we stayed at vista del cerro late April 2012. There was 6 of us in our party. The hotel has friendly staff willing to give you good tips on "what to do" during your stay in La Fortuna. We took their advice and were very happy with our 2-day long visit in La Fortuna! the hotel is on the main street leading out to Arenal, so expect to hear road noise in the morning. We had our free breakfast at the Soda attached to the hotel, food was good, and people were friendly. overall, a wonderful trip, we would stay here again!

I found this hotel on this website while searching for a good but affordable place to stay in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. I was traveling in a group of 4 students, including myself, who are in Costa Rica for some time studying abroad. Because of its reputation and variety of activities, a few weekends ago brought us to the beautiful town of La Fortuna, where we were lucky enough to stay in this wonderful hotel Vista del Cerro.
The staff, although they don't speak much English (not a problem for us-- we're Spanish students), are incredibly friendly and hospitable. They were more than happy to find activities for us to do, such as rafting, repelling down waterfalls, hot spring resorts, etc. They booked it all for us with an affordable, discounted price that left us with no worries and limited damage to our bank accounts. The entire time there was so worry-free, we could not help but enjoy ourselves.
The rooms were simple, but very clean and welcoming. From our room we had the most perfect, breathtaking view of Arenal Volcano. They even opened the free breakfast for us an hour early so we could get some food before our 6:50 am departure to canyoneering.
A more family-like, friendly, and accommodating hotel could not be found for such a low price. Its central location made getting around town easy.
The only down-side is that it's a mostly cash-based operation and we had to do some convincing to use credit cards. Other than that-- I can't recommend this place enough!

We were given a recommendation to stay at this hotel by a relative of the owner. The hotel itself is very ordinary and on a busy street. We were shown a room and then given another upon checkin. There were no other patrons at the hotel. When asking for ice I was told to go across the street and buy some. And when asking about the possiblity of a rollaway was just told no. Three strikes. We paid the maid fee, left, and had a much more positive experience for the same rate up the road nearby.

Great staff although most do not speak English but very willing to assist. On main road (only road in town really) and can be noisy in morning with people going to work. Breakfast next door is nice with a few options (and the restaurant male owner was the nicest person I met in the whole country). Small and cold pool. Great views though from upper levels. There were some small bugs in our room but did not bother us. About a 10 minute walk to downtown La Fortuna. Grocery store across the street and some small soda stores in the area.