Has anyone stayed here or know anyone who has? I know when it was being built there was some discussions on the board about it not really fitting in Arenal and it being out of place. But it's been there a couple of years now and I haven't seen any mention of it here. It gets excellent reviews on trip advisor and the prices are excellent for a family sized room. The website is very nice, making the hotel and propery seem pretty good.

Right now it's looking like our Arenal hotel is coming down to the most budget type property we have to stay in. We have 99% chosen BDC, which will be Casa Miramar, which in itself split with my parents isn't too bad, but with the meals added on and the flight to get there gets pricy. And then we want to go to the Peace Lodge and I can't for anything figure out how to get a full day there without spending two nights, and that is really, really eating into our budget.

So, in Arenal, we're looking for a nice property, family friendly - meaning nice pool or pools basically! With rooms to accomodate a family of 4 at least - and Mountain Paradise fits nicely. Los Lagos is still in the running, but it's more than $50/night more because kids are counted as adults once they're over 6 yrs old and that puts us into a quad pricing. And AOL is a big choice, but I'm hesitant with the drive into town down that road every time we want to head off the property. Lost Iguana is too expensive....

By the way, Peace Lodge offered us 20% off their Arenal Springs and Spa resort if we booked them with the Peace Lodge, but it's soooo expensive - unfortunately we won't be taking advantage of thta offer!

Thanks!

Hi Shell -- What time of day do you get in? How about going to PL first, do the night tour, spend one night and stay until dark before your x-fer to Arenal?

Shell, we have done the Peace Lodge in one night before. We got up really early the next morning and did the falls and had everything to ourselves. Not sure if that would work for you guys, but it's a good way to save $ and fun to be the only ones there!

Hi ShellD,

I actually know this property quite well. We have been using it in some of our packages.

We have known the owner of this hotel for a long time. Over the last twenty years, he has managed Arenal Lodge, Tabacon Lodge, and Montana de Fuego. This is his own property, and he knows his stuff.

This place gives a lot of bang for the buck. Really cool bathrooms, private hot tubs on the verandas, free Wifi, great views.

Highly recommend!

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer any more advice.

Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
Travel Professional

That's a thought - to arrive in the afternoon and do a morning at Peace Lodge. If it was just my husband and the kids, I'd do that in a second, especially since we've been there before. But since my parents haven't been to PL before, my feeling is that they would feel rushed. It would be our first stop in CR if we did it this way and PL is such a unique place that they wouldn't get to enjoy it. Even though our flight gets in at about 11:00 am, if everything went perfectly, by the time we'd get out of the airport, got the rental car and got there, it would be after 2:00 easily. We'd have check in and lunch and that puts us at the point where the exhibits are closing. We could do the night frog tour and yes, get up early and hike the falls, but we wouldn't have time for them to really see everything there is there and get on the road to get to Arenal in the daylight. So - I don't think that will work out the best.

I had thought we could put 6 of us in the Monarch Villa, but it looks like we can't which means for the 4 of us it's the monarch with is nearly $500/night and my parents need their own room.

So - we're looking at the less expensive options in Arenal at this point.

Thanks Pat - I appreciate the feedback - you were posting the same time I was. I was really hesitant to book without some fodors feedback, but now I feel much more confident!! Their prices seemed almost too good to be true, and even include breakfast, so I was hoping for someone here to chime in.

Do they have a nice pool or more than one pool? How far out of La Fortuna are they located? Past Tabacon or in that general area?

Thanks!

It is off the beaten track, about a half mile from the main road.

The turnoff is a mile or two past Hotel Mountain Paradise. Maybe half way between La Fortuna and Tabacon? The Arenal Nayara is on the same road, right next door.

Only one pool area. It's nice, but I spend most of my time at the hot springs. So I don't use the pool much when I visit Arenal. Breakfast was really good too.

Have fun!

Pat

My two cents here about the horrible, god-awful road to Arenal Observatory Lodge. Maybe it's because we live in the rural Midwest, but the road was not awful at all, you just have to drive slow because it's bumpy. Everything is pretty spread out in the Arenal area, unless you want to stay right in Fortuna, which would't appeal to me. You have to take that road to get to Sky Trek anyway, and in IMOP it's well worth the drive to experience the natural area so close to the volcano.
Also...since the earthquake, Peace Lodge is just not what it used to be, and I wouldn't spend so much time making the trek there. (Must be my negative day ;-) )

Shell here is a link for Peace Lodge that tells you what's open and not http://www.waterfallgardens.com/quake/#progress Whether they are sticking close to those dates I'd ask them, schedules are so often behind in CR.

One thing to consider, or maybe you already have - the road damage immed. North of Vara Blanca/La Paz, so you may have to backtrack from PL back to Alajuela before you start off for Arenal. Not sure how fast that work is going.

So Shooie...I'm curious what exactly you mean by Peace Lodge is not what it used to be. In what way?

I'm curious too; it seems to still be getting consistently rave reviews.

I always liked sitting around the Trout Bar for lunch, which isn't up and running yet, and with only 2 waterfalls where you have to hike back up the hill since the lower exit it closed, along with having construction going on. The rooms are beautiful, but when you have to drive back almost to the airport before you head to Arenal (where part of the road are surrounded by bare red earth), it doesn't seem worth it right now.