Villa Lapas Jungle Village

Just one night here on our tour of Costa Rica, whilst the staff were very helpful and friendly, and the surrounding gardens were lovely, the room itself was limited, with very poor lighting, so it was dim even in daytime, on the plus side the shower was excellent.

The positives - lovely breakfast and good wi-fi. The room was OK but a sign on the door says please keep closed so wildlife does not enter. However goodness knows what could get in via the gaps around the door. Luckily no issues but did make us concerned. We do not consider this to be a 4 star hotel. Staff were indifferent. When we went to check out in the morning - nobody on the desk. Found someone who said the receptionist was having his breakfast and would be back in 10 minutes - unacceptable. Dinner buffet was pretty awful - not at all appetising. Desserts were tiny and on one night it was rice pudding and no other choice. We could not understand how they could charge $7 for a small can of beer and $6 for a bottle of Coca cola. On a tour of Costa Rica this was the worst food and the most expensive drinks.

This is a beautiful place to stay when exploring Costa Rica. The rooms, grounds and wildlife are worth the visit including some quite rare birds. Our visit was only spoiled by very poor service at the restaurant in the evening of our stay which was slow, confused and frustrating. It was a shame because everything else about the lodge was excellent.

Beautiful property in a lovely setting. Casita wasn't fancy, but adequate. I enjoyed the restaurant.

Despite being an amazing location, it managed to be the worst place we stayed in Costa Rica (out of 9 places!). Hard to know where to start but essentially: - loud renovation work every day meant that the view from our room was basically lots of blokes in hi-viz and hard hats. And it was VERY noisy. We complained but the man on reception just shrugged his shoulders. - no hot water for two nights, so no working showers. Our repeated requests for it to be fixed were met - mostly - with indifference. The man who came to look at it simply lied. - pretty grim room. Very damp with lots of mould and rain water seeping into the bathroom from the ground up. - quite a long walk on some rough-ish roads with your luggage to get to some rooms. It was fine for us, but some people with mobility issues might struggle. They refused to help. On the positive side: - the food was quite nice (although if you're not paying all inclusive I'd go elsewhere, it was largely functional) - the laundry service was excellent (fast and good value) - the surrounding area is lovely and the iguanas lounging about are a treat. - they did give us a full refund. Although this was only after we complained to our tour operator. Had the reception staff been more responsive and reacted to what was clearly a bad experience things might have been different.

Beautiful setting, but so many issues that we did not enjoy the stay.

Where to begin? About 5 days prior to our stay we received a message on the Booking app asking if we were interested in a whole array of activities and directing us to send an email if so. I chose 2 activities, a night walk through the jungle with a guide, and a bird watching walk the next morning. I sent the email and there was no reply. On the day we were arriving I reached out again. No reply. When we got to the front desk the clerk said, "Oh, I just replied." It turns out that the prices for the activities had more than doubled in those 5 days! That is simply not acceptable! We checked in and were shown a map of the property. To get to the room from the lobby is a long trek over SEVERELY damaged side walks, outdoors through the heat and humidity, lugging our bags, winding around, then up a bumpy ramp, then over a rather long bridge, then down another ramp and then several more minutes to get to the room. No luggage trolleys. No one to help with the bags. Once in the room, there was AC but it had not been turned on and the room was stifling. There was a safe but it was locked open. No mini-fridge, though they did bring one once we requested it. Then there was the restaurant, another disaster. We ordered beers with our dinner on the first night and mine was brought out in a burning HOT mug. I called the waitress right away and complained since the night air around us was already losing the fight to warm the beer. "We just got the mug out from the dishwasher," she informed me. When I complained further, she changed my mug for a cold one. Worse was the fact that in the buffet line, the food bins often had the tongs for each item floating in the food. This was a huge issue with the freshly peeled fruit and the cream. Both were handled by dozens of people and then returned to the fresh food, thus creating a food safety issue. My husband developed a bad sore throat the second day of our stay and I suspect the fruit bins are to...

Open air eating area, pool, tub area Trails around property and stream Staff was wonderful

Bedroom needed some updates Lighting was OK The pedestal sink is a bit too high

The attention was excellent, and very confortable rooms. We have the opportunity to see so many species of birds, frogs and other animals. It's a ver y good option to see the wildlife of Costa Rica. Also the food was excellent with some many options to choice.

Friendly, good food, beautiful "jungle" feel to the grounds