Edén Treehouse — Hotel in Mindo

I booked a large beautiful tree house on line and on arrival the owner pretended she knew nothing about the booking and ended up offered me a much smaller tree house 1/4 the size I booked and it had none of the amenities I booked either.||||I asked to be taken to the one I paid for and she did and proceeded to do this elaborate act on the stairs leading up to it like she was pretending it was unsafe. And she motioned/said that I could not go up there as it was too dangerous-To be honest it did look like a crazy mess. But on the booking form it was a paradise. ||||||I consented to stay in the tiny tree house ONLY because she said it had hot water and drinking water. Plus I had walked there 4 miles from town w a pack and it was getting dark and rain started. I also trusted her she seemed nice and seemed to like me. And it was a tree house after all. ||||Later I discovered the sink water was non potable and just dribbled and the shower ice cold. In addition, the "drinking fountain" she pointed to did not turn on at all. There was no towel or balcony-both of which were to be included.......||||I discovered after she left it was impossible to take up my backpack and it had to be left one floor down because the stairs were narrow, steep, with low clearance. I am 130 lbs and 66 inches i had to stoop and go sideways to enter..... ||||The next day my bag was filled w bugs as the area is open. Sheets smelled, no lock on door and no key provided. No electrical sockets were in enclosed room only outside tree house in an open area. Moths were really bad !!! It was easy to get lost going to and from tree house.......|||| There was no light in bathroom only in shower. I had to get ready at reception. I found a piece of wood w a nail in it on the stair the next day when leaving. The nail was pointed up right where my foot would go. ||||Someone climbed my stairs in the middle of the night and it was scary. I asked to leave at breakfast and get out of the two night commitment because I did not get the room I paid for. Breakfast girl said they will write me up as a "no show" and I paid cash for night one right there. ||||This was a scam on their part because I was not a no show. I was there ready to stay in the room I booked! They broke the agreement not I. Because they marked me as a no show I was scared I would be charged a penalty by the booking agency. In addition, because they marked me as a no-show I could not review the awful experience on the booking site.||||They should not be advertising a place that was not available-and guess what even during my stay and after that same NICE tree house was available for rent online. And the tiny one I stayed in was not online at all. ||||This can only mean they are baiting and switching the product! She had my email months prior and could have communicated prior that the nice tree house had issues and she did not. I recommend not...

The place is a vacation in itself. I stayed in two different treehouses and saw larger birds on the canopy of the cloud forest, the first minute I entered the higher tree house. They have running water and electricity up there and a beautiful bathroom hut for another tree house I didn’t stay in. No accommodation was better than the other, but a different experience with a varying types of wildlife at different heights. There was an amazing hummingbird garden nearby along the path and a different type of feeding area for tanagers and the more elusive toucans that’s in front of the restaurant. The whole staff was so sweet and prices very reasonable.

This place with its tree houses and paths, besides the Punto Ornitológico Center, was my favorite thing about Mindo, being that its views open out onto the mountains of the Cloud Forest. You’ll see plenty of birds there alone staying there.

Mindo the town: There’s electrical and water outages now and then in the whole town, but it’s throughout all of Mindo and things get fixed quickly often within the hour and it happens much more in the rainy season I think.

The hotel accept credit cards… there’s an atm in town, but only for nationals. The hotel staff and taxis offer rides for a reasonable price to go to the nearby town 20 minutes away if ever in need of cash. I was able to pay for my entire stay including meals and laundry the morning I left. They called cabs for me often to go into town and many taxi cars...

Eden Treehouse had a certain charm about it. The treehouse didn't look like the photos of the one we booked so we declined it and the helpful Cindy on reception switched us to a normal ensuite room. The bathroom was a bit rustic but the room was good enough for the three night stay. We additionally had a room upstairs, accessed via a ladder on the verandah, for an expansive view across the valley. It had a seating area and the adjacent trees were great for birdwatching (eg toucans, toucanets, motmots, colourful barbets and tanagers). So after the initial glitch we ended up having an enjoyable stay. ||||The staff were friendly and special mention must be made of Olga the cook. We arrived midday and she made a delicious meal despite lunches not normally being offered. We had great breakfasts there every day just by the feeders and realised why Mindo is such a draw for birdwatchers. We lingered long over morning coffee watching a variety of birds come and go. Olga freshly prepared the evening dinners as well and the standard was amazing including the vegetarian meals. Her cooking made it a real pleasure eating there.||||Eden Treehouse is not far from Mindo centre on the road up to the Tarabita cable car ride. We went for a walk up this road and also down it to Mindo. Again, if you like birdwatching then this place would be for you. The Eden Treehouse grounds had trails too which were...