Poas Volcano Lodge

We stayed here in February 2018, and we totally recommend this hotel! The restaurant onsite was EXCEPTIONAL --- GREAT service and GREAT food. Unfortunately, the Volcano has been closed for safety reasons for almost a year, so their primary tourist attraction is unavailable. However, there is a fantastic waterfall park nearby that is absolutely worth seeing - and it takes at least a half-day to see it all. We stayed in the Main lodge (Rooms #1 through #4), which we would recommend. Many of the rooms are in a separate building across the parking lot, and we would recommend avoiding those rooms, as they have no view and felt very different from the Main Lodge rooms. POSITIVES: The restaurant. We can't say enough great things about this restaurant - the service and the food were simply terrific, Breakfast was included in our rate, and it was also great. The Lodge itself. Beautiful, interesting --- there is a library and a reading room, several small wood burning stoves that they light on chilly evenings, and other neat rooms to explore. NEGATIVES The woman that greeted us when we checked in on Feb 27 and departed on Feb 28 - was simply a cold person, She never made us feel welcome in any way, and in fact almost made us feel like we were interrupting her use of her smartphone. She was a terrible first and last impression of an otherwise friendly and accommodating staff. Maybe she was just having two bad days in a row --- but yikes. The noise. We have kids and love kids - but there was a family with two very small children staying in the hotel, and thee kids were non-stop disruption and noise the entire time we were at the hotel. They did their best to ruin both dinner and breakfast for all the other patrons, and as a result our stay was much less pleasant than it might have been. The parents seemed quite nice but were utterly clueless, and the children were completely out of control - spending much of their stay running through the lobby and hallways screaming and playing. I realize this isn't the hotel's fault - they were caught in a tough situation. However, the restaurant staff probably should have suggested that this family get their meals "to go" and eat them in their room or elsewhere - this was a tiny restaurant, and their behavior ruined the experience for the other guests. And the Hotel manager should have insisted the parents take their children outside to run amok. Then again, the manager on duty appeared to be the rather crabby woman who checked us in and out, so ... We still recommend this tiny boutique hotel!

Set well back from road in beatiful surroundings, this is an oasis, although close to volcano area. Small but perfect this Lodge has spacious well appointed rooms with delightful extra touches. If you are in the main building you have fantastic views. The staff are very friendly and the meals, although fairly limited choice are the best I have had in Costa Rica. You will not be disappointed

We loved it here. Ok it comes at a price, but it is beautiful. If there was no low cloud we would have had a spectacular view of the volcano. As it was we made do with doing the walk in there grounds, bird spotting, going to La Paz waterfalls and eating their superb food. Friendly people too.

We loved the Poas Volcano Lodge. The location is spectacular, and the architecture and interior design of the property is stunning. We were greeted on arrival with tea and cake, and in the room with fresh strawberries. Those little extra touches ensured a warm welcome. Our room was beautiful, tasteful and spotlessly clean. We had a bath, always appreciated by me! Very good quality fittings in the room including excellent curtains which really blocked out the light. Very good quality toiletries, hairdryer and coffee making facilities all included. It was very quiet, which is not surprising, given the location on a hill farm. In the main building there were comfortable lounge areas and a library with wood burners, adding to the cosy atmosphere. The staff were helpful and charming, and both dinner and breakfast in the dining room were faultless. There is a great wildlife trail in the grounds, and viewing spot to watch the birds and other wildlife. After dinner, returning to our room, we were delighted to have a hot water bottle in the bed! Attention to detail is superb. My only minor criticism is lack of a full-length mirror and not much cupboard or drawer space for clothes. The only disappointment was we were only there for one night!

This place is fantastic! We only stayed one night between arriving at the San Jose airport and heading to La Fortuna, but we would have loved to stay at least one more. In addition to its beautiful common spaces and guest rooms, we were really impressed with the spa prices and with the quality of the restaurant for its being such a small hotel. We spent a few hours on a wet, muddy hike through the cow pastures and other trails, and loved every second of it.

We came here as part of a tour and all loved the place. Wildlife on the doorstep, fresh local food and a wonderful relaxed atmosphere. Didn't want to leave. There is a games room, bird viewing conservatory and wildlife trail.

After arriving in San Jose after a long flight and driving a bit over an hour to Poas, it was such a welcoming feeling to walk into this cozy mountain lodge, with the fire going and dinner still being served in the restaurant. Upon arrival, we were ushered to our lovely rooms in the main building and then proceeded to dinner and enjoyed excellent food and service. After dinner we were pleased to make arrangements with the front desk for a naturalist guide to do some birding early the next morning. The guide they recommended, Michael Jimenez, had a phenomenal knowledge of Costa Rican birds and wildlife and he even found for us the Resplendent Quetzal, a rare bird that we never expected to see on this trip! So exciting! While there, we also visited the nearby La Paz Waterfall gardens and enjoyed this beautiful spot, with its hiking trails, birds, frogs, butterflies, monkeys, and of course the amazing cats. We spent two nights at this lodge which was a great stopover on our way to our next hotel in La Fortuna. The fact that it is in a higher elevation, it gets cool at night and we definitely used the heaters in the rooms each night. We also appreciated the box meals prepared for us each day, since early birding prevented us from enjoying their complimentary breakfast. This is definitely one of those places that prides themselves on good service and they go out of their way to make your stay pleasurable!

During our recent visit to Costa Rica we ended up staying at the Poas Volcano Lodge twice, the first time was part of our planned itinerary and the second time we were escaping from an unsatisfactory hotel. During our first two night stay we stayed in the Orchid Room, which was in a separate building from main building. We liked the room very much and it was only a short walk to the main building where the restaurant was located. For our second two night visit, we had called the lodge to see if they had any rooms available, the only rooms available were the volcano view rooms in the main building, which we accepted. This room was more expensive than the Orchid Room, but it was a really nice room. It had better furniture, better bed, better linens, and if the weather had been nicer I'm sure the view would have been terrific. Either way, we were happy to get the room and were very comfortable in it. We really liked the Lodge, the breakfasts and dinners were excellent! We both thought the quality of the food was top notch and the service excellent. It was unfortunate that the weather happened to be rotten both times we were there, we truly were in the clouds for most of the time. We enjoyed sitting by the wood stove in the lounge area, the terrible weather made it feel very cozy. We will definitely stay at the Lodge again on our next visit to Costa Rica, I'll hope for good weather and a view of the volcano.

The last night of our wonderful trip to Costa Rica, planned by Pacific Trade Winds, was spent at Poas Volcano Lodge. Since we only had less than an hour to the the San Jose airport, Pacific Trade Winds planned an incredible evening for my wife and I, at Poas Volcano Lodge. Six thousand feet above sea level, was this gorgeous farm, filled with many, many healthy looking cows. We drove up the mountain side to this beautiful grounds, with the most spectacular views of the lush, green hills, gorgeous cloud cover surrounding the mountains and several farms. The lodge office used to be the home of an Englishman, who settled in this region in the 1970's. Apparently he and his family fell in love with the scenic views and after their first visit decided to settle at Poas Volcano. The farm and their home was occupied for twenty years, when they then decided to build the lodge, in place of their home. It is so charming and cozy and just gives you the feel of home. There is a library, sitting room, game room overlooking this beautiful mountain side. We sat and read for an hour or two prior to dinner, with the fire burning right by our side. We were offered tea while we read and chatted. At about 7 pm we enjoyed a spectacular dinner, with many of the foods prepared from things grown on the property. The living accommodations were so warm and charming and enjoyed by us both immensely.