Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel & Retreat

What an amazing place to stay to enjoy the cloud forest, experience nature and recharge. Zach and the staff and Jose the bird watch tour guide were so amazing and accommodating. Will definitely be back.

Magical place. Great reception and staff very helpful. Food good. Walks around grounds are incredible for bird spotting and a group of coati wandering about. OK.. the road here is pretty bumpy, and it can be misty and a bit cool...but it's a cloud forest!

Wonderful!

We were so disappointed with this accommodation on what was otherwise a fabulous trip to Costa Rica. This was by far the worst place we stayed. It’s 8km down a very potholed and bumpy track and the place was shrouded by cloud for our entire stay (thankfully only two nights!). I know we were in a cloud forest but the accommodation felt very dank and dreary and the rooms are very run down and in need of some major work. We had no outside furniture. There was a space where there obviously used to be a fridge but no more, and an incredibly noisy dehumidifier that we had to empty three times during our two night stay! Everything felt damp including the bedding, despite the dehumidifier but the bed was comfortable. Both sets of blinds were dirty and broken. The main building feels like an old hunting lodge and although there were two open fires they kept the doors open all of the time so it never felt warm. The staff were not particularly welcoming and we were very disappointed in the food offerings in the restaurant (one of us is gluten free and both our tour operator and ourselves had pre warned this hotel before our stay.) There was very little on an incredibly expensive menu that my husband was able to eat. The restaurant was inflexible with regards to accommodating a special diet. There was a complimentary tea/coffee station available in the lounge but when I asked if it was possible to have a decaffeinated coffee I was told I would have to pay €5! This place is literally in the middle of nowhere so there are no other food options available. Breakfast was ok but a bit basic compared to other hotels we stayed in and the waiting staff just seemed unfriendly. All in all we felt unwelcome and have reported our concerns to our tour company. The positives: we saw some incredible wildlife on a night/day tour with very knowledgeable local guides.

Villa blanca is at the end of a 8km unmade pot holed track. The accommodation is of small huts ,some would call them traditional ,I call them basic. No TV, no central heating ,no fridge , no air con. The internal decoration is white washed concrete. I have stayed in better backpacker lodges. When we climbed into bed sheets were damp. Our meal in restaurant was 75% fat for me 60% fat for my wife we complained about meat and were told if we wanted more meat we would have to pay more . I didn't pay for our meal. Cloud forest well worth visiting but avoid villa blanca.

Comfy beds and glorious views, but take warm clothing. The rooms in thelittle chalets look lovely but were very chilly. We tried to light the fire, but that simply filled the room with smoke. The public rooms looked lovely also, but depite lighting two log fires in the evenings, they left the big doors open ( probably to let the smoke out) and so it wasn't warm there either. We felt that the grounds had been lovely several years ago and enjoyed the waymaked walks, but the greenhouses were very rundown as was the frog house and the orchid house. No need to use the expensive guided walks if you don't want to - we followed the trails and saw humming birds, coati and several birds.The food was very American and there is nowhere else to eat.