perfect. The view was amazing, and the sounds of the ocean mixed with the jungle were incredible. We spent many hours just lounging on our porch, watching the birds and other wildlife through our binoculars. ||The restaurant was all really great. The service was always fantastic, and we really enjoyed every meal and every drink that we got there. We both ate vegetarian only during our time there, and that never felt like a limiting factor. It's also a beautiful space to just hang out in.||We went on multiple excursions through El Remanso and really enjoyed each one. Our favorite was the waterfall hike.||We really love the simplistic, but beautiful design of our bungalow. It had everything that you could need while staying at El Remanso, and the open design made it feel like you were a part of the jungle. Falling asleep to the rain every night was really magical. ||It was simple, but one of our favorite things was being woken up by the sounds of the jungle and having fresh coffee and tea delivered to our front door every morning to enjoy on the porch.||What made our stay truly special was the staff. Every single staff member that we interacted with was very friendly, genuine, informative, and seemed to be having a good time working there, which is always good to see. It was really enjoyable just talking with the staff members and getting to know them. My wife is fluent in Spanish, and I am not even close, but they were very nice about it when I practiced. :)||They even gave us a special jungle bouquet and dinner on our last night there to celebrate our wedding. ||Everything about our stay was a 10/10. We have already decided that we will be back to celebrate our parents' retirement and probably for even more...