Lost Iguana Resort And Spa

“Boutique perfection, stunning grounds, exceptional service. 💛”

From the moment we arrived at Lost Iguana Resort & Spa, we knew we had found something truly special. This is the definition of a perfect boutique hotel. Intimate, peaceful, and incredibly well run, with a level of care and attention that feels genuinely heartfelt. The ambiance is absolutely stunn… more

From the moment we arrived at Lost Iguana Resort & Spa, we knew we had found something truly special. This is the definition of a perfect boutique hotel. Intimate, peaceful, and incredibly well run, with a level of care and attention that feels genuinely heartfelt. The ambiance is absolutely stunning, with thoughtful decor throughout that feels elegant, warm, and perfectly suited to the natural surroundings. The grounds are simply breathtaking. Lush, vibrant, and immaculately maintained, every pathway and garden feels like a tropical sanctuary. You can feel the pride in every detail, from the landscaping to the overall cleanliness of the entire property. What truly sets this resort apart is the staff. Every single person we encountered, from reception to the restaurant to housekeeping, made us feel so genuinely cared for. There is a warmth and attentiveness here that is rare to find. The team is cheerful, professional, and always one step ahead, ensuring every part of your stay is seamless and enjoyable. The food was absolutely delicious, with fantastic service to match. Every meal felt elevated, yet relaxed and welcoming at the same time. Much like the best boutique experiences, the size of the resort is perfect. It is not overwhelming or crowded, allowing you to fully relax and unwind, while still offering exceptional service and all the amenities you could want. We were truly blown away by the beauty, the atmosphere, and the level of care throughout our stay. This is a five star experience in every sense. We would highly recommend this resort to anyone visiting La Fortuna and would return without hesitation. 💛

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“Beautiful place, but front desk can be a bit of a pain.”

Great experience overall. Friendly staff, beautiful grounds, and great pool. I loved the puma trail, absolutely gorgeous. The room was perfect for our family of five, and the pool area was stunning. Golf carts were available when we did not feel like doing the steep walk. The guys driving the golf … more

Great experience overall. Friendly staff, beautiful grounds, and great pool. I loved the puma trail, absolutely gorgeous. The room was perfect for our family of five, and the pool area was stunning. Golf carts were available when we did not feel like doing the steep walk. The guys driving the golf carts are super friendly. There were a couple of small frustrations though. Our experience at the Blue Hibiscus restaurants was below average. The restaurant is pricey and understaffed. We ordered five sodas and some waters for the table. They brought us a bottle of mineral water (we did not ask for) for 10$, and the five cokes (no refills, even though they were clearly fountain drinks) were $5 each. That's $35 right there for a coke and 3/4 of a glass of wate for five. Service was extremely slow, aloof, and not very friendly, as if someone had told him that snooty waiters are part of the fine dining experience. The food was ok, but very salty. My mushroom risotto was pretty mushy. My son loved his steak though, and the kid's meny had some good options. Overall I'd say that the food at the bar, was much better value for money and had some good options. And at the bar, you can also get the menu items from Hibiscus, minus the attitude. I also had a negative experience with the front desk after I had been charged by room service for an item I never received. I went to the front desk early on my day of check-out to ask if they could remove the item by the time I checked out, "Yes, of course, no problem." When I checked out a few hours later, of course the person had not taken care of it and I had to explain the whole thing all over again. He explained to me that in order to remove the item from the bill, he had to jump through a bunch of hoops (talk to his chef, call room service to issue a new bill, recalculate the total, create a new invoice....) and that it would take some time, which was exactly the reason I had alerted him about this 3 hours earlier, to no avail. I had my family waiting in the car to do some fun activities before heading out of town, so the last thing I wanted to do was waiting 25 mins to have a chicken quesadilla refunded, so I just left. But come on, I spent four nights there, spent $700 at the bar and restaurants, tipped everyone well, and you are giving me a hard time about refunding a $10 snack I never received? Left a bit of a sour taste, to be honest.

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“Excellent Resort in the Forest”

This is one of those semi-hidden “I don’t know if I want to tell people about how great it is” places. We added a few nights stay here on to our trip, and the days we spent here turned out to be the highlight of our entire trip. Because of the timing of our flights/transfers, we ended up arriving… more

This is one of those semi-hidden “I don’t know if I want to tell people about how great it is” places. We added a few nights stay here on to our trip, and the days we spent here turned out to be the highlight of our entire trip. Because of the timing of our flights/transfers, we ended up arriving at the hotel super late (~4AM). The hotel was incredibly accommodating, not only had someone wait at the gate for us to make sure we found the place, but drove us to our room, helped unload, and allowed us to check in the following morning. Our first night was spent in one of the “standard deluxe” rooms (room 19 I think, it was an upper-floor room with a balcony), and we would have been perfectly happy had we spent our entire trip there. On check-in, we moved to one of the “Casitas” (room 51, ground floor patio), and those rooms are a *dream*. Cleanliness/Maintenance: As clean as you can wish for a hotel in a rainforest. In the standard room we noticed no issues at all. Everything was spotless, including the balcony. In the Casitas, since it is ground floor we did have flower petals/leaves/bugs blowing into the patio (though what do you expect from an open patio? I almost don’t even want to mention it, it’s such a small thing). The room itself was spotless and well cared for. Comfort: I have to defer to my wife here, as I’m one of those “give me a plank of wood to sleep on and I’m happy” folks. My wife says the beds and pillows in both rooms were perfectly soft. Space: Both rooms are good size. We traveled as a couple with two of the “large” suitcases (just under being oversized for international flights), and we had more than enough room to spread out in the standard room. The Casitas is a 2-bed/1.5-bath, with a living room and patio, so even spread out we had an abundance of space. Location: ~3 hour drive from SJO, ~30 minutes from La Fortuna. Anywhere we went at the hotel we felt like we were secluded in the middle of the rainforest, which is just what we were hoping for. If you’re looking for a tropical escape from city life, this is *exactly* where you want to be. Noise: Standard room: You share walls (and maybe a ceiling) with other rooms, so expect to hear the “normal” amount of hotel noise. Our room looked out over the area the restaurant is (though you could only see a sliver of the roof poking out of the forest), and if you were quiet you could sometimes hear people at the pool/at the bar. Most of the noise while we were there came from the forest wildlife. Casitas: Room 51 only had one neighboring room upstairs, and we were lucky enough to have quiet neighbors for all but our last night. Our last night the upstairs neighbors turned on the air conditioner and TV, and you could definitely hear them. Shutting the bathroom door shut out the A/C noise (we kept it open most of our stay, because the breeze going through the room was nice). Other than that one set of neighbors, you aren’t going to hear anything but animals here. Amenities: We never visited the pool/bar, but on walks past it they both look great. Breakfast every morning was great. We stayed at a few other hotels during this trip (inside and outside San Jose), and this was definitely the best breakfast of them all. Dinner at the restaurant was amazing. Absolutely the best food we ate during our trip, and outshines many of the restaurants we have here in Los Angeles. We had room service a few times, they were always fast and the food was delicious. In-room there was a coffee pot/teakettle, minifridge (stocked with drinks you could pay for, but we used it for leftovers), and a sink/microwave in the Casitas room. Service/Staff: Simply put, amazing. The staff was always friendly in a way that never came off as anything but genuine. We never had a poor interaction with anyone. If you’ve heard of Costa Rica being a welcoming country, the staff here will prove it beyond a doubt. Activities Onsite/Nearby: Frog Garden/Night Walk Lost Iguana - I’d consider the Night Walk to be a “must do” if you are staying at this hotel. Our guide was Mauricio, who took us partway up the Puma Trek, and down to the Frog Garden at night. They supply the flashlights, and the guides are *excellent* at spotting wildlife. I won’t even try to pretend to remember all the names, but we saw dozens of frogs, spiders, mice, lizards, and even a forest crab! Puma Trek (Self-Guided) - Another “must do”. If you’re looking for a more relaxing hike, ask them to take you to the top of the hill, and walk down from there. You can enter by the front desk, but then you’ll be walking uphill the entire way. Mistico Park - Close enough to walk to, but if you have a car you might want to drive since the walk is mostly uphill. Another great place to see the wildlife. All the above, plus sloths/anteaters/howler monkeys/more! Night Raft Safari - Monkeys/Sloths/Iguanas/Birds/etc. We didn’t see any caiman or crocodiles, but the rest of the ride was great. The snack at the end was delicious as well. Ecotermales Hot Springs - We opted to go to this hot spring instead of the Pura Vida Hot Springs offered, and we loved it. We arranged to have dinner at Ecotermales, which I’d recommend as well. I can’t say how it compares to other hot springs in the area since we only went here, but it was definitely a relaxing night! Pros: The Casitas room had a *ton* of wildlife activity, which we absolutely loved. A Family of Coatis that would trek directly across the patio almost daily. A Tayra that climbed the tree directly in front of the patio. A few pairs of Crested Guan that roam the hotel property, and slept in the area in front of the patio. Birds and Butterflies constantly visiting. Cons: If you are staying at the Casitas, either drive yourself or prepare for a hike each time you leave the room to do anything. That hill is steep! Wishes: We kept wishing there had been screens on the doors, for when the sun goes down and the bugs come out, but you still want to enjoy the breeze. The Casitas room had loops on some of the pillars that we thought would be *perfect* for a hammock. We never ended up asking if the hotel had one we could use, but we couldn’t help but imagine lounging in one while watching the forest.

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“Overall OK”

We recently stayed at Lost Iguana Resort & Spa and overall had a pleasant experience, with a few notable drawbacks. The rooms were spacious and clean, and the surrounding nature is beautiful—lush, peaceful, and exactly what you hope for in La Fortuna. The staff were consistently nice, polite, and… more

We recently stayed at Lost Iguana Resort & Spa and overall had a pleasant experience, with a few notable drawbacks. The rooms were spacious and clean, and the surrounding nature is beautiful—lush, peaceful, and exactly what you hope for in La Fortuna. The staff were consistently nice, polite, and helpful throughout our stay, which we really appreciated. Breakfast was also good, with a good buffet-style selection each morning. On the downside, the pool area is quite small, and the atmosphere can quickly become less enjoyable if other guests’ kids are being loud or unsupervised (during our stay some kids without any parental supervision were jumping from hot tub to pool, pretty much making everyone else leave). The most surprising part of our stay was that there is a hiking trail on the property, but guests are required to pay extra to use it. This felt unusual and a bit disappointing, especially considering it’s within the resort grounds. I believe it is $20 per person. Considering it is just few minutes away from Mistico Hanging Bridges it is really hard to understand. Overall, it’s comfortable place to stay, but a few improvements could make the experience much better.

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