tzaluv

hello. we're very attracted to spending several nights at el remanso on osa. we will be finishing up a 3 day trek in corcovado and would like to stay somewhere comfortable (preferably a private cabina) with beach access but under $200 per night for 2 people (which rules out many places). we also want great birding and wildlife (which seems to rule out places closer to puerto jimenez). el remanso seemed like a great option, but we have seen several negative posts on this board including reports of food poisoning. i would appreciate hearing from anyone who could recommend el remanso and share their experience. thanks in advance!

Jessie_

You could check with Look Out Inn. They are right across the street from the beach and the Carate airstrip. There are Scarlet Macaws everywhere. They have a couple of cabinas. One is the owners cabin that they rent out when he isn't around and then they have one other smaller one. Other than that, they only have 3 guest rooms so it is never crowded. It is very casual and dinner might actually be prepared by a bunch of the locals who hang out there. The food was good. I got there a day late for the big beach bbq but we had a whole thanksgiving dinner one night while I was there. It was Feb!

Haven't stayed at El Remanso, just visited it from next door while staying at Bosque del Cabo. There were no guests there at the time. It is down a long driveway. The cabins appeared to be one in front of the other in a line as you walk down the hill. Looked okay. I didn't notice any view of the beach and I suspect it would be a hike to get to it as there is over at Bosque. That area of the coast is pretty rocky and some areas you can't get to any beach during high tide. The beaches during low tide are very secluded if that makes a difference.

earlxx

tzaluv, did you go to the Hotel section on fodors.com and read reviews of El Remanso? It got very low score. Too low, IMO, to risk staying there.

Our friends loved Look Out Inn. We only stayed at Lapa Rios

tzaluv

thanks for your responses! unfortunately look-out inn is fully booked on the days we want to go. and lapa rios is out of our price range. availability at bosque del cabo doesn't work for us either. earlxx, it seems that the fodor's reviews are evenly split between rants and raves -- lots of 1's and lots of 5's! i would love it if someone who had a good experience there could post on this board. anyhow, we may end up staying at iguana if there's availability since it's close to the beach and seems to get good reviews.

jakethecat

My husband and I did not have a great time at Iguana. The guy managing the place was really rude. Then again, we had just left the Corcovado Tent Camp which was AMAZING, so anything might have paled in comparison.

earlxx

tzaluv, why is it important for you to be near a beach? Are you counting on swimming, snorkeling, or something else?

cinepez

Hmmm- this place is near the airport- stumbled across it while surfing the net. I don't know anything about it, but it does seem cheap. http://www.manglares.com/

la chosa del manglar hotel near puerto jimenez

Molly2

tzaluv, you might want to check out Cabinas Las Calates, near Drake Bay. It has access to and gorgeous views of a beautiful beach perfect for swimming. Also free use of kayaks and snorkling eqiuipment. The price was $60 per person last summer, including all meals. Getting there requires a "wet landing" by boat. We were greeted by a not only a bunch of people waiting to greet us and help with our luggage, but about a dozen white-faced monkeys! I did a report on the place a while back.

Mind you, this is a laid-back place where people grab a beer, sit down, and eat in their bathing suits! There are shared cabinas, but we snagged a private one, which did mean a rather tedious climb up and down a hill and a cold-water shower in an inconvenient location on the bottom floor {the other have warm water}, but lots of privacy. It was very comfortable and its way, romantic.

We saw quite a bit of wildlife on the grounds {we were constantly jumping up to look at exotic birds while we were eating} and public trails, but there is a private trail a short walk away {the very friendly guy charges a nominal fee}that has lots of wildlife, especially howler monkeys.

You will love this area, wherever you decide to stay!

Jessie_

Jakethecat, I am really surprised to hear about the "manager" being rude. Toby and Loren must have been out of town I guess. Their kids are living in boarding schools stateside now so they are probably going back more often to see them. They have always been very nice and friendly when I have been there. I have never seen a manager there. Did you write to them and mention it? They did have a bartender next door who seemed to be drinking as much as he was selling but they got rid of him.

I stayed at the tent camp also and really enjoyed it. I found privacy to be a bit of an issue because the only way we could stand the heat was to have the tent flaps up and we were pretty close to our neighbors. I didn't care for the bathroom set up either. The CRE food is always great in all of their different places. I particularly like the sopa de chayote and their homemade granola. They make a great mora con leche also. The hammocks under the palm trees were wonderful and that is where I saw my first humpback from.

We stayed at Luna Lodge and enjoyed it there also. No pool and a long way to hike to the beach though. Some pretty waterfalls to play in.

tzaluv

we were actually considering las caletas. however, we thought drake bay would be a hassle for us to get to -- we are already planning to spend 2 nights birding at bosque del rio tigre (near puerto jiminez), then 3 nights hiking and camping in corcovado (carate to sirena to carate), and we want to spend at least a couple of nights at a beach recharging our batteries (in relative luxury) before making our way north for the second half of our trip (we will have a rental car delivered). so we thought it would make sense to stay on the pj side -- does anyone think that drake bay would fit into this plan instead?

earlxx, we mainly want to be at the beach to swim/relax after corcovado, and it will be our only beach time in cr. the other possibility would be to drive to the beach at uvita/dominical on our way north.

jakethecat, surprised and disappointed to hear about your experience at iguana. we've read nothing but good things, including about their hospitality.

Incognito

I know it is too late to answer tzaluv's question and help her out but maybe someone else have the same dilemma and because we stayed in EL Remanso in July I can tell you we would not return to this place. It is nothing wrong with it but it is not a friendly place. Everywhere we went in Costa Rica people were amazing. Here, on the other hand, one owner was very nice but his wife had too much attitude and spent too much time talking about herself. Food was bad. We did not get a food poison but it was extremely dissapointing. You can see the ocean when you climb to the top of a tree. For bird watching we went to Bosque del Cabo (I think this is a correct name) which is next door. There are no trails to walk on. To see scarlet macaw we went to Puerto Jimenez.