We stayed at the Peace Lodge on the last night of our stay. We went to Poas and Doka Estate at the beginning of the stay, but we didn't want to book such expensive accommodations, just in case our flight was somehow delayed (we had Continental, so there was a chance for hurricanes in Houston). In the end, I'm really glad we stayed the last night because we didn't feel any anxiety to get going and see things, so we could just relax and take advantage of the amazing room and fun exhibits. They also pamper you a little, so that helps.
About the Peace Lodge:
When we arrived, the staff was great (the reception guy was funny - "I need your credit card. It's not for anything really, just incidental charges... and my party tonight."), and even though we couldn't check in yet we were able to get our cool peace lodge bracelets and head into the park. We were lucky to have gotten a free upgrade to deluxe room since we were only staying one night, but my impression was that there wasn't much difference between standard and deluxe rooms other than a slightly bigger bathroom and a nicer view?
The room itself is beyond words. A bit expensive, but fancy enough to more than justify the price. It's not your typical fancy hotel - Fodor's was right in their description: "Most hotels give you a room with a bath. The Peace Lodge gives you a bath with a room." There's a giant bed with romantic drapery, a CD player with mood music CDs, aromatherapy bottles with a diffuser to spread the scent, giant bathroom with a personal jacuzzi amongst plants and your own waterfall that you can turn on, the option for a waterfall shower or a traditional shower, a separate toilet area with bedet, a wonderful fireplace that you can turn on when it gets cold, a rocking bench and a sort of sitting sofa lying down thing, balcony with amazing view and its own outdoor jacuzzi (I lament we didn't have time to try this, as it was storming the night we stayed, so we stayed inside), minibar, safe, a TV and the option for renting free DVDs from the desk (mostly older movies though). I could go on.
We were actually glad for the storm because we didn't feel pressure to go outside, and staying inside the jacuzzi drinking wine with the fireplace on and the wind knocking on the window was the most romantic thing we did all trip. We did go up to the reception area for a free massage, which lasted roughly 15 minutes. The masseuses really knew what they were doing, the guy hit all the right spots, I absolutely had to tip him it was so good. There's also two computers for internet use, and they also a memory card reader so that you can transfer SD or CF camera card pictures onto a flash drive if you have one. Free coffee too.
We ate lunch at the Trout Bar, which was actually very reasonably priced (loved the chicken sandwich) with large portions. While we were there a hummingbird accidentally crashed into the clean window, and some groundspeople came over and helped it sit back up to regain balance and consciousness. It flew away within a couple of minutes. I don't know about the other dining locations, as we shied away from the $35 per person dinner in the main restaurant. I would only lament that there was no microwave in the room to heat our leftovers from lunch.
We didn't have time to try their pools, walk the longer trails, swim in the Trout Lake, or catch any fish. I think two nights is really the optimal number of nights to stay, giving you enough time to do all of the gardens stuff in the day and relax in the room/surroundings at night.
About La Paz Waterfall Gardens:
I would agree with everyone who says this place is more of a zoo than a wildlife reserve. I get mixed feelings about the poor animals in cages with the pleasure of being able to see and photograph them up close. My boyfriend has a fancy camera, so we got some really nice pictures. The birds seemed to be doing okay, but I felt like the wildcats and the monkeys could have used a bit more freedom. The wildcats were absolutely charming to look at though.
The worst part was seeing the butterflies. There were a whole bunch that had gotten stepped on on the floor, and I'm not sure how many of those had already died versus were killed. It was very disturbing to me. I even saw that someone sat on a small moth on the computer chair in the reception, and I rescued a really large one from the floor that would have been in great danger. It did say that the butterflies still had a much better survival rate in the gardens than in the wild, but I still felt a bit sad about it.
The best part was definitely the birds. We didn't even know about the hummingbird feeding, so we got really lucky we passed by there right in time. There is nothing quite like having them land on your finger and fluttering past your head to drink from the flower cups of sugar water. Really really fun. Also, in the aviary there is an area with some bird seed where the macaws, parrots, and toucans all flock to. It's an amazing place to take pictures, these birds are so unafraid of humans! The funniest were the toucans, who just wanted to bite everything - they wouldn't get away from my boyfriend's flip flop! What made me feel a little better was that I read something later on saying that the animals that they kept were previously illegally owned pets that were confiscated by the government and given to the gardens... or something like that... so I sincerely hope that they are doing what's best for the animals in the moment.
I really liked staying at the Peace Lodge because of the perk of being able to be in the gardens before and after hours. It was actually one of the main reasons we chose to stay there, other than the fact that the rooms sounded really unique and awesome, because we had a packed itinerary and needed those few extra hours to get the most out of the place. We got to avoid large crowds and move at our own pace. We saw the cats and frogs in the morning - I spent a while looking into the soulful eyes of the ocelot. Then there were of course the waterfalls. It's crazy how many there are just one after the other. I wasn't blown away because we'd already seen a few waterfalls on the rest of our trip, but it doesn't take away from the natural beauty of the cascading water. It is also quite a walk up and down the stairs, so drink a lot of water because I got a bit of sunstroke at the beach earlier in the week and felt a bit woozy. It really does look like something out of Lord of the Rings, as Fodor's mentioned. Really really nice.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
