If you’re looking for a hotel in the middle of the rainforest, then this is the one for you! It’s not in the heart of a town or city, but instead in the rainforest near Arenal volcano. Due to the volcanic activity nearby there are hot springs on-site, which is obviously a huge hit! Who wouldn’t want to sit in either hot pools or cold with the sounds of the rainforest all around? We chose the hotel after much deliberation and I’m so glad we did. This is my honest review of the Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Ecolodge, Costa Rica.
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Where Is Chachagua Rainforest Hotel?
Chachagua Rainforest Hotel is located around 30 minutes from La Fortuna, right on the edge of a huge forested area of Costa Rica. Obviously we don’t want rainforests cut down to make hotels. So it’s great that Chachagua have been conserving the forest that is surrounding the hotel and encouraging the growth of new forested areas around the bungalows and other buildings. There is a lot of wildlife around, so it’s definitely encouraging animals to come into the Chachagua rainforest reserve. The Children’s Eternal Rainforest is not too far away, and you can book guided tours into the area.
It’s around a 2 and a half hour drive from San José, driving via San Ramon, Alajuela in Costa Rica’s central valley. It’s a nice drive, particularly when you come off the main highway and start to get glimpses of Arenal Volcano National Park. The volcano looks very majestic emerging from the jungle!
Other hotels with hot pools on-site are in more built-up tourist’y’ areas. So if you are looking for somewhere relaxed, surrounded in forest and a feeling of isolation from the busy tourist areas, then you will love Chachagua and it’s location.
Nearby you will find Lake Arenal and the tourist’y’ town of La Fortuna. There are plenty of great excursions in the area, from zip lining and tubing to nature walks and caving.
How To Get To Chachagua Rainforest Hotel?
You can drive to Chachagua yourself, we hired a car from Adobe Rent a Car at the airport in San Jose and drove the 2-3 hours to the hotel. Use Waze for directions and you will absolutely be fine. If you don’t want to drive you can organise transfers via GetYourGuide or similar. If you don’t have a car at the hotel then you will have to rely on taxi’s to get you to and from different activities off site. Whereas we could drive ourselves easily to other places during our stay.
The Rainforest Bungalows
Chachagua Rainforest Hotel is made up of numerous bungalows throughout the forest. There are different sizes and costs, starting at around $180 in low season for the rainforest bungalows to around $400 for the 2 -bedroom villa with plunge pool. The prices go up substantially in the dry season, so consider visiting in the shoulder season for cheapest deals and just a few rain showers! We visited in May and found that the weather was mostly lovely, only one afternoon of proper rain showers in 2 weeks of staying in Costa Rica.
The cheapest option are the Rainforest Bungalows, which have their own private entrance, a small private veranda with seating area, rocking chair and hammock, plus queen beds. Air conditioning comes as standard and the jungle room also has a mini fridge and large shower room. Each bungalow is separated from each other by the jungle vegetation outside. Keep an eye out for frogs in the evening and the agouti gnawing on coconuts during the day.
The other room type is the deluxe bungalow suites, the smaller version suitable for couples with a king size bed and the larger version is a family suite with 2 bedrooms and a private plunge pool.
The Facilities
The friendly staff at the front desk can recommend on-site tours such as night walks or horseback riding. But they can also recommend the best tour operators to take you elsewhere in the area. However, we did find that having our own car meant it was easier to find cheaper tours for our family. Other people arranged taxi’s via the reception desk to go to different activities. The staff there are great and always happy to help, when we arrived back from a tour in the pouring rain they helpfully gave us giant umbrellas to use to get back to our bungalow.
Each room has free wi-fi, which means you can share your fantastic trip easily with family and friends on social media. But more importantly there are several outdoor pools. One proper outdoor swimming pool beside the restaurant (not many people seem to use it, although there are plenty of sun loungers), a cold pool with small slide into it and then several pools that the hot springs flow into. However, none of these pools were our children’s favourites. Instead they preferred the other slide that finishes with a 2 metre drop into the river below! It looks rather daunting at first, but the pool below is deep and it’s a short swim to the shallow riverbed where you can stand.
There are acres of lush rainforest surrounding the resort. It’s mostly secondary rainforest, but still holds a large range of animals. We heard howler monkeys on our very first afternoon!
The Walking Trails
The trails around the rainforest are beautiful and well worth a walk. However, as they are secondary forest the biodiversity here isn’t as large as you will find in older rainforest areas. This will obviously change over time, but if you are looking for larger or more exciting animals then you may be better off taking a tour in other rainforest areas around Arenal.
You can book a day or night tour at the front desk. Expect to see plenty of insects, frogs, snakes and if you are lucky howler monkeys or sloths! Although you will more often hear the howler monkeys before you see them! The tours don’t have too much walking, only a mile or two, but you will enjoy the beautiful setting of native trees and the surrounding areas where the river runs through the reserve. We walked the trails ourselves with no problem, but it’s always recommended to have closed toe shoes for safety. At night time you will be given torches to use and spend time listening to the calls of frogs whilst searching for them in the dark!
There is a complimentary nature tour each day around 10am, so I recommend you try this out if you have time too. It takes you on a walk along the trails, finishing at a farm where you can make lemonade from Mandarin lemons and brown sugar.
The Hot Springs
After a long day exploring Chachagua rainforest resort and taking a day trip out to the surrounding rainforest, you will want to relax in the hot springs. At first they feel a bit TOO hot, but actually you soon get used to it! The hot water comes directly from a spring on the site, and runs into several different pools. The lowest pool is the coolest being furthest away from the source, so start there and work your way up to the hottest pools at the top.
If you choose to use the cold pool after the hot springs, then you will be in for a shock! It feels freezing compared to the hot springs. We actually decided it was best to start in the hot pool, then slide into the river pool and then go into the cold pool. The river is definitely warmer the cold outdoor pool!
The Restaurants at Chachagua Hotel
There are two eateries at Chachagua Rainforest Hotel. The main restaurant is the Colibri Restaurant beside the swimming pool. This is where the complimentary breakfast is served and you can also book for dinner too. The meals are always delicious and there’s plenty to choose from. Although there is no children’s menu you can ask the staff if there are any children’s meal options. Usually there is a more simple dish such as plain chicken strips and chips. I recommend trying the ‘typico’ Costa Rican cuisine!
The other option for eating is the pool bar beside the hot pools. This is perfect location for snacks and lunch after an enjoyable morning exploring the resort.
Read more about our wonderful stay in Costa Rica:
- Stay amongst the stunning gardens and beautiful curvy designs of Xandari Resort and Spa, Costa Rica, close to the airport at San Jose.
- Visit Monteverde cloud forest with a private tour.
- A beautiful stay at Sibu Lodge in Monteverde, newly refurbished.
- Learn about the best company to hire cars from in Costa Rica and what the roads are REALLY like.
- Don’t miss a thing in Manuel Antonio with our 15 BEST things to see in the area!
- Stay in the middle of the jungle with hot springs at Chachagua Rainforest Hotel!
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