Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Hot Springs

The marketing of Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Spa creates very high expectations, which were only partially met during our stay. The reception did not operate very professionally: at 3:00 pm our room was still not ready, and our luggage was delivered in heavy rain, arriving completely soaked.|The hotel is undeniably located in a beautiful, almost paradisiacal natural setting, surrounded by rainforest. Sadly, there is a noticeable lack of attention to detail throughout the property. The dining room feels cold and uninviting rather than cozy. Dinner was disappointing, with very long waiting times and food served only lukewarm. Breakfast was even worse: long waits, complicated individual ordering, and overall mediocre quality. At the same time, food and beverage prices are very high for what is offered.|The rooms were dark and cold, and the bathroom lacked basic amenities such as a toothbrush holder. The shower water was only lukewarm. In addition, there are currently two construction sites on the property, and the large pool is not available, which significantly impacts the guest experience.|A clear highlight of our stay were the tour guides, who were fantastic. In particular, the coffee ☕️ and chocolate tour was excellent, very informative, and professionally guided.|Conclusion: While the natural surroundings are stunning, the overall experience does not justify the high prices. There is a significant gap between price and performance, and the hotel lacks warmth, comfort, and consistent service quality.

This is a rainforest lodge experience, so one has to be prepared for it and appreciate one's surroundings; the entire premises are located right in the heart of a practically pristine rainforest, so expect some imperfections and immerse yourself in the natural wonders aplenty! Great stuff to do, such as simply walking out and following the internal trail, or hiring a guide with an eye for jungle detail (that's when we finally started spotting sloths and toucans). Our bedroom was certainly good enough, and the food quality at breakfast and dinner was clearly adequate. Our bedroom was older than the rooms the rest of our group was in, but no complaints here as our sleeping arrangements were more than adequate). Wi-fi connection (essential for me) was fine. Outside the premises (but through the hotel), one can book a whitewater rafting experience (among the tons of activities available) and we really enjoyed that. Within the premises, we loved the coffee/cocoa production tour and the wildlife evening walk. All in all, this is a place to connect with nature and reconnect with life generally; add to that the professional courtesy of staff members for a lovely combo. Super stuff!

Two families traveling together (five children ages 6 and under) booked two private rainforest bungalows at Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Hot Springs eight months in advance — in March for our November 22–26 stay. We arranged every airport transfer and excursion through the resort. On October 22 — exactly one month before arrival — we reconfirmed both bungalows by email and were told everything was perfect and ready.||Less than 24 hours before check-in we were suddenly told the bungalows were unavailable. The only options: accept the off-site La Fortuna Country House or a full refund — presented as though the Country House were an upgrade we should feel grateful for.||By then half our group had already landed in Costa Rica, so cancellation was impossible. With five young children and every tour and transfer tied to the resort, finding new lodging wasn’t realistic. We had no real choice.||We were told the house was “only 20 minutes away.” In reality it was 35–45 minutes each way on dark, rough roads — over an hour a day driving. That single change destroyed the entire reason we chose Chachagua: we paid extra for on-site rainforest bungalows so wildlife moments could happen naturally — monkeys at breakfast, toucans from the porch, frogs at night — without loading toddlers in and out of car seats constantly.||One small example: during our private night walk on property, one exhausted child needed to go to bed. Instead of one parent walking 2 minutes back to the bungalow, half the group had to make a 40-minute drive in the dark — exactly the hassle we spent extra to avoid with five kids 6 and under.||We paid full rainforest-bungalow price with zero adjustment or compensation, even though the Country House is a lower-priced category. The manager cited “renovation delays caused by weather,” yet while we were commuting we met several families who had booked last-minute and were happily checking into the exact bungalows we had reserved — and reconfirmed a full month earlier.||The Country House itself was very nice and included daily breakfast, but it was not what we booked, paid for, or built our entire family trip around.||The on-site naturalist guides are outstanding, the grounds are gorgeous, the food is excellent, and the pools/hot springs are lovely. Had we stayed in the bungalows we reserved, this would easily have been a 4- or 5-star experience.||Instead, the way the overbooking was handled — last-minute notice after a written confirmation just one month prior, no price adjustment, and an explanation that didn’t match what we witnessed — left two families deeply disappointed. ||Travelers should know that even long-advance, recently reconfirmed bookings can be moved off-property without warning or recourse. If waking up inside the rainforest is the reason you’re choosing Chachagua, have a solid backup plan.

We had a great experience at chachagua. Fabian was gracious and helpful. The bungalow we stayed in was recently renovated and beautiful! The hot springs are designed in a way that make it feel like you’re in your own private pool. They were never too crowded. Breakfast was delicious and there were great options. We ate dinner at local spots but splurged one night at colibri- while the prices were very high, we appreciated the great service and were pleasantly surprised by the food!

I stayed at this hotel for three nights, and unfortunately it was one of the worst hotel experiences I have had. While the rooms look attractive at first glance, this is purely superficial. The cabins have a strong, persistent mold smell and extreme humidity that is impossible to ignore. The air-conditioning units do not function properly and do not remove moisture from the rooms. There are no dehumidifiers, and as a result everything in the room feels damp—the bedding, towels, toilet paper, and even personal belongings. On the second night, after a full day of rain, our room began leaking, with water dripping from the roof. I contacted reception, and while the staff was very kind and genuinely tried to help, the problem was clearly structural and widespread. We were offered a room exchange, which we accepted, but the new cabin had the same overwhelming mold smell and was also leaking from the roof. At checkout, I again raised these concerns and informed the staff that I would be writing this review. I want to be very clear: the staff were polite, professional, and did their best to make us comfortable. They even requested a discount approval from their manager, despite me explicitly stating that I was not seeking financial compensation. A discount was kindly applied to our hotel restaurant bill, which I appreciated, but this did not address the underlying issues. The overall insulation and maintenance of the cabins are very poor. Waking up in the middle of the night to the strong smell of mold is not only deeply unpleasant but also raises legitimate health concerns. The constant dampness in the room makes the stay uncomfortable and unacceptable. I understand that this property is located in a rainforest environment, where humidity and rain are expected. However, roof leaks, persistent mold odor, and ineffective climate control are not environmental issues—they are maintenance failures. These problems could be mitigated with proper insulation, regular upkeep, and the use of dehumidifiers, yet none of these measures appear to be in place. Despite the rooms looking nice on the surface, appearance does not equal quality. A hotel that smells of mold, leaks during rain, and leaves guests feeling damp throughout their stay does not meet basic hospitality standards. I would not recommend staying here unless these serious issues are properly resolved.

Finished our Costa Rica honeymoon here just over American thanksgiving and I will start by saying the room was absolutely beautiful and we opted to have rose petals on the bed. The hot springs were also really nice, just a little small. After that it starts to go down hill. The food for one is really really expensive at the resort. Two people will spend easily $100+ each meal if they’re not careful. Secondly they’re in the process of building a new front desk and there’s construction going on everywhere. During our massage on the balcony we were serenaded by saws and power tools instead of the rainforest sounds. We did a guided night walk and the guide was not the most knowledgeable about the species and called most species the same thing when they were not.

I had this experience in the last week of November and I was rather disappointed. The concept is interesting, the location is beautiful, the room was big and clean, staff friendly (the score above is not about staff), but that was all about the positive points.|The entire concept was destroyed by the construction sites on the property, close nearby to tourist areas - noise, dirt, and workers walking through the tourists instead of privacy, silence and nature only.|Adding to this other aspects are incompatible with the high price paid:|- the main pool is not with thermal hot water, so nobody uses it; tourist are using the spring pools only (some of them unusable because of constructions) and they became crowded, especially in afternoon|- included breakfast is basic, fixed portions, unacceptable for the price paid|- tracking trails are not well marked, especially in crossroads, so self walking is quite difficult; maps are available only in reception|- not many options for food at the two restaurants on the property

Wow, what can I say about this absolutely peace of tranquility in the rainforest?|On arrival we were greeted with refreshing juice and cold towel, the staff were beyond incredible. We were given a tour of the property from reception to our room, the two restaurants and hot springs.|We had the cheapest bungalow room which was the twin double room and it was so so wonderful, I cannot imagine how incredible the other rooms are too. They even left us a card and towel art for our honeymoon. Spotlessly clean, incredible large shower and bathroom, well stocked mini bar with not unreasonable minibar prices. Comfy outdoor sofa and hammock to relax in. From the hammock we saw hummingbirds, lots of other birds, agouti, lizards, and more.|The hot springs were not busy at all! We used them in the morning on one day, mid afternoon and late afternoon on two others and just before 10pm on another and not once were we sharing a hot spring with a single other person. There are 5 hot and one shallow pool in the hot springs area with a slide into it which was fun! There was only one day this slide was closed as they were constructing a new banister and footpath.|The slide into the creek was so much fun (and scary) and the water was lovely. Better in the morning before the rains make it a little muddier!|The nature hike guides were all fantastic.|We did the night hike for $50 each and as no one else had booked we had our own tour. Absolutely brilliant guide. We saw many different frogs, spiders, lizards, birds and a possum.|Definitely do the free day hike of the property at 2pm. The guides are brilliant and with their binoculars they can spot things and let you view things you would not notice on your own. We saw toucans, sloths, various other birds and wildlife! We were even given a small cup of sugar liquor and a cacao bean. |The staff will point things out to you at all times, one of the guides saw us on our own looking for toucans and waited to show us the ones he knew were flying down from the restaurant. Also spent a long time with us showing us another sloth.|The yoga session was one of the best classes I have ever done. Again no one else showed up so it was a private class! The instructor was so friendly and one of the best yoga instructors I have had worldwide. |The breakfast was incredible. Fruit plate to start and then a choice from a menu cooked fresh to order. Delicious! I had something different every day and every dish was wonderful. Large portion keeping us full! There were also cakes and small pastries available.|We didn't eat at the main restaurant but we ate at the pool bar twice and both times the food was truly excellent. One of the best birria quesidillas I have had. |Great frozen drinks too which you are allowed to take into the hot springs area.|We didn't use the main pool as we were in the hot springs too much. It was really nice that the hot springs are only for use by the hotel guests. We drove past the other hot springs in La Fortuna and were amazed at the amount of cars parked on roads. These were overly busy, so we were very lucky to enjoy our own hot springs!|As we were in the rainforest of course it rained, but they were heavy short downpours. If you are just walking around the property they provide umbrellas in your room and reception. So humid it dries in no time.|Yes there was construction going on which we did not know would be the case but the only time you could hear it was during breakfast as they are constructing a large new area there. It was not a huge issue.|I asked if the property was actually half full as we hardly saw anyone and it is incredibly private and they said it was actually pretty full on all 3 nights we were there. |Yes it is outside of La Fortuna for the main activities there but it was well worth being in the middle of chachagua rainforest rather than the very busy and overly touristy La Fortuna. Only 30 mins drive to La Fortuna waterfall, 45 mins to Arenal hiking area and 1 hour to the hanging bridges. We avoided driving at night completely and driving in the daytime is absolutely fine around there. |I will be recommending this place to anyone who is heading to Arenal area.