97 Best Hotels in Costa Rica

Frequented mainly by surfers, this is a good option for anyone seeking easy beach access, relative solitude, and comfortable, if not fancy, lodging. The hotel's spacious glass-and-stone bungalows are scattered across a leafy property behind Playa Avellanas, which guests reach via an elevated boardwalk through a protected mangrove estuary. Each cabin has a queen bed and a single bed, high wooden ceiling, and covered terrace with a hammock. Eight cabins now have air-conditioning, and although four do not, their high ceilings, shady location, ceiling fans, and good cross-ventilation keep the rooms cool at night. Solar panels provide hot water. Monkeys, iguanas, and other critters mill about the extensive, forested grounds. The restaurant, under the shade of a giant guanacaste tree, serves a selection of Costa Rican and Continental cuisine at reasonable prices ($$) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There's also a playground and game room with a Ping-Pong table and other games.

This "boho chic" boutique hotel is charming, close to the beach, and a good value. The simple, modern rooms have built-in platform beds while the suites have freestanding king-size beds, all with comfortable mattresses, high ceilings, large windows, air conditioning, reliable Wi-Fi, and a minifridge. There is an inviting terrace for guests to relax upstairs and an L-shaped pool and enticing restaurant downstairs. The staff is friendly and welcoming.

The hotel's eco-built bungalows, set within wildlife-friendly, indigenous plant gardens, feature private terraces and king-size beds. The 5 bungalows are set far enough apart so each is private; 2 have open-air ceilings while the other 3 have a/c. The tone of the hotel is friendly and easygoing, something the long-time resident owners have created through their dedication to connecting with guests, the local culture, and the natural environment; the owners are a great source for information about the town, the culture, and the surrounding wildlife. Breakfast (included), lunch, and dinner, made with ingredients harvested from the on-site garden, are served in the open-air restaurant. Happy hour is celebrated with the property's signature coco loco drink; the full bar also serves classic cocktails and smoothies. The property has a small yoga shala, where guests can take classes in Afro-Caribbean dance, Muy Thai, yoga, and self-defense, all taught by members of the local community. There's also a saltwater pool and an on-site spa offering massages.

Comfortable rooms with sweeping views of forest and mountains, birding trails, and bountiful buffet breakfasts are the highlights at this delightful, small hilltop B&B. Rooms are furnished with attractive furniture made by local artisans and have satellite TV. Two bungalows have queen beds and modern bathrooms. Two superior cabins, one with a queen and two single beds and the other a large studio with kitchen and king-size bed, share the spectacular valley view with a spacious two-bedroom, fully equipped house. Start the morning early with a guided birding walk ($15) along trails through the garden, or farther afield near Wilson Botanical Garden. Then enjoy breakfast on the spacious deck framed by entwined tree branches, and keep your binoculars close at hand. Pepe, a professional bird guide, will help you identify visiting birds, as well as organize birding and hiking excursions (tours starting from $20 per person). Kathleen, a tour guide who speaks five languages, prepares elaborate three-course, gourmet fish and plant-based dinners ($22) for guests by reservation.

Everything at this luxury resort—designed like an art deco ocean liner incongruously dry-docked in Golfito's American Zone—is first-class, and guests stroll among gleaming hardwoods, polished brass, and stained glass. A magnificent art collection, commissioned for the hotel, lines corridors equipped, gangway style, with white hand railings and portholes. The smallish standard rooms feel a little subterranean, but feature such swanky amenities as fine linens, marble bathrooms, handsome furniture, well-designed closets, lots of mirrors and reading lights, and strong air-conditioning. Upper-level, deluxe state rooms and suites are brighter and more spacious, with large bathtubs and private balconies. The public areas are grand, filled with more art, sculpture, and stylish leather furniture. Across the road from the main hotel lies a self-contained resort, with a magnificent pool, gym, tennis and squash courts, and a spa. Service is polished and friendly throughout the hotel. Included in the room rate is an excellent buffet breakfast, served in the gloriously over-the-top main dining room. 

This funky little mountain ecolodge has fabulous views of the neighboring Tenorio and Miravalles volcanoes and is a great base for viewing nearby Rio Celeste. The open-air lobby is overflowing with plants and looks more like a greenhouse, the extensive gardens and 2 km (1¼ mile) private hike are perfect for wildlife viewing, and the rooms themselves are minimalist but bright, clean, and comfortable. Breakfast comes with the room but we recommend the pre-fixe dinner as well—inventive cuisine for just $25 a person. 

This comfy Mexican chain with minimalist decor, now a division of Marriott, has an outlet in Costa Rica and a stay here puts you just a few miles from Juan Santamaría airport. Think of it as a Latin American counterpart to Holiday Inn Express. The predominant clientele are business travelers on a moderate budget, but all are welcome, of course. Rooms consist of uniformly tan woods and tiles with splashes of color in the spreads and wall hangings, and floor-to-ceiling windows let in plenty of light. All rooms contain a desk and work area. Rates include an ample breakfast buffet.

At the second entrance to Jacó on the beach's southern end, one of the town's better lodgings includes green-and-cream rooms with private teak balconies and spacious one- and two-bedroom condos. Apartments are clustered in two-story buildings amid massive trees and verdant lawns and have abundant windows, modern kitchens, and pleasant furnishings. The nicest are those nearest the sea (Nos. 14 to 16). Surfboards are available ($35/day), and a horseshoe-shaped bar in the lobby is a welcoming feature, particularly to tired travelers. Las Sandalias restaurant serves some of the area's finest food. 

Furnished with a world-class collection of internationally acquired European antiques, the colonial-style villas and "glamping" safari tents look out over the cloud-topped rainforest or across hilly pastures, the furniture and art evoking a bygone era of extravagant import to the tropics. Outfitted with outdoor showers, nine glamping tents are stationed atop jungle-edged platforms which provide plenty of terrace space to accommodate walnut dining tables and viewpoint-oriented hammocks. Each tent is named after an artist or personality who embodies the romanticized persona of a storied world traveler, their personal histories are interwoven into the tent’s decor and design. The hotel offers the same amenities—room service, laundry, daily cleaning, and Wi-Fi—that you would find in a boutique hotel. It also emphasizes high-quality, delicious breakfasts, serving homemade bread, cakes, and marmalade and changing daily. Wellness offerings include yoga classes on a deck in the middle of the jungle, massages, holistic therapies, meditation, and guided walks where the abundant wildlife is on display. There is a recommended 2--3 night minimum in the tents to get the full experience but it is not required.

A charming family tends to guests at this peaceful, bohemian Shangri-La just 10 minutes down the mountain from—and a noticeable few degrees warmer than—Santa Elena. Two fully furnished ojoche-wood cabins with kitchens, skylights, and patios with hammocks are perched on the mountainside of this nearly 30-acre farm. The smaller cabin sleeps two, while the three-story larger cabin sleeps four. Every vantage point in the cabins—the living area, the bed, the desk, the shower, and even the toilet—has stupendous views. The property has horseback riding, a stone-wall pool, and a Finnish sauna. Optional meals are prepared by a neighboring Costa Rican family and can be taken in the main house or brought to your cabin. Although cabins are affordable, be sure to factor in $10 taxi rides to Santa Elena and $15 entrées if you're dining in. If arriving by car, there are no signs for the hotel so look for the yellow painted rocks and sun logo.

Situated next to the Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, a forest of tall trees towers around these modern, cozy accommodations that exhibit photo-friendly tableaux of plush, textured furnishings; outside the rooms, semiprivate, palm frond-concealed terraces gaze upon a fashionable pool, where guests spread out atop shaded daybeds, relaxing to chill beats and the calls of birds. Fourteen air-conditioned and sumptuously furnished—woven rugs, wicker lanterns, and copious pillows—rooms range from standard and deluxe to suites or a two-bedroom villa. The restaurant is immaculate, serving a menu of carefully prepared, generously portioned Costa Rican cuisine under massive straw light fixtures intermingled with luscious ferns in an open-air rancho. The bar pours fine wines or inventive, tropical cocktails that can be enjoyed poolside or with dinner. The service is attentive and professional, and can help with planning tours or activities.

If fresh mountain air appeals to you, this upscale mountain retreat has comfortable rooms, a first-class restaurant, and spacious, glassed-in sitting areas to enjoy unbeatable volcano and valley views by day and blazing fireplaces by night. The large standard rooms are furnished with a tasteful mix of antiques and folk art, and upstairs rooms have private balconies. The new suites, in a separate two-story building, have kitchenettes and flat-screen satellite TV. Goats, chickens, and ducks on the property help supply the kitchen, which prepares a mix of creative, light tropical cuisine and heartier dishes, including duck stew and seared duck breasts. Cooking classes can be arranged with a local Costa Rican chef. Outside, there are sunny sitting areas in the garden and a path lined with orchids.

One of the best values in the Rincón area for hair-raising adventure and nature tours, this hotel also gets top billing for its comfortable rooms, excellent restaurant, and friendly service. The 3,706-acre working ranch is famous for its horses—more than 100 of them. Rugged ranch hands swagger around, giving the place a real cowboy flavor. Guachipelín is also famous for its wildlife and the nature trails that wind throughout this vast, partially forested property; they lead to several scenic waterfalls, hot springs, and mud baths. Older rooms are comfortable and homey, with screened windows to let in cool mountain air. Try to get a room between Nos. 32 and 39, all of which have volcano views from their front terrace. The newer rooms (Nos. 32 and up) are larger and very elegantly furnished, arranged around a garden with towering trees and a gaggle of geese. All rooms have air-conditioning, but you rarely need it here. Avoid Rooms 24 to 31, right beside the corral, unless you enjoy the aroma of horses. Rooms 10 to 23 are closest to the pool. Hearty buffet and à la carte meals feature authentic touches, such as hand-rolled breakfast tortillas made on the spot, and beef and dairy products fresh from the hacienda's own herd. The pleasant open-air restaurant has valley views by day, and a marimba band plays softly at dinner. The hotel's spa offers an array of treatments, from mud wraps to massages.

The tiled-roof, terra-cotta dwellings and immaculate gardens of this once-abandoned colonial farm have been restored to reflect its Spanish architectural origins, while the hotel’s interiors, art, and overall character incorporate pre-Colombian indigenous history and the modern-day local Tico community. Alongside this exquisite historic hotel are two newly opened glamping tents, fully equipped in function and style, and hidden within the tropical rainforest for a private experience, and a standalone stone cottage whose Moorish-style exterior looks more at home in Morocco than the jungles of Costa Rica. The hotel grounds also include a pool with lounge chairs and a private rancho for dining. The hotel works hard to convey a distinct identity by incorporating the cultures that have played a role in the region's history and daily tours are thoughtful and thorough. The cacao tour shares the chocolate-making process while also telling the story of the indigenous people. Birdwatching tours, which take place on the two miles of trails surrounding the property, are conducted with an experienced nature guide who is skilled in locating many of the 400 species of birds found in Sarapiquí. The service is very personalized—it is not uncommon to interact with the owner and become friendly with the hospitable staff. The restaurant is a focus, serving a menu of decedent Caribbean specialties, and a dinner here is not to be missed.

Comfortable and convenient, especially if you're catching an early-morning flight or you need a break from driving before heading south to the beach, this five-story contemporary Hilton has all the mod cons, including Wi-Fi, HDTVs, microwaves, and refrigerators. Best of all are the beds with pressure-adjustable mattresses. There is also a large swimming pool, gym, laundry facilities, and a free business center. Their main restaurant serves an eclectic menu of watermelon gazpacho, tuna tartare with cassava chips, bourbon pork ribs, chicken in mango sauce, and typical casados to remind you that you're in Costa Rica. With all the international flights in and out of Liberia, the hotel can quickly fill its 169 rooms in high season, which means you're likely to hear English and conversations about golf near the bar. The hotel has embraced energy conservation and earned three leaves on the national sustainability scale. There are eight accessible rooms available.

The best bargain in town, this long-established family hotel offers two-bedroom garden villas surrounding a central pool, as well as a two-story annex with 16 spacious rooms. The annex sits in a quiet corner of the large, lush garden; its no-frills rooms have two double beds, small refrigerators, cable TV, and air-conditioning. Two ground-floor rooms are wheelchair accessible. If you're willing to cook for yourself, the pleasantly furnished villas can accommodate up to six. Be prepared for the sound of kids playing in the pool and garden. The walk to the beach is about five minutes, and there are nearby restaurants and a supermarket. The entire property is gated, including an enclosed parking lot, adding an element of security.

The view from this hotel perched on a hillside above Santa Ana is impressive, but so is the building itself with its blend of colonial and modern style—think archways, hardwoods, and leather. Guest rooms are spacious, with handcrafted furniture and bathrooms with hand-painted tiles; ask for one on the fourth or fifth floor to take advantage of the view. The restaurant, La Luz, has plenty of windows for admiring the distant hills and the pool and gardens below. The eclectic and unusual menu includes rack of lamb with organic coffee sauce and Caribbean-style sea bass with coconut-milk sauce.

You'll find all the standard amenities of a medium-price business-class hotel here, but leisure travelers also enjoy using the Balmoral as their San José base. You're just as likely to hear Japanese spoken in the lobby as you are Spanish and English; the place is quite popular with Asian visitors. The hotel's bright, airy restaurant, El Patio, dishes up Costa Rican specialties amid two floors of greenery. The Balmoral offers many Web-only discounts.

At the eastern edge of the estuary in the Palm Beach Estates gated community, this pleasant hotel (the name means "Happy Happy") has its own landing for ferrying guests and restaurant patrons the 1 km (½ mile) to and from Tamarindo. The hotel forms a 45-degree angle to the curvy pool bordered by a garden. Decorated with native art and pottery, rooms have king-size beds and high ceilings, and open onto a portico with wicker rocking chairs. They don't offer a lot of privacy, but the rooms, painted in brilliant colors, have orthopedic mattresses, cable TVs, coffeemakers, mini-refrigerators, and other upscale amenities. Included in the rate is a made-to-order breakfast ranging from French toast and banana pancakes to eggs Benedict and custom omelets. They can arrange a two-hour boat tour of the estuary, or rentals of nearby houses. The menu at the alfresco Great Waltini's Restaurant & Bar reads like that of a U.S.-style eatery: seafood enchiladas, peel-and-eat shrimp, pork chop, filet mignon, and New York strip steak. They have good fresh seafood specials. Save room for the homemade tres leches dessert or the Philly-style cheesecake. The bar is very popular, especially during U.S. football broadcasts.

Their motto, "still more monkeys than people" is not an understatement, as you're likely to see howler and white-faced monkeys on the forest trails surrounding these varied accommodations (including four converted from airplanes). The property feels stuck in the 1980s but has plenty of lodging types to choose from. All units have kitchenettes, room-front parking, and ocean or garden views. The 20 adults-only studios in Costa Verde II are spacious, with large balconies; those in the other buildings are smaller, but all have standard amenities like flat-screen TVs and air-conditioning. Fully equipped apartments are great for families, and the cheaper "efficiencies" near the road are sightly dated but seem to get the most "monkey business," with troops swinging by your patio or jumping on the rooftops. The hotel has four themed restaurants in Manuel Antonio; El Wagon and El Avion are your best options. If you want to skip the hike to the beach, there are three swimming pools where you can cool off closer to "home." Book a room away from the road if you're a light sleeper.

Under the shade of tropical fruit trees, white bungalows of high-quality wood each contain two bright, sparkling rooms with terra-cotta tile floors and front patios that open onto a central swimming pool. Rooms have either a king or two double beds, a private bath with hot water, ceiling fans, air-conditioning, and lagoon views. All are welcome here, though this lodge is best known for bird-watching and fishing tours, equipment, boat rental, and the nearby lake filled with tarpon and bass. The restaurant is organic-focused with a menu heavy on Costa Rican fare; sweet pineapples, juicy mangoes, tart mamones, and other produce from the lodge's orchard end up on your breakfast plate. Due to the long trek to get here—not to mention all the intriguing wildlife—it's recommended guests stay at least two nights.

Adjoining 1926 and 1933 houses fuse to create the cozy Barrio Amón experience at bargain prices. That said, the Dunn Inn is immensely popular, so reserve well in advance. Pinewood dominates in one section; brick in the other. Sun-filled rooms bear indigenous Bribri names. One room has a balcony, and a few do not have street-facing windows but look onto an interior courtyard. All have terra-cotta floors and little touches such as fresh flowers. The delightful, skylight-covered central patio serves as a bar and breakfast room.

Spread across a hill a few blocks from the beach, this hotel has refreshed rooms and villas with ocean, pool, and garden views. True to its name, rooms with a/c are scattered around a lush garden populated with bright-red ginger flowers and faux-stone indigenous sculptures. Teak paneling and furniture, stained-glass pictorial panels, and terraces with hammocks give this hotel style as well as comfort. If you don't mind the climb, ask for an upper room and you'll get a better view. There's no formal breakfast, but coffee, tea, fruit, and cookies are laid out in the reception area each morning. There's also Wi-Fi throughout the hotel.

This laid-back hotel is right on the beach, and, though nothing fancy, it has comfortable rooms and is an excellent option if you're watching your expenses. The palm-shaded, open-air bar and restaurant is often hopping with local expats and visitors exchanging fishing, boating, and real estate stories. Rooms have tropical decor with terra-cotta tiles, bamboo furniture, and large windows. Those on the second floor are nicer, with high, sloping wooden ceilings. Only two rooms (Nos. 211 and 212) have ocean views, but you're likely to spend plenty of your time in one of the many chairs and hammocks overlooking the beach—some are a shell's toss from the surf at high tide. The hotel runs daily snorkeling and sunset cruises on its own handsome 38-foot sailboat. In the restaurant, jumbo shrimp and always-fresh mahimahi are fixtures. Come on Wednesday or Saturday for beach barbecues. Drinks are two-for-one every day during happy hour, 4 to 6 pm.

This eco-conscious hotel in the heart of town has two small swimming pools surrounded by greenery and brilliant bougainvillea, which gives the property a Mediterranean look. The terraces of the back rooms overlook a curvaceous blue pool surrounded by tropical plants; newer rooms with terraces look out onto the other turquoise pool in a grassy space with lounge chairs. The quietest rooms are Nos. 15 to 19, because they don't get any road noise. The rooms have light bamboo furniture, Guatemalan wall hangings, and hand-painted bathroom tiles. The hotel's Italian restaurant is one of the best in town. The main drawback here is noise from the restaurant and the street, which is why roadside rooms should be avoided; ask for a room overlooking the second pool. A small breakfast is included in the room rate and hungrier guests can order more from a menu.

Brightly painted stone or wood cabins, all with functional bamboo furnishings and air-conditioning, are scattered around the beachfront garden grounds at this place on the far north end of Playa Grande. The pool is large, clean, and shows off a seaside view, the surrounding patio stocked with lounge chairs and encircled by palms and blooming tropical plants. The grounds are abundant with wildlife like sloths, toucans, and frogs. All cabins have bright furnishings and art posters decorating the walls, and rooms #1 and #4 even come with whirlpool tubs. The owners' interest in Eastern religions is evidenced in the hotel's name (la diosa means "goddess") and there are little touches such as the rounding of corners and cachá-wood rails to "enhance feminine energy." A bridge connects the pool to the beach, and a private trail leads to shaded, sandy-bottomed natural pools that are open to the public but most easily accessed from the hotel’s property. The breakfast costs an additional $6 plus tax.

This small hotel tucked off the road to La Garita is a simple and relaxed place to unwind, with its owners adding welcoming energy and personalized touches to the place. There are six buildings, most divided into two units, arranged around the pool and gardens. The white-wall rooms are simple, but it's a quiet place to sleep. Calling ahead for directions is a good idea, but once you're here, you'll have easy access to nearby restaurants and the Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center. The hotel offers occasional online-only specials.

With a prime location on the beach, this place is perfect for surfers, nature lovers, and sun worshippers with a range of budgets. The name, which means "the turtles," is no accident; this hotel was designed with turtles in mind. Owner-conservationist Louis Wilson made sure that room and restaurant lights don't shine on the beach, because light disorients the turtles. Rooms are spacious, with good beds, stone floors, terraces, balconies, and colorful tile bathrooms. Las Tortugas accommodates all budgets, with options ranging from spacious suites to economical dorm-style rooms in an annex at the back of the grounds, which we don't recommend unless you want to rough it. They also offer an array of apartments up the hill, some with kitchenettes, that rent by the night, week, or month. All of this adds up to the best value in Playa Grande, and one of the best deals on the Pacific coast. The main surf break is just to the south of the hotel, and turtle tours start at the ranger station next door. Rip currents are a danger on the beach here, which is why many guests prefer the pool shaped like a leatherback turtle (the turtle's head is the kiddie pool). A palm-lined entrance and lush gardens slung with hammocks round out the grounds' appeal. The restaurant serves a good selection of fresh seafood and grilled meat dishes; a beach snack bar has Caribbean-style food and tacos.

The rhythmic sounds of the nearby ocean make these affordable octagonal wood bungalows spread across a shady, green mango grove the perfect place to practice yoga or just relax. Hammocks and traditional tico rocking chairs furnish the wraparound decks on each cozy cabin. Ceiling and floor fans, plus screened windows and a high conical roof, help keep them cool. Less attractive, though cheaper ($35–$75), are rooms in the two-story orange-and-blue building by the road. Here you’ll find verandas and rocking chairs facing the sea. Four of the second-floor rooms share baths, for less than half the price. The large, secluded, scenic pool with a waterfall overlooks the ocean. Memorable daily yoga classes ($14) are given in a huge, covered open-air pavilion. One-hour yoga classes are held on Friday at 6:30 (by donation).