Selva Verde Lodge

Had a wonderful two-night stay at this ecolodge. The rooms are very comfortable and spacious with A/C (your towels and clothes will dry in the humid climate). I would happily stay here again. Many of the staff speak English. The rooms are elevated and grouped into clusters of four rooms. Our room had comfortable beds, couch, little table with coffee machine, space to hang clothes, safe, and spacious bathroom with shower. There were plenty of electrical outlets for us to charge phones and camera batteries. Walkways between the rooms, reception area, and restaurant complex are covered and there are several drinking water dispensers located at various locations between the rooms. Our “package” included buffet-style meals in an extensive open-air dining room. The meals were varied, fresh and healthy – typical Costa Rican food (the fresh fruit in the morning was a treat, and palm fruits added nice touch to the salads). In the evening, we were able to sit under a covered area and enjoy a drink overlooking the Sarapiqui River before going upstairs for dinner. One end of the dining room overlooks the bird-feeding station. Much of the vegetation around these feeders had been recently cleared – assume this was to get rid of exotic plants and trees? There is a bar, a separate restaurant serving Italian food/pizza and a well-stocked gift store located on the ground-floor of the restaurant complex. There are several hiking trails around the property – we birded on one located across the highway. They do have a suspension bridge that takes you across the Sarapiqui River where you can explore the extensive native forest. The lodge provides Wellington boots/rubber boots if the trails are muddy. They also have a nice pool area. The one down-side – and not a fault of the lodge – is that the highway running in front of the hotel gets a lot of truck traffic For reasons we could not determine, these trucks “brake-check” as the pass by the lodge creating a lot of noise. Also, and to a much lesser degree, you will hear people walking along the raised wooden platforms between the rooms. We used a white-noise app on our phone and drowned out the noise for a good night’s sleep.

We spend 3 nights at Selva Verde and were very pleased with the experience. We were fortunate to have a room overlooking the Sarapiqui River. The rooms are large with a daybed was large enough to be used if needed for an adult to sleep. Large walk-in shower and spacious bathroom. Chairs and hammock right outside the room door. Extensive covered walkways around the lodge allowed exploration without getting wet. Trails on both side of the road to explore on your own. Primary forest located across the river by way of a suspension bridge accessed with one of the naturalists. Carlos (naturalist) lead us on 2 different hikes on the grounds and we appreciated his knowledge and style. On one of the tours, Carlos, moved effortlessly between explaining things to us in English and then to the others in the tour in Spanish. Our package included food which was served buffet style. The food was not fancy but we appreciated getting to eat local foods. It was hot and plentiful and always included at least 2 proteins. The best part of breakfast and lunch was being able to observe all of the fantastic birds at the feeding stations. I would not hesitate to return and have recommended Selva Verde to others. (The 4 stars on the location is because Selva Verde is located immediately adjacent to the highway and it was pineapple harvest so we noticed the semis jake braking frequently during the day.) Our package was the Selva Verde/Sevegre package. EVERYTHING was taken care of for us prior to arrival. So thankful for all of the transfers being arranged. Tours included at both lodges (we did add a couple more at Selva Verde). Selva Verde made it so easy for us by making all of the arrangements. Thank you!