My wife and I decided to rent a car and travel across Costa Rica for our honeymoon. The only thing we booked before leaving were the rental car and the first night at Casa Bella Rita. It was only 15 minutes from the airport and easy to find. After a long sleepless night of travelling Rita and Steve made us feel immediately welcome and the views from their patio area were incredible! Rita and Steve were incredibly helpful with leading us in the right direction and every hotel and excursion they recommended was exactly what we were looking for! They gave excellent advice and Rita's chocolate cake was even better! We were so pleased at our stay we came back 10 days later for our last night of the trip. Our flight home was at 7:00 am and we had to leave at 4:30. When we woke up I was amazed that Rita had got up early and had coffee ready for us and fresh baked banana bread and fruit. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone travelling near San Jose. You won't be disappointed!

From the moment I booked Casa Bella Rita I knew we had made a good choice. Rita replied to my reservation email asking if we needed any help with planning: we did, and she recommended a fantastic place to stay near Bijagua (see my review for La Carolina Lodge) and also booked our Interbus transfer from San Jose to Monteverde. Nothing was too much trouble. When we landed at San Jose airport Luis (a great driver they use a lot) was waiting for us to take us to the B&B (I hesitate to call it that as it's so much more); it's always a huge relief knowing that someone is going to be at the airport with your name on a board, especially when you're arriving late and are half-asleep. When we arrived at Casa Bella Rita Steve immediately put glasses of cold beer into our hands and showed us our lovely room. We stayed in the Colibri room, which had everything we could have possibly wanted, along with a beautiful mosiac in the shower. The bed was very comfortable and had hotel-quality sheets (no bobbles here!). Breakfast, which Steve prepared freshly for us, was delicious: fresh fruit, juice, coffee/tea and pancakes (other guests had other things, Steve was obviously very happy in the kitchen). At the end of our trip we returned to Casa Bella Rita for two nights, to wind down before we flew back to the UK. We were up North near the Nicaraguan border and had arranged with Luis for him to come and pick us up and drive us back down to Santa Ana, which he did in record time. When we arrived we again had beers and were back in the Colibri room. That night Steve cooked dinner for us and four other guests, and it was delicious again. We also experienced a small earthquake, just to add to the impressiveness of the occasion! The next and final day we went (again with Luis) to a Toucan Rescue Ranch (see my review) which had been recommended by Rita. This was a heartwarming, very life-affirming place and I can thoroughly recommended it too. That night we ate pizza (kindly ordered by Rita) and drank Rita's lovely rum cocktails (also recommended!). The next morning I was very, very sad to be leaving such a beautiful country and also Casa Bella Rita. However, we are already planning a trip back in 2015 and you can guess where we'll be staying in Santa Ana! I also must mention the amazing view from the terrace, over the canyon, where you can sit watching hummingbirds sip from flowers while stroking the very friendly house dogs, reclining on the sunloungers...sounds like paradise? It is!