carrom

Hi, has anyone stayed at La Paloma Lodge in Drake bay Osa peninsula? Any comments appreciated.
Thanks

jamamac

Stayed there a couple of years ago and it was beautiful, especially the individual units that they upgraded us to because they were not occupied. The food was not great. The owners were away and the daughter was running the place. She was not too friendly, but the woman (can't remember her name) who made the arrangements for the tours, etc. was extremely accomodating and helpful. Hope this helps you a little!

carrom

Thanks! Hopefully the food has improved over the last few years! It seems very expensive (we are 4) so before deciding i wanted to get some opinions from people who'd been. Would you say it was a great place to see animals, birds etc without the crowds in CR ?

Jessie_

We stayed there and really enjoyed it. We had one of the ranchos and were very comfortable there. We also thought the food was very good. Not super gourmet but sometimes gourmet isn't all that great. Dinner was served family style which not everyone likes.

Nicole is the manager and she is very good. Most people we talk to seem to think she is doing an excellent job.

There is a good amount of wildlife around there. We didn't see much but lots of people have reported on this board that they have seen tons of stuff. We spent a lot of time away from the lodge looking at property so that could be why we didn't see as much. Nature, as anywhere, can be variable anyway.

trekker

We stayed a week at La Paloma about 5 or 6 years ago, and loved it. They had a resident bird guide who was excellent. Food was fine---as mentioned, hardly gourmet, but fine. If you are lucky, someone staying there will be into deep-sea fishing, and you will get to enjoy their catch! I would recommend it over the pricier Aguilla de Oro, also in Drake Bay. If you want something more upscale in Osa, try Lapa Rios.

carrom

Thank-you for all your comments. Believe it or not Lapa Rios is already booked up the dates we wanted in December! Is it all that much nicer?

Jessie_

As far as them (LR) being booked up in Dec.,a lot of the nicer places are already filling up for that time of year. I personally didn't think they were all that great. At least when we were there it seemed a little too uppity for us. We just prefer a slightly more relaxed place. It is very nice and they, as well as a lot of other nice places like El Remanso and Bosque del Cabo, are doing a lot to preserve that very unique area.

La Paloma is a very nice, well respected lodge and definitely worth visiting. They have wonderful, safety minded tours and a great staff.

Pat2003

Jessie, I know you are a frequent traveler to you beloved Costa Rica. I have to disagree with you about placing El Remanso next to Bosque del Cabo. We did not feel that El Rremanso does as much as others to preserve environmet. The owner talks lot about it especially in her e-mails when we asked about it. During our four trips we stayed in El Remanso for nights, La Paloma 4 nights, Bosque 5 nights, Lapa Rios four nights. We love three of them for many different reasons but El Remanso was the biggest dissapointment. El remanso e-mails were very friendly and promissing so we were very excited about our sty there. Once we arrived at El Remanso we experienced one very unpleasant owner. She was the same one who sent us all friendly e-mails. Food was the worst we ever had anywhere in Costa Rica. Did you ever stay there, did you see their sheets and towels? What a shame! Would return in a heart beat to La Paloma, Lapa Rios and Bosque del Cabo. On a scale 1-10 I would give El Remanso 2, La Paloma 10 and both Lapa Rios and Bosque del Cabo 9. The most wildlife we had in lapa Rios

kcapuani

carrom - I stayed at La Paloma for 3 nights in Feb 2003 and absolutely loved it. The sunset ranchos have beautiful hardwood floors and stunning views of the Pacific. I thought that the food was very good - I had steak the first night, fajitas the next and mahi on the final night. Also, you could order whatever you wanted for breakfast so I always had banana pancakes.

Nicole was the manager and was truly great. She was very on top of things, and made sure that my cousin received her lost luggage. She even lent my cousin her sunglasses and a hat in the meantime.

karenlf

Hi carrom
We stayed at LaPaloma last summer for four nights in a standard room because there were no ranchos available. We have stayed at Bosque del Cabo twice, in fact we went to La Paloma last year after Bosque. We absolutely loved it. The beach is an easy five minute walk. We went on the tour with Tracie the bug lady at night, to Corcovado, and took a dolphin trip with Delfin Amor. The food at La Paloma was good for as remote as this is. Nicole was probably the most professional service oriented employee I have encountered. She did everything she could to make our trip great. When we told her we preferred to eat alone, rather than at a table with strangers (some of whom were there with children) she had a small table for us where we ate by candlelight every night. We saw lots of wildlife on the grounds, including 18 scarlet macaws in the trees at one time, and plenty of monkeys. I would not recommend the standard rooms because the walls were paper thin, and they were a bit worn.Other than that I have no complaints. We loved it and would definitely return.

carrom

Thank-you everyone! we will definitely book at La paloma. All your comments have been very helpful.

volcanogirl

cherry, why are you topping a 9 year old thread? They went in 2005.