Would much appreciate opinions on which to choose-- and why. Does anyone know if either happens to have king beds? (I believe that Bosque might-- but Lapa Rios sounds more wonderful in guidebooks.)

Also: I'm trying to decide whether to do Monteverde or Arenal or Tortuguera. Have time for only one of those. Don't know how to decide!

Lapa rios is amazing. heaven on earth.

1000 acre private rainforest.
amazing animal viewing on the property.
views of rainforest & gulf in the backround.
macaws flying round property all day.
monkeys seen around property.
howler monkeys howling during the day.
great pool
great food
terrfic hiking
(i wish I was there.)

do a thread search as this question has been asked many times with Bosque seeming to get the nod on this board. Lapa Rios DOES have a more visually appealing website

Yes, the web site is very appealing for Lapa Rios. Having stayed at both I give Bosque 2 thumbs up over Lapa Rios. Just the grounds alone at Bosque are enough to influence my decision not to mention the down to earth friendly helpful staff. Several of whom used to work at Lapa Rios btw.

I found LR to be just a bit stuffy but my biggest complaint were those horrible stairs just to get to and from meals not to mention everything else. LR is built on a ridge with a drop on both sides. There are benches to sit on to rest along the way. We did see a good bit of wildlife on the hikes up and down. I would like to say that we are not wimps when it comes to hiking and my husband was a marathon runner at the time and even he was pooped.

I went to use the bathroom once and couldn't because the gardeners were working just outside. There is a half wall between the toilet and the shower but I still wasn't comfortable. There is just a screen on the outside wall of the shower. When sitting out on the private patio at LR we could hear our neighbors talking as if they were right there with us. The buildings are duplexes rather than the private single cabinas at Bosque.

The food at LR was very good.

The food at Bosque is good and I hope, after all the cookbooks we brought them this summer, will be even better with the new restaurant.

Bosque has king beds in some of the cabinas. Lapa Rios only has two double beds per room. That is one reason we picked Bosque this time because my husband and I are used to a king bed and the kids (ages 13 & 17) are getting too big to sleep together. We had a cabina at Bosque for two nights that had a king bed and a loft with two twin beds. Then the last 3 nights we moved to Casa Blanca house at Bosque that had two bedrooms - one with a king bed and one with two queen beds.

We have been to both Lapa Rios and Bosque. We went to Lapa Rios in August of 2000 and then to Bosque this past August. I posted trip reports (very lengthly) on both trips. If you cannot find them on fodors.com let me know and I can e-mail them to you.

My trip report from Bosque this past summer is under "Bosque del Cabo/Vista del Valle Trip Report". I forgot my trip report from Lapa Rios in 2000 was too long to post but I will be glad to e-mail it to you.