Tapirus Lodge and Reserve

It is much more isolated than I thought it would be, which turned out to be a good thing. My son liked the “forest fuzzies”. We saw a tapir, toucan, coatimundi and other cool animals The restaurant was great, which is lucky, because it’s the only food for 30 min. Also the only place for potable water, so bring waterbottles! Jonathan in the restaurant is awesome It was bare bones but sitting on the porch completely surrounded by the rainforest was amazing. We did the aerial tram but weren’t able to do the nature walks because of the pouring rain (it’s the *rain*forest, folks) It was so quiet and peaceful. Everyone on the staff was helpful, even pointing out animals when you’re just sitting in the restaurant.

This place is wonderful for the diversity of wildlife. We had a lovely, knowledgeable guide here, too. And the zipline experience is great. Thanks to the guys who ran that. But we didn't enjoy the accommodation here as it felt quite basic and hostely. The mattresses on the bed were old, lumpy and funky-smelling. The ceiling tiles were mouldy and the fixtures in the bathroom were starting to get rusty. Some of the staff were dismissive and a bit rude, though some were lovely so not all of them seemed to forget that guests are their bread and butter. The food at the restaurant was also pretty hit and miss in general, and they didn't really have a clue about vegan-friendly food. We were also surprised that guests were being allowed to stay with dogs. Surely this doesn't correspond with trying to protect the habitat for birds and wildlife that have made their home there? And there are 'rescued' snakes and other creatures kept in very small cages that we felt quite sorry for. It's a shame as this could be a great place to stay, but it is not.

We had a nice stay at Tapirus. The room was clean, nice shower with warm water. The bed was big, but could have new matresses. The top part of the wall behind the bed was covered by only mesh, I wasn't able to sleep since it was way to cold for me, however my husband was able to sleep good. Yes, you can hear trucks at Tapirus but in CR in most places you will hear cars, dogs and roosters, I travel with a white noise machine and the trucks nouses weren't a problem. The breakfast was good, we decided to have our meals in Guápiles which was about 30 min drive. The highlight of the 2 night stay was the night tours, our guide Marvin was very knowledgeable and friendly. When I was told the paths were about 900 mts I had very low expectations, but it was such a nice surprise to see so many animals and insects. We also booked a birding tour with Marvin and he definitely knew what he was doing and we got to see a lot of birds. The tapirs are so cute, we got to see them on several ocassions. The staff was very nice and friendly. Even if I didn't sleep for 2 nights because of how cold I was (keep in mind I am usually cold), I would totally go back to do the night tour and more birding tours.

After arriving into San Jose in the evening we chose to go straight out to the rainforest for our first night. We arrived in the dark but the staff were on hand to meet us at 10pm. We were taking to an accessible room which was up a slight hill but not very far to walk (my mum uses crutches but managed fairly easily). The room while simple had everything we needed and was comfortable for our first night. In the morning we woke up in the middle of the rainforest with a private veranda to admire sights and sounds. Breakfast was a tasty Costa Rican breakfast served in a lovely open air restaurant. We were lucky enough to see a sloth, toucan and hummingbird all before we’d sat down. Staff were very pleasant and our nature guide Marcus was very knowledgeable and welcoming throughout our stay. The Aerial Tramway is quite magical and the butterflies and hummingbirds were beautiful too. I would highly recommend this lodge as a great alternative to staying in San Jose on arrival into Costa Rica. The drive is only about an hour from the airport so not much more than getting through city traffic and the view when you wake up is way more interesting.

its is a basic place but really nice, in the middle of the rainforest, great service, very comfortable and its a great place to do hiking, or different activities, also is really close from san jose.

I have conflicting emotions about the place. You can really enjoy nature, seeing animals you've never seen before and trying to understand how does it feel to live in these contexts. However, you willl pay "everything" is not bed and breakfast (night tour walk, cableway, zip lines, and so on), and you'll pay a lot (the baseline price is not cheap, BTW). It'd be much appreciated to increase the rate, if necessary, and offer some baseline experiences each guest. I don't know if I'd recommend the cableway, you'll see at maximum a couple of monkeys. You can have the same experience in other Costarican parks, without paying that much.