We stayed here in January, 2013. First the Pros- amazing location. The beach is gorgeous, and it is right next to the park and a short walk to the ranger station (that you need a ticket to go to). Breakfast is good, so is lunch, if you are not on a trip. We saw Spider monkeys behing our room each morning at 6am and saw many animals on a hike.

Unfortunately, it is extremely poorly run. The old manager left and a new manager, who was a bartender, was appointed. Unfortunately, he seems to have no management experience and the lodge is severely suffering. The manager either does not speak English, or doesn't want to deal with any issues that arise. The tours were not handled properly and the when some groups wanted to make adjustments, they were told he would get back to them and never did.

Dinners are Terrible! They try to get fancy and do higher end food. It results in resounding failure. Please cook what they know- Costa Rican food. Our lunches were so much better than any dinner.

We had some rude staff- a guide I had never met was extremely rude to me in the middle of dinner. She came to our table and pointed in my face and saying "Oh, I remember yooouu!" And continued with a ton of attitude. I reported this to the manager. Instead of dealing with her attitude, he sent her to apologize. Her apology consisted of saying "I am sorry YOU misunderstood ME" (which I told her is not an apology). Then told me she was a lesbian. As if that explains her rudeness. I told her that has no place in our conversation and was irrelevant. I was flabbergasted. I paid a huge sum to stay here, and could not believe the terrible customer service. IT was so bad it was comical. Unfortunately, I paid for Ritz service and got worse than Motel 6 service.

Bars- the bars are inconsistently staffed. And the staff mostly has ZERO idea how to make a drink. Do not come here planning to have a mixed drink. I ordered a drink on their menu and was asked by the bartender four times what it was. He finally went and got a menu to see how to make it, then gave a mixed drink to me in a tiny martini glass. I am a light weight and didn't even get a tiny buzz because there was so little alcohol. I also had a Pina Colada that was mostly huge ice chunks from being so poorly blended. I didn't order any other drinks after that.

The Wifi never worked.

Bottom line. This property has SO much potential! But the poor management, dinner and customer service ruined it for me. It would have been acceptable if the price was lower. However, at the price we paid to stay there it is simply not ok.

First off... this is a 4 star LODGE, not a hotel and is located in a very remote location... the Corcovado National Park. If you want a luxury hotel then this is NOT the place for you. To arrive at Casa Corcovado you need to fly to Southwestern Costa Rica (on a very small plane) and then it's a 2 hour boat ride from Sierpe town to get to the lodge (down a river and south along the coast). From there... you're pretty much out in the jungle. The hotel is extremely well run and Carlos (the manager) does a good job at making sure everything goes smoothly. The set up is a beautifully gardened lot a overlooking the ocean with office building, a main dining room, a number of bungalows set up for guests, and a set of lodges for the staff. The bungalows are comfortable, have hot water/electricity, and are very attractively situated amongst the gardens.

The pros:

You're really out in the middle of the jungle. Wildlife is everywhere, and it's an experience like no other. The hotel grounds are simply gorgeous, with lots of small trails you can hike, a private beach, 2 pools (1 for swimming and 1 isolated for 'adults'), a beautiful sunset bar where you can relax and watch the sunset and have a beer/margarita (overlooking Cano Island). Hot water in the bungalows, indoor and outdoor showers, and they have all the gear you'll need available for you (day packs, big rubber boots for hiking in the mud, snorkel gear, etc.)

The cons:

You're out in the middle of nowhere... if there's an emergency.. well... hope there's not an emergency. It's rustic, which is part of its charm but if the water is rough/stormy you can have an absolutely sea-sick inducing/miserable cold 2 hour ride out on the uncovered boat. You can have large insects and/or jungle rodents that make their way into your room (we experienced both), and the food is decent... but you dine on a schedule and you're also at the mercy of what can be acquired and cooked this far from a grocery store.

Our biggest issue wasn't with the accommodations... it was with our guide. Casa Corcovado has some amazing guides. Unfortunately... we weren't assigned to one of them. We were assigned a 'new' guide who stayed with us for our entire trip (as seems to be their policy). We did 2 excursions with her and she was absolutely awful. She wasn't knowledgeable (actually gave us incorrect information on the few occasions we asked her questions), was unsuccessful at finding any of the wildlife (the place was teeming with it, and what little we saw... we were pointing out to her), and she spent over half of her time playing on her iphone. After a 2nd excursion was pretty much ruined (Cano Island) we did address the issue with the manager who was extremely responsive, and gave us 2 additional excursions (AM bird watching and a local rainforest walk) with a decent guide (Marlon.. who was wonderful) which helped to salvage the experience. The manager didn't seem all that surprised with our issues though, and I'm still stunned that they would have someone of that caliber working there when their other guides all seemed to be of such good quality. So... as irate as we were with our first guide experience, they do want you to have a good time and a good experience so definitely speak up and they will do everything they can to make it right.


All told.... it's a one of a kind experience. If you don't mind roughing it a bit (insects, etc.) and want a bit of a jungle adventure... this is definitely your place. If you want everything neat and tidy... pass on this and find accommodations that are less rustic and you'll probably have a better experience. Also... make sure you get a good guide! They will absolutely make or break your experience.

Cool place, beautiful grounds, great guides. Horrible lukewarm food and nothing to do after dinner! Also you def need a flashlight, with the lights in the rooms we still couldn't see anything. The bar will be clOsed after dinner so plan
ahead!

I found this hotel on tripadvisor and I was impressed for the many excellent reviews it got.

So I looked up its availability and found an accomodation, for up to six people, on bookings.com at a reasonable price 1200$. This was only the accomodation. We would have had to pay for the meals and excursions separately.

Unfortunately, and ONLY after I contacted them, I was told that that price was not correct, and I was supposed to spend 4 to 5 times the amount offered on bookings.com.
I was told my reservation was canceled by them (though it wasn't true) and I was going to get the option THEY chose for me, that was including full board and a couple of excursions.

I was struck by the fact that, haven't I checked before hand, I would have been presented with the only possibility of paying 5125$, as the 1200$ option was not available.

Very unprofessionally, they blamed me with bookings.com and blamed bookings.com when writing to me.

I believe they should avoid offering not existing price accomodation and, when they do by mistake, assume their responsabilities and act professionally.

No need to say, I booked my staying in Corcovado area somewhere else, and where was immediately contacted and offered advice as soon as they received the reservation.