My husband and I with our 4 and 6 year old boys stayed at Arenal Oasis the first week of March 2012. The cabins were cozy and clean. The grounds are well kept and tidy. There is a lovely nature trail that is self guided and has a butterfly garden and several stops along the way where you can see snakes, lizards, frogs and spiders in glass tanks. We would have liked to do the night walk but I felt that $80 usd was out of our price range to take our family of 4. It would have been nice to have a family discount offered. Breakfast was include and was ok, not very hot, but the varity of birds surrounding us as we ate made it very pleasant. If you go during the first weekend of March be prepared for the very loud festival in town. We chose this place for a peacful and quiet location and were not disappointed until about 10pm when the music started in town (which was about 3 km away). The music was so loud it felt like it was in the next room! Not anything the owners can do about it, but just be aware that if you don't want to take part in the festivities you will be exposed to a long night if noise regardless.

We loved this spot - close to town (a little tough to find the first night) but quiet and with the most welcoming and helpful staff. It's clean and very well-maintained - good shower, good mattress. A charming touch: the towels were folded into a different shape each day that our cabin was cleaned (a snail one day, a heart another...). Don't miss the evening frog walk! I was amazed at how much wildlife we saw, and our guide was very informative - it helped me to appreciate so much more deeply all the wildlife around us.

I want to encourage anyone visiting La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano region of Costa Rica to sign up for a Jungle Night Walk at the Arenal Oasis. Arenal Oasis is an eco-lodge and wildlife sanctuary—privately run by the Rojas Bonilla family—that offers affordable (20.00 USD) 3-hour walks through the rainforest at night. Tours are run by a trained naturalist, and you’ll see things on these walks that will take your breath away.

I decided to do the Night Walk on my last night in Fortuna, and it was a perfect way to end a fabulous vacation. Our guide, Inti, was not only knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of the area, but his enthusiasm for interpreting and sharing his knowledge was infectious. We saw toads, lizards, insects (large praying mantis, walking sticks, leaf-cutter ants, etc.), snakes, spiders, a sleeping toucan, and the glorious red-legged tree frogs, all in their natural environment. While we walked the easy-to-navigate (flat) trails, with water and flashlights provided, we saw more than 26 new species we had not seen in the two weeks spent in the country.

Although we saw no mammals, Inti pointed out the rooting sounds of a nearby armadillo on the ground, and the sound of dropping fruit signaled to him that a mammal was foraging around above us in the canopy. And Inti also showed us a roost in large tropical leaves that tent bats had recently used for daytime sleeping.

In addition to animals seen in the wild, Arenal Oasis has display cases that feature other species held captive. Looking at hairy tarantulas and poisonous pit vipers, behind the safety of glass, at night, was eerie and exciting.

When I do return to La Fortuna, I hope to be able to spend a night or two at the Arenal Oasis eco-lodge. I believe there are 7 cabins there, and a small restaurant on-site. For me, access to the property and its wild nature would be a huge draw. (We also saw three bird species we had not seen before the afternoon we went on the tour, before the sun went down.)

In hiking the rainforest, most tourists do not venture out at night, when the jungle comes most alive. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience a nature hike like this. Having someone tell us what species made the various calls and noises we heard out there in the dark was a thrill, as was the opportunity to see colorful tree frogs straddling branches a few feet away from our face. We’ll be back.

I really liked this place. It was not in town, but just outside by taxi or public bus, or a walk.
But because of this and the habitat work the owners have done on the property to connect their parcel with the protected area of the volcano and stream corridor, wildlife flourishes. They've created wildlife habitat, e.g. frog ponds on their property, and along with the native trees and plants, it's a haven. Bird watching from the road and from breakfast over great coffee! is exceptional. They are actually getting rid of their exhibit cages of lizards, snakes and frogs etc. so one will see wildlife only in wild. Very nice. The owner and her sons run the place and they are extremely helpful, knowledgeable and speak fluent English. I loved my cabin and didn't have any problem with mold...