Arenal Hotel - Which side?
 

We are spending 2 nights in the arenal area in February. I would love to hear recommendations about whether it is better to stay near La Fortuna (no lava view) or to the Southwest farther out where you can see the lava? If anyone can recommend particular places to stay i'd appreciate it. Thank you!

We liked the Lost Iguana; it had a volcano view with lava flowing when we were there, but the lava shifts, so no guarantees.

Thank you!

Hello Annie928:

We loved the Lost Iguana last December. We had a rental car, so it was very easy to go into town. The hotel appears so much further away than everything else, but it really isn't. The views are grand, with or without lava flow (we watched it everynight! from our wonderful porch...) I enjoyed the small pool, and loved the restaurant porch (no great view here, but very tropical setting -- you can see the volcano through openings between trees...) Also, LI has its own trails, and is very close walking distance to Hanging Bridges. The rooms are much "prettier" than what the pictures show.

There's a great restaurant where we had steaks. Open air, off the side of the road... Watched a terrific night of volcano activity from here. But darn, I can't remember the name of the restaurant.

El Novillo I bet?