LagunaVista Villas — Hotel in Puerto Jiménez

While the property is beautiful and this place has a lot of potential, poor service, management, and ownership of the property makes this one place that should probably be skipped. We had a fantastic trip to Costa Rica, but this place was the only poor experience that we had… and it was a really poor experience.

First of all, it’s important for a place to let you know what you’re getting into. This property is located near the end of a poorly maintained 40 km road which takes at minimum 90 minutes to complete. The description for this property states that a 4-wheel drive is recommended at some times of the year. This is incorrect. A 4 wheel drive is required to make it to the property as the road is filled with potholes, some incomplete bridges and 3 river crossings. Luckily, we planned ahead and had a vehicle that could make it.

Upon arrival, this place was a disaster. When we arrived after surviving the road in, we wandered around the property as there was no staff to be found at the reception (restaurant) pool area or anywhere else. We ended up walking down to the house down the hill and asking them to call the employees to have them set us up in our room. When we met the employees, there was no apology for nobody being there, they simply led us to our room, turned on the plunge pool (it was empty and dirty inside), told us to keep the doors closed due to bugs and walked away.

We then turned on the fan (room is hot and muggy, with no AC - they’re “too far off the grid” as they’d say), which dumped dead bugs onto our bed… that was fun.

We tried to make the best of it though, and headed up to the pool. When we got there, we set our stuff down and looked for a place to sit. There was a mattress that was stained and gross, one lounge chair covered in cobwebs, and some metal chairs without cushions around a table - all of those also covered with cobwebs. The only place to really sit comfortably was in the pool, which was very dirty (they claim they scrubbed it that morning, but certainly didn’t look like it).

On a trip back down to the room, we noticed that the plunge pool didn’t turn off automatically (nobody told us this), so we had to search for the shut-off as it was spilling over onto the deck and starting to flood it. Luckily we didn’t spend more time at the pool, as our room’s plunge pool would have flooded the deck and into the room, as the door didn’t close all the way at the bottom (this becomes a problem with the bugs in the evening). We shut the plunge pool off, it had small white items, leaves and dirt floating in it - we wouldn’t be using that.

After that, we went to the outdoor bathroom to take a shower, but there was no hot water (despite the sign advertising the place that says “Hot Showers!”). Make sure to bring your own amenities if you go here, because beyond a tiny bar of soap, they don’t provide any of them. We asked them to fix the hot water, and about an hour later someone came down and replaced the propane tank. The rest of the bathroom was poorly cleaned, there were sticky substances on the light switches and faucets, and overall, the best words to describe the bathroom were “kind-of gross”.

So, at this point we were done with this place and knew we didn’t want to stay another night. I informed their staff member we’d been speaking to (the other guy never talked to us and a third volunteer was busy arranging a ride for himself with other guests) that he probably wouldn’t be shocked, but we’d like to not stay a second night. This employee was totally understanding, said “Perfect, I’ll just work it out with Greg (the owner) and it will be no problem”. We felt good about this and got ready to enjoy our guided tour of Corcovado the next day. They were to send us with a packed lunch as part of the fee (meals included in the $300+ USD cost), and info - I've used up the character limit on Google, but look on TripAdvisor for...

In late June and early July, 2010, we traveled to LagunaVista Vilas for three unforgettable weeks. We arrived from the US's Pacific Northwest, into the capital of Costa Rica and the next morning we took a flight to Puerto Jimenez, where we were greeted by friendly staff and escorted via Land Rover to LagunaVista Villas. The drive took several hours, but we stopped for refreshments and and enjoyed our first sighting of Spider Monkeys in the trees overhead. Upon our arrival when we came through the entry gate at the villas, it reminded me of the opening scene to Jurassic Park. The drive way culminates near the top of the hillside, where a short walk further revealed the fresh water swimming pool, lined with lounge chairs, tables, a bar, a Lazy Buddha Statue and an "infinity" view overlooking a most spectacular fresh water lagoon, bordered right up against a coconut tree lined beach facing the Pacific Ocean.

The main house and the eco-style rooms are very well built and comfortable, with individual baths and open air bathrooms. Each room has its own private deck and offers personal scenic perspective of the surrounding scenery, unique to its location. The warm, attentive and friendly staff soon made me feel like we were old friends, as we shared this incredible experience together and built long lasting friendships.

Fresh fruit and native produce was always on hand, and home style meals were delicious. When conditions were favorable, the resort's solar powered satellite dish enabled us a direct line of communication with the outside world which in my case, enabled me to Video-Skype with loved ones back home. Back-up propane powered generators were also on hand, just in case.

Trekking around the immediate vicinity revealed many unique and scenic vantage points and a web of well kept trails to the lagoon, beaches and neighboring valleys. You are literally minutes from a great variety of activities, including short walks to the beach to observe turtles, swimming, nature hikes to waterfalls, horseback rides, kayaking, and/or surfing beautifully shaped waves, or just chilling out by the pool. I strongly recommend doing the guided trek into the Corcovado National Park. While the park's entrance is a several mile long trek along the beach, north of Playa Carate, no matter where you are, you're smack dab in the heart of one of the most biologically diverse areas on the entire planet. Without a doubt, you will encounter a huge abundance of plant life, brightly colored birds, an assortment of monkeys, and many other creatures of all types, all living wild and free. Amazing scenery and wildlife photo opportunities are virtually guaranteed!

I plan on returning to LagunaVista Villas, ASAP, not just for the above mentioned reasons, but because this time I plan on bringing a much much better camera. This is truly a photographer's paradise.

On our return, we flew via puddle jumper directly from Playa Carate to Puerto Jimenez, then back to San Jose and onto the States.

This was the most amazing adventure I've...

Just spent 6 nights at LagunaVista Villas and I highly recommend this lodge located in one of the most beautiful, unique, jungle meets beach settings. The staff and owner are warm and welcoming and very happy ensuring their guests have a once in lifetime trip to the OSA Peninsula. Our stand-alone room was perched above the lagoon from where we watched daily the jungle, lagoon and ocean animals, birds, monkeys, crocs, and insects participate in the circle of life, paying no attention to us as they went about their routine. From the lodge we walked along the endless beach, bodysurfed, and bird watched. Hiked to hidden waterfalls where we swim, get waterfall massages, and enjoy this "Jungle Book" life. One evening below the lodge, on the beach we witnessed turtle releases which was truly incredible. We ate well and drank good wine and were fortunate to hear from the owners how it all began in 1992 to what today is a place where the jungle and all its inhabitants come to you no matter where you are on the property - your private dipping pool, king bed, patio, eating area. |Day 1 - enjoyed private casita with dipping pool & patio, watching/hearing the jungle|Day 2 - rinse repeat, with added zip line trip to the top of the jungle |Day 3 - rinse repeat, with added waterfall canyoneering|Day 4 - relax all day at lodge with the local jungle animals|Day 5 - turtle release below lodge. Short hike to hidden waterfall all to our selves|Day 6 - short hike to hidden water again! So much fun.|Incredible sunrises, sunsets, jungle animal interactions, staff hospitality, accommodations every day. I personally want to thank the staff of LaguanaVillas for treating us like family. To the owners, Greg and Kaiko, thanks for bringing your vision to reality so that others can live the Jungle Book experience. We...