Tortuga Lodge & Gardens

We had a wonderful two night at Tortugua Lodge which our travel agent highly recommended. We stayed in the Miss Perla suite which was a touch on the small side but very manageable. All of the meals were outstanding and of a high calibre. Service was excellent. Highlight was the 6 am two and a half hour boat ride of the river where we spotted many wildlife. Manuel our guide was excellent at spotting and hearing what would appeal to those on the boat. Highly recommended. We also did a night tour with Bernardo who was so knowledgeable and able to point out many strawberry dart spiders. It was a magical experience!

My husband and I were very excited to stay at this place. But the lack of communication from this hotel, we couldn’t even get to the property. Nobody answered when we tried calling tons of times. Very unprofessional and rude service when they did answer. Wish my experience was different because we loved our trip to Costa Rica otherwise.

Among the worst customer service I've experienced from a hotel. During the booking process we received practically zero check-in information, aside from a phone number and an instruction to check in before 6:00 PM. On check-in day we got very delayed on the road to Tortuguero due to a bad accident. By the time we arrived at the dock we had missed the last shuttle. My wife and I tried calling the number we were given for the hotel in our confirmation email many times, but no one ever answered. When we finally found a working number we got an automated message that it was outside of working hours so they could not respond. By then it was around 6:00 PM, and this is a hotel. We lingered near the dock for a couple of hours trying to get in touch and work out a way to get there, but never could. In the end we ended up driving to San Jose and booking a last-minute room. We canceled our plans in Tortuguero and essentially scrapped that leg of our trip. As you can imagine, this was not the way we wanted to spend a day of our trip, and we were very sad not to spend the intended time in the National Park. We reached out to hotel management the next day. Their response was, in a nutshell: Sorry, you booked through a 3rd-party (Capital One), so we can't help you, and there's nothing we can do. It's simply a no-show. Better luck next time. So that was our experience. We can't speak to the quality of the resort itself or the people working there. I'm sure they are wonderful. But their management company, Boena, leaves much to be desired. I would be very careful when interacting with this property.

Fantastic stay in a very beautiful place. The grounds are gorgeous, in the middle of the forest, just at the river. They have their own trails, that guests can use (which we did, and they were fantastic). On the grounds we saw lots of beautiful birds, huge iguanas and other wildlife. The rooms are beautifully designed, very spacious and comfortable, with good showers, all the amenities and exceptionally comfortable beds. All have river views (ours was on a ground floor, with a terrace, just a couple of meters from the water). The staff is super nice and helpful, nothing is a problem for them. The entire property is very well kept, and very comfortable (umbrellas everywhere in case of rain, rubber boots stand with water station to clean them, etc.). Yes, their trips are expensive (more expensive than those at town) but in my opinion worth the money - you pay for more privacy, comfort and very good guides. In general - a fantastic stay, and a highlight of our Costa Rica vacation. We stayed 2 nights, and regret we did not book 1 night more.

Nice room with river view through large windows. Good meals. Interesting well-made dishes. Staff all friendly and helpful. Access to lodge by simple river crossing organised by lodge. Set in wild grounds with lots of creatures, particularly liked the iguanas sunning themselves.