Traveling to CR next April. After a few days in the Arenal area we plan to stay 2 nights in Monteverde Cloud Forest. Can someone please recommend a good hotel.

We really liked Fonda Vela. They have some new junior suites that are nice and comfortable - small refrigerator, bathtub, nice grounds with trails. They also have a good restaurant on-site with a fireplace. Great since it can get really chilly at night. They even serve Monteverde ice cream for dessert. I believe it's one of the closest hotels to the reserve which we liked. Santa Elena was too commercial for our taste.

I also very much like La Fonda Vela. The Jr Suite was huge and the staff was incredibly nice. I really loved Monteverde with the exception of the roads.

dario, I think you may be the one who recommended it to me. Thanks for telling us about it. We saw loads of great birds on the property including toucans.

Thanks so much for the recommendation on Fonda Vela. I have made the reservation. I'll be researching tours and transportation options soon and may need more advice.

Yes, the junior suites are great. They have a nice sitting area with huge windows; ours looked out onto the garden area and this huge tree that was full of colorful birds every morning. Any more questions, just ask away. The hotel arranged all our tours for us too - night hike at Hidden Valley, zipline with the Original Canopy Tour, and also a guide for the Monteverde Cloud Forest.

For your Monteverde activities, make sure you get a guide for the MV Reserve and go early. Hopefully you'll see the quetzals! Do not miss the Hummingbird Gallery next door and up the hill - amazing. We also hiked the Santa Elena Reserve and saw different plants, birds, wildlife - it's a bit higher than MV, I think. For whatever reason, our MV guide tried to talk us out of the Santa Elena Reserve, but we were glad we did both. We took a night hike at the Children's Eternal Cloudforest Reserve - saw an agouti, sloth, tarantula and a few other animals. Enjoy your trip.

Arco Iris in Santa Elena is extremely convenient and nice. We splurged on the honeymoon cabin for $180 and were thrilled with our choice.

Since we only have 2 nights in the MCF area, should we make tour reservations before we take our trip? Thanks for your tour recommendations. Your suggestions are very helpful.

We just made our arrangements when we got there and didn't have any problems.

Since you're going during high season I would absolutely make reservations in advance.