Visit Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge

My husband and I were over the moon staying here. How to describe it? The staff are wonderful - friendly and cheerful, knowledgeable and informative, and extremely attentive. They anticipated our needs before we did, without hovering. The food is delicious and we appreciated the limited menu as a way to eliminate food waste - while still having choices. There was a fish option nearly every day which made us happy. At any given time there were no more than 12 guests, making it very quiet and relaxing. We made some new friends with some other travelers. The beach is very rocky and hard on the feet, so we walked out onto the pier and jumped in the water from there, which was so fun. We did the yoga package and loved every minute of our time with Juan, the very talented and compassionate yogi and massage therapist. Steven was our tour guide for all the tours (kayaking, snorkeling, waterfall hike, river tour, sustainability tour...). He is very knowledgeable and passionate about sharing the gifts of his country. We didn't have the pleasure of going on a tour with Yazmin, the other guide, but interacted with her throughout the week and she is lovely. We spoke Spanish whenever possible (mine is very limited but husband's is good) and all staff were very patient with us! My only disappointment was not seeing any monkeys!!! Although we did hear the howler monkeys a few times. We look forward to going back to Playa Nicuesa. Pura vida

Nicuesa is quite a unique experience, the boat ride to the property is exhilarating and having no road access seems very remote and with nature, the rooms are hidden away in the forest and you have the use of snorkelling and fishing equipment as well as kayaks and paddle boards so there is plenty to do. We had a wonderful 4 nights at Nicuesa in February 22 but there are some negatives that I think people should be aware of. This is not intended to be criticism of Nicuesa as it is truly a great place but in some respects I think it does not live up to the high bar it sets itself. Nicuesa gives the impression of being sited in Pristine Rain Forest within the Piedras Blancas National Park but in truth it is a reforested cacao plantation, does this make a difference, for many people perhaps not but if you have visited a natural rain forest you will notice the difference. It is suggested that there are miles of scenic walks in this rainforest to waterfalls but in truth there are 4 or 5 rather uninteresting walks within the grounds and a hefty $40pp charge for a guided walk to the waterfall which some found unremarkable. Having said that it is set in a tropical forest and there is lots of wildlife close at hand so there is lots to like. Nicuesa majors on its dining saying ‘Experience a unique culinary adventure at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge’ but in my view the food was not very interesting or particularly good quality. The evening meal was unbelievably rushed with plates being removed even if someone else at the table was still eating and the next course served as soon as the first one removed. Rather than a nice relaxed dining experience we were rarely in the restaurant for more than 20 minutes in the evening. Lunch and Breakfast were more relaxed but again the food was OK but not as good as we had experienced at other Eco Lodges in Costa Rica. Nicuesa talks a lot about its Eco credentials and 15 years ago when it was built I am sure they were state of the art but by today's standards they are lacking. It is true they are off grid for water and power but with today’s solar technology it is inexcusable to heat water with gas, not be able to serve really cold drinks or provide decent lighting in the rooms. Nicuesa apparently have their own spring water but when we visited they were awaiting a new filtration system so drinking water was delivered in plastic bottles, not very eco. Nicuesa’s pricing ‘suggests’ a premium experience but having stayed at several Eco Lodges in Costa Rica it is only average, the rooms are tired, we found screws in the wall where a towel rail should have been, thread bare towels and a not very clean room. This together with average food and warm drinks is not what I expected from an eco lodge that charges 4 times what a comparable lodge we stayed at charged. To be fair we visited Nicuesa at the end of a three week holiday in Costa Rica so we had already experienced several other excellent Eco Lodges so if this had been our first stop we might have felt differently about it but it is a competitive market out there and businesses need to work hard to deliver the dream. As I said at the top, we had a wonderful stay at Nicuesa and I wouldn't want to put anyone off going there but I just don’t think they deliver in some areas

Anlage komplett im Regenwald. Sehr nettes und hilfbereites Personal, dass sich extrem für die Natur einsetzt. Essen ist super! Viele Aktivitäten können vor Ort mit den Guides besprochen und gebucht werden. Tiere hat es im Überfluss. Im Zimmer kann es Insekten haben, ist aber nicht anders machbar, da alles wirklich im Tschungel ist. Es war eine tolle Erfahrung.

Anlage komplett im Regenwald. Sehr nettes und hilfbereites Personal, dass sich extrem für die Natur einsetzt. Essen ist super! Viele Aktivitäten können vor Ort mit den Guides besprochen und gebucht werden. Tiere hat es im Überfluss. Im Zimmer kann es Insekten haben, ist aber nicht anders machbar, da alles wirklich im Tschungel ist. Es war eine tolle Erfahrung