It is always a difficult decision - booking a hotel before even visiting a country. You read the reviews, you study the travel books, you do all you can do to make the right decision. We took a gamble on this one - there was nothing to read about it except a simple website promising a tranquil stay. Boy did we make the right decision!

The Rainbow Valley Lodge was built by an American from Minnesota, Rolf, a few years ago. It is two units, one upper and one lower, built on the side of a vast, green valley, overwhich the sun rises. The view is simply spectacular.

We stayed in the upper unit, which is the better of the two because of the view. Rolf built the unit with a sunroom/kitchen on the front of the main room. The sunroom has windows wall to wall, over four feet high. They slide open and you can lay on the bed and be completely at one with skyline.

The place is located an easy 10 minute walk from town. You can take a cab to and from town easily (and Rolf actually offered to drive us one night), but the walk is so nice and easy that we chose to walk everytime.

So you could go to Monteverde and stay at one of the huge mountain resorts and pay through the you-know-what - or you can go to Monteverde and stay at the very private, super serene, Rainbow Valley Lodge for under $40/night.

Seems like a pretty easy decision to me.