Beautifully landscaped surroundings and very friendly staff, always available for good advice on what fun things to do, but also for a chat. Felico and Fernando definitely give it a great personal touch. The rooms were spacious and rustic. Breakfast was amazing every day, both food selection and the view on the volcano (which is best in the morning). The location is central among activities if you have your own car, which we did. All in all, we would love to go back.

The staff are truly superior, especially for visitors to the Arenal area who are new to the area and speak little Spanish. We were originally planning to stay 3 nights, but extended for one more because of the relaxing setting, the hot springs, great breakfasts, all with great views of the volcano and environs. Staff also made great recommendations for activities, side trips to Cano Negro, Eco Zoo, etc. we did not eat dinner at Kokoro until the last night, and we wished we had done this earlier. You do, however, have to have your own vehicle unless you want to use cabs every day you go out. It was pretty easy to drive up to Fortuna from San Jose and get to Kokoro from the central square. Great getaway and base for exploring the highlands near Lake Arenal.

Great place to stay if you're going to Arenal. A nice small staff that's very friendly, including a couple of Americans which helped with any language barrier. The rooms are nice and clean, and even include a little mini-fridge for storing beverages. Decent pool and hot spring, although temperature varied at times for the hot spring. I would stay here again, definitely. Had a great time.

Felico and Fernando were some of the most gracious hosts we had in Costa Rica. They really made us feel welcome and their English was stunning (one of them even speaks at least two other languages in addition to Spanish and English!). We so enjoyed going to family-run hotels in Costa Rica and Hotel Kokoro was one of our very favorites – Felico and his family take pride in every part of the hotel and running the hotel and you see them everywhere – they may be at reception, serving you dinner, helping with your luggage, cleaning the pool, attending to “their” hot springs, having a cup of coffee with you while discussing travel and tour options, getting you towels, giving you a ride somewhere, saying hello and calling you by name, etc. It’s really a wonderful experience. When we checked in they said we are treated like part of the family…and they meant it! Fernando always had a smiling face and a friendly greeting, he was one of the friendliest and warmest souls we met on our whole trip.

We enjoyed our breakfasts at the hotel very much – we had some of the best gallo pinto (seasoned beans and rice) in Costa Rica there, btw - and we appreciated that we were able to serve ourselves – there was only one other occasion where we had a breakfast buffet rather than being served breakfast at a hotel; it was really nice to choose what a how much to have on our plates. This may seem rather mundane, but we loved that they served oatmeal along with all of the other breakfast options – this was the only time in an extended trip where we had oatmeal as an option.

We had a separate cabin with a large room that was very comfortable and had all the amenities we needed. The bathroom had a very nice shower, which seemed unusual for the area.

One night we ate “next door” (about a 5-minute walk) at “Arenal Paradiso Hotel.” It was pretty expensive, but quite good – in-line with the ambience of that resort. One day we visited “Paradise Hot Springs” (not associated with the above hotel) – about 5-10 minutes by taxi down the road toward La Fortuna. We opted for that rather than the much more popular (and louder!) Baldi Hot Springs. It was a great experience – lots of pools with different features and different temperatures (one was a relatively hot “pool” that was more like a small “lazy-river” – it was divine to lay back in that pool and look up at the clouds and wonderful landscaping), many Costa Rican families; plus, we had a lovely meal there, typical casado for my husband and myself (rice, beans, salad, plantains and some vegetables for myself – the same for my husband except including fish) and spaghetti for our son, cooked fresh in an outdoor kitchen and served at a table under a canopy.

Kokoro was a great place and we’ll definitely come back some day!