MonteTours Costa Rica — Local services in Monteverde

This hostel is run by two very enthusiastic brothers that will help you always out with questions, tour bookings and transport (e.g. Jeep-Boat-Jeep). I've never met other Costa Ricians that speak that good English like these two! The expression"hotel" is maybe a littlebit missleading. In fact it is a true hostel (W/O any dorms and loud young crowd). And that's what the target audience should be (also according to the owners). Guest should be backpackers (of any age) that are fine with a normal room standard (bathrooms have hot water). It is normal beds, normal bathroom and a nice breakfast (pancakes, corn flakes, toast, fruits), no high standard rooms. But the sourrounding of this hostel is worth to come here. You stay in nature, within a bigger green yard-surroundings where you can observe a lot of birds during breakfast and day-time. It is roughly 40 minutes to walk to the Monteverde Reserve National Park, whereas the way is not soo special as pointed out in tour books. The way from down-town to the hostel is nicer with more beautiful views (a taxi would be 4$). The hostel is directly located in the neighborhood of a small bakery, coffee shop, super-market and Italian restaurant (where you can buy tasty Pizza to go!). Within the hostel area also a night tour takes place (which I personally cannot recommend, but just because you do not see so much animals - tour guides are nice and knowledgable, though. I can recommend Manuel Antonio or Corcovado for...

Experience nature after dark! We really enjoyed the El Bosque Nature Night Tour (we did not stay at the hotel), which helped us to appreciate the jungle in a different time and way. The tour is offered at 5:30 pm and 7:45 pm, and we recommend the early one because then you have the opportunity to see the area in daylight, dusk, and dark. In the daylight, we saw agouti (large rodent) and many birds. After dark, we saw many varieties of insects, nesting birds, and a possum in a tree. The sounds of the jungle were interesting too. Our guide did a good job of spotting things and explaining them to us, and we were fortunate to have a small group of only 3 people. I especially enjoyed watching the fascinating leafcutter ants and seeing a huge mound – the guide told us all about them. They provide a flashlight, but I recommend taking a spare if you have one as the provided one started to run low on battery power toward the end of the 2-hour journey. Also bring binoculars if you have some. We had no insect problems, but we wore long sleeves, long pants and closed-toe shoes to be on the safe side. Transport was provided from our hotel in Santa Elena, and the ride up to Monteverde was scenic. If you are a fan of nature (and if you're not, the Monteverde/Santa Elena area may not be the best choice for you), definitely enjoy a night...

My family and I had two wonderful nights at El Bosque. The grounds were simply amazing and the quarters clean and comfortable. The location is super quiet as it's a short distance off the main road. All you hear are the sounds of the forest. We attended the night walk on the first night, which starts in the forested area adjacent the hotel. We saw numerous critters (centipedes, moths, a porcupine in a hollowed out tree, sleeping motmots, agutis, cotimundis, tarantulas, etc) despite heavy winds during the tour. The guide was super knowledgeable and very enthusiastic. Daniel at the front desk was an amazing host. We consulted him about the best option for an excursion the next day and, based on our tastes and abilities (with an 11 year old) he pointed us in the right direction (100% Aventura! Zip lining and canopy tour). He was super knowledgeable and generous with his time, especially in light of the fact seemingly everyone staying at the hotel needed some kind of directions, recommendations, or guidance. We ended up eating both nights at Tramonti's next door, which has excellent Italian food and a nice ambience. Breakfast is also included at El Bosque in a nice, lodge-type structure on the grounds. Standard buffet but a really nice setting. Much thanks to Daniel and his staff for a great...