I'm still working on an trip itinerary for May so...

I'm hoping to spend 2 nights in the Santa Elena / Monteverde area either before or after visiting Arenal. Which location do you prefer and what are the advantages and disadvantages of the 2 options?

There are a couple of places (Trapp Family lodge) nearer the Reserve, but the lodging, restaurants, groceries, etc. are mostly in Santa Elena (a few miles) down the road. We stayed here:
http://www.lospinos.net/
and really liked it (and great reviews on tripadvisor).
This is 5 minutes outside the noise and traffic of Santa E., but near everything (right on the road to the preserve). The owners do a great job, the grounds are just beautiful (they encourage you to raid their greenhouse), and the cabins (complete with kitchens) are set so that you feel pretty private; they are clean with nice views. Can't beat it, esp. for the price!

BTW, I believe that the common loop (esp. if you are coming from SJ), is Arenal, Monteverde, beach, back to the airport. But I don't think you can wrong either way.

Santa Elena is closer to the Santa Elena Reserve, while the Monteverde area is closer to the Monteverde Reserve. It depends on where you plan on going as to where is better. They're very close to each other, though. Only about a 5 minute drive.

We stayed at the Rustic Lodge in Santa Elena. Very cute B&B with great owners.

We really liked Fonda Vela - one of the closest hotels to the Monteverde Reserve. They have nice grounds, a good restaurant on site, and our room had a tub and small frig. We saw toucans on the property. Things are pretty close together there; our most expensive cab ride was only 8 bucks.

I would like to recommend Bosque de Paz as an alternative to Monteverde. See http://www.bosquedepaz.com/ . It is also a cloud forest, similar to Monteverde, and you can see birds an animals from your well-appointed room located inside of the reserve. The staff are very nice, there are on-site guides and it is a family run operation. What is especially nice is it is not too long of a drive from San Jose and there are NO PEOPLE THERE! We went for a day visit per the recommendation of our hotel and wished we had stayed there for a few nights. It was only us and another couple, with 2 guides. It was a really beautiful place. I hope to return the next time I go to CR.

JoniC

I believe that Santa Elean is the closest town to the Monteverde reserve?

On Volcanogirl's recommendation we stayed at Fonda Vela, which is located outside of Santa Elena toward the Reserve,last month and really enjoyed the location. It is peaceful, whereas Santa Elena is more active and a bit crowded.

I'm currently looking at 3 places in this area, but by no means have I made any decisions. Does anyone have experience with the following:

Rainbow Valley Lodge
Monteverde Villa Lodge
Monteverde Rustic Lodge

That's awesome, Hoyas - I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. Peaceful is a great way to describe the property.

Still not settled on a place to stay in this area. Have none of you stayed at Rainbow Valley or Rustic Lodge?

www.fondavela.com also my fav

www.monteverdeinfo.com

location best most central

Have stayed at Rainbow Valley nice but in the styx not central

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...dge-Monteverde

your others are not ideal check TA reviews

also have stayed at

www.hotelbelmar.net/index.html

pretty central very nice for price

qwovadis,
It looked like Rainbow Valley might be in the sticks and we hope not to need a rental car.

But I'm confused by the your comment about the others not being ideal since I did rely on TA reviews, along with this board to come up with options. What am I missing?

Monteverde Villa Lodge-#1 of 5 B&Bs / Inns in Santa Elena
Monteverde Rustic Lodge-#1 of 13 Specialty lodging in Santa Elena