Sloth Backpackers was one of our favorite hostels that we stayed in while traveling through Costa Rica. We found, the best hostels to be the ones where the owner opens up her home to guests. We ended up staying three nights there! The hostel offers so many different tours, shuttles, and things to do while visiting the town. I recommend doing what you can! It's worth the money, and you discover things you've never seen before. We enjoyed the zip lining, coffee, chocolate, sugar cane tour, and 'Jeep-Boat-Jeep" tour, which was a shuttle from the hostel to Arenal Lake, ferry across the lake, and a shuttle to La Fortuna. Fun, and great way to see the country. Of course the night life was awesome! We frequented Bar Amigos and another bar, where we met fun locals who loved to dance and have fun. One night there was a live band, that played great music. The town folk we amazing dancers, I believe some of the dances taught to me were, The Machata and Salsa. Anyway, the hostel offered many things to do, and very comforting to come back to the room at anytime. In the mornings, the owner cooked us banana pancakes with fresh tropical fruit. So delicious. I had a great time, and will return another day!

We were lured into this hostel by the name (I am a HUGE sloth fan), and although the namesake of the hostel didn't make an appearance for us, it was well worth the stay. The owner/workers in the hostel are amazing, friendly, down-to-earth people, and it is clear that they work very hard to maintain their business. They obviously enjoy what they do, and they make it clear by their interaction with the guests; one of the owners' friends took my boyfriend and me to see (and climb!) a hollow tree in the forest. It went down as one of THE best experiences I've had in Costa Rica, and because it was located in the middle of the forest, where only natives or lucky explorers might find it, I know we would never have seen it if not for the kindness of the people at the hostel.

The hostel itself is very clean and comfortable, with lots of information on what to do in Monteverde. As someone who lived in Costa Rica for a year and stayed at my fair share of hostels there and in Panama and Nicaragua, I have seen bad and good hostels, and Sloth Backpackers was one of the good ones. It is pretty small compared to some of the other hostels, but if you're looking to just make it a place to sleep and relax in the middle of your adventures (no pool or anything like that, but you're in Monteverde; go explore nature!), it's the place to be.

Another perk of the hostel is that it's a bit "off the beaten path"; we never would have found it if we hadn't come across the owner at the bus stop when we arrived in Monteverde. Some taxi drivers will say that the area is dangerous, and it might appear so because of the lack of lighting and natural surroundings, but it's really, really not. Actually, we found it to be very peaceful (which is just what we needed after so many months at a time in San Jose). The taxi drivers apparently get commission from other hostels for bringing guests, so they try to steer them away from SBP. It's just a short walk from town, maybe five minutes, but it's set back far enough that you don't get any of the noise from party-goers late at night.

Sloth backpackers is one of the many hotels you can stay during your visit in Santa Elena.
It's only 2 minutes from the downtown though bit steep walk.
Otherwise the owner is very nice lady and she provides a map and full information about both places Santa Elena and Monteverde.
The hostel itself is very cosy, nice and clean place to stay.

Santa Elena is a small town, so anywhere you stay you'll probably be close to town center. Sloth back packers is no different - just a 2 minute walk to town center. It's on a steep slope, so if you are old or handicapped, not a good place. The atmosphere is nice and the owner and her niece are both warm and friendly. They helped me book tourist attractions at reasonable rates and gave me a nice room to myself for $20, which I think is a good price. I was annoyed that you had to rent a towel for $1, but whatever. The owner is very hardworking- she has her own hostel, her own nail salon (which she sometimes does in the hostel), and her own coffee plantation!! The main lobby has a kitchen which you are free to use, and apparently there is free breakfast although I didn't get to try it. Free WiFi. Tempur-Pedic beds. They watched my bags after check out until I left Santa Elena.