Hotel in Arenal
 

Looking for a hotel in Arenal that has a nice volcano view (active side) and close to La Fortuna (walking or short cab since we won't have a car). Any recos?

www.arenal.net

For a lava view you have to be out by the lake far from town.

www.tabacon.com is the cloest one in with

free best hot springs IF you stay there sales from $150/nt

on sites like www.sidestep.com

Best for me for in town non lava view

www.hotelmagicmountain.com

You can't have both lava view and be close to town. Lava view hotels (as far as I know) are only Lost Iguana and Arenal Observatory Lodge - AOL. Linda Vista might have views since it is further out than AOL, not sure.

I was just in La Fortuna this morning. For in town, I stayed two nights at Hotel Monte Real. Its a budget hotel but walking distance to everything in town. The owners are extremely nice and it cost about 45 per night. I spent one night at Hotel Arenal Paraiso. This was about 100 per night and had its own private hot springs. I probably woudn't stay here again because it cost 8 dollars each way to get into town. The hotel is nice but the staff were kinda rude and didn't go out of there way to make me feel welcomed. I had just the opposite at Monte Real where the owners were fantastic. No lava views at either hotel, but I had gorgeous weather and could see the top of the volcano every day. I went on three Desafio trips and recommend this company. I did the Mambo Jumbo, which is canyoneering down a waterfall and white water rafting. the second day i did the tour to Venado Caves which i really enjoyed. Hope your trip goes well.

We loved Lost Iguana - partial lava view only. For better views (probably the best in the area), you can try AOL, but getting there is harder, definitely not walking.

We love the Lost Iguana - it's an easy ride to town, but probably around 20 minutes or so. Wonderful hotel. Lava and close to town are sort of mutually exclusive.