Fodor's Expert Review Tree House Lodge

This sustainability-focused lodging complex set within a large swath of undeveloped rainforest contains six spacious and wildly different houses, all at ground level and each creatively conceived to incorporate the surrounding nature and upcycled materials. The newest option, The School Bus, is a house ingeniously built out of an old yellow school bus. The largest is the spectacular Beach Suite, with three bedrooms and domed, sky-lighted bathrooms, and there's the marvelous open-air two-story Tree House. The Beach, Crystal, and Garden Houses are slightly more modest, but, here, that term is relative. Prices skew higher here than other Puerto Viejo lodgings, but the ample size of the houses allows you to split the space among a group, making the per-person price not so alarming. The hotel also has been awarded five leaves (the highest rating) from Costa Rica Tourism Board’s Certification of Sustainable Tourism Program.