Hotel Los Gallitos & Eco Lodge — Hotel in Sarapiquí

This is not a hotel. It is a family farm with a few cabins spread out on the property. It is very convenient to the town center. My cabin was #2 located right along the country road inside the property. It had a very firm uncomfortable bed with clean linens. A couple of lamps, two towels, a fan, and a few bars of soap and a bathroom with shower (hot water worked fine). That’s it. No tv or coffee maker, no ac. When I arrived I was shown around the beautiful property by Jorge. He showed me a communal kitchen and said they’d be up early if I wanted coffee or anything to eat. I checked into my cabin and noticed that I could smell fumes from the nearby gas station. Not always - depended on wind direction.I went to bed at 9am as was awoken by people arriving late at 1130pm as their cars went right in front of the cabin. It was difficult to fall back asleep because of the hard mattress and barking dogs. Then at 1:30pm, something alive was on the bed. I quickly turned on the lamp and a bat flew up! It had pooped on the bed. It was flying in circles inside the cabin. I opened the door hoping it would fly out… but no! So I left the overhead light on and went back to bed which wasn’t easy-I could hear additional bats in the wall behind my bed. Later I was again awoken by arriving or departing vehicles. So I didn’t get much sleep. I got up at 530am and went over to the kitchen building but it was locked up. So I walked around for 45 minutes waiting to see if someone would come. At 615am, I decided to see if I could find a way in and I did. I made myself coffee and oatmeal that I brought. Half way through, Jorge’s father showed up and warmed up a mug of coffee in the microwave. He offered me a cup but I was making my own. He left and I ate on the deck with an amazing view. He came back and offered me a piece of fruit he just picked and then left again. I ate and then went to use the bathroom there and found debris on the floor and a whole in the ceiling. The toliet in my cabin would not flush. I enjoyed watching the birds and eating my breakfast with a view. A Spanish family came for breakfast around 7am. I told them no one was there. The kitchen needed cleaning. I packed up and left before 8am. Definitely, not what I expected for this stay. The farm has potential. They need to renovate, get rid of the bats, clean up, fix toliet and floors and ceiling and have staff available for breakfast. There are two cabins on the entry road across from the gas station. Additional cabins are better located on the other side of the farm. They...

Hotel Los Gallitos ||||This was our first stop in Costa Rica, couple of hours drive from St Jose airport (the road was well paved with great views along the road, including La Paz waterfall). ||We loved the location and the setting but I wouldn't recommend it as a first hotel on your trip (see below).||The owners own both hotel and restaurant (the restaurant is about 7 min walk from the hotel).||||Pros: |||| * Absolutely beautiful grounds. Fantastic views, lots of local fruit trees and flowers and the feeling of being immersed in nature. We got to see lots of wonderful birds and sample some fruit we found on the ground (like guava). || * Spacious community building including kitchen where you can cook your own meals (there are a couple of small groceries stores in the village, about 10 min walk from the hotel)|| * BBQ ribs in the restaurant were delicious || * Owners are nice, friendly and helpful (once you find them)||||||Cons|||| * No one on site if you have a question - it seems that the owners and all the personnel are in the restaurant during the day - if you have any questions/issues, you have to walk to the restaurant which is not that close to the hotel (and it is not that easy to walk there after it gets dark).|| * No hot water on a first night - they use electrical heating system (one to get used to - you have to use a thin trickle of water so it has time to warm up in the shower head) - nobody explained that plus the electrical element in our shower was burned, so there was no hot water at all. Not fun after a long day of travels, and nobody to ask for help. Next day we asked for it to be fixed, the electrical element was replaced but still did not really warmed the water enough. || * Loud disco/bar somewhere next to the property - again, our fist night being Friday, there was a disco next door with blaring music going late into the night - quite unexpected in that serene location (luckily, it did not repeat next night, and the owner said they tried to talk to police to stop it - I don't know where that ended up). ||||||Overall impression - I would stay here again but certainly not on the first night due to the lack of hot water and potential loud...

This is a wonderful family owned and operated finca. I had rustic cabin # 2 which looked out on the valley fish ponds and it was just great for spotting birds. It had lots of room for my camera equipment & other stuff. I like to use my laptop and asked if they had a small desk or table & one was brought to my cabin right away. The breakfast was cooked on a wood stove & was fresh & delicious every morning. The Costa Rican style brewed coffee was great too! Folks are given free access to the fridge to store drinks, etc. and kettle to make tea, etc. any time of day. The pool looked fine & the folks that were using it said that it was very nice, & a real bonus for this kind of property. I was too busy chasing birds etc. to use it though. The views from the huge deck are stunning and I spent most afternoon there cooling off with a cold coke, or beer.||The property is huge & birds abound all over. There are pastures for the cows that people can access as long as they close the gates going in and coming out. I saw parrots, herons, tyrants, woodpeckers, flycatchers and much much more. If you have the stamina the owner might give you a tour down to the river which I found very interesting but maybe a bit much for my 77 years.||Dinner is available in the historic restaurant up the hill which is also owned by the family and the food there was excellent; specializing in smoked beef, ribs pork and chicken.||If I will definitely go back on my next visit...