Fell in love with this place. It gives you such a great understanding of the flora and fauna that make Costa Rica so beautiful. The people who work here are extremely accommodating and they prepare a lovely buffet of INCREDIBLY FRESH food for every meal. They have activities here like eco-tours and hikes up the mountain to view Lake Arenal.If you stay here you won't forget or regret it. Rancho Margot is paradise on earth!!
Where do I begin? The Ranch is a place unlike anywhere I have ever been. Truly breathtaking. Every staff member was so polite and helpful, and utterly inspiring! One week there was not enough. The food was always incredible, and there is always something to do. Definitely take the time to do the hikes- the views from the top are one of a kind. I will definitely be back many more times!
My wife and I stayed here for almost a week during the rainy season. Apart from the volunteers there, we basically had the place to ourselves. It was beautiful. The food was excellent, as was the service. All the people there were helpful and polite, and out lack of Spanish wasn't an issue. Our room was very comfortable with a back deck and hammocks looking directing out to the jungle. The tour was very interesting, as well as the night tour where we spotted plenty of frogs and other critters. There are a couple trails that we took advantage of, that take you into the jungle, and also up a hill for an amazing view of the lake and Mt Arenal. There are a couple great hag-out spots, including a floating platform on their pond, a large yoga/meditation area, and the pool that is fed naturally from the creek. This place is the ultimate eco retreat.
Beautiful location. People are nice. Not a lot of English. The food is basic....no imagination. Rice and beans 3x a day along with braised veggies. Be prepared for animal cruelty however. They raise close to 100 pigs for slaughter. The cows and horses, lacking grain and hay, are painfully thin. It s not pretty....all under the guise of sustainability. You can be sustainable without putting it on the back of animals. Also unless you have a car you re pretty much stuck with not a lot to do. I would never go back.
If you are looking for the best place to chill out and enjoy life and nature this is the place for you. You will go back in time with the laid back atmosphere, the healthy organic food,super friendly staff,and the activies offered. I am proud to recomend Rancho Margot and I will return as frequently as possible.
An incredible place, with an excellent management of natural resources; To the natural beauty of the farm is united its effort to work in an organic way. Your food also deserves special attention, definitely delicious !!!
Excellent natural place to spend long stays with the family, interact with wildlife and wildlife, very relaxing, great service and attention, my family returned speaking wonders of this beautiful place!
Beautiful place 100% autonomous. We slept in a dorm, very clean. The food is good too and the site offers hiking in the mountains. I highly recommend it.
Since the moment we arrived at Rancho Margot the staff was super friendly. I absolutely loved being able to enjoy fresh food from the farm. The tour guides are incredibly knowledge and passionate about there work at the ranch. I recommend it to everyone.
I liked it here a lot. The food was excellent as was the service. They try to be sustainable but really cows do not belong in the rainforest or part of a sustainable ranch and ultimately the place is for profit. More cows=more global warming there is just no way around that even if you try to capture some methane ect. Don t go out at night with sandals as they re are TONS of mosquitoes and you cannot let your guard down in that respect at any point it really is the rainforest here.
Dare the dirt road to get there, but once you do its an amazing hide away in between tje shores of lake Arenal and the Arenal volcano. Owner has created an excellent standard for proper eco-lodging, being nearly 100% self sustainable. Would recommend!
It is a wonderful place with its bungalows and rooms interspersed with nature, a quiet and pleasant atmosphere and full of peace, suitable for the whole family
All inclusive place, the food was great and the place has a certain serenity to it. They try to be sustainable, emphasis on the word "try". The water is only warm since the electricity is local. There are a few local tours which are excellent, but best taken independently. The rooms are really small, especially the lowest tier. You would wonder why they were so stingy about the bunk bed room when there's so much space around.
The simplest way to describe it is a sustainable Paradise with unbelievably friendly, helpful, intelligent people. And the FOOD is sensational.
Nice location nice and quiet. Enough to do at this location.
Nice place away from mass tourism which tries to develop a real virtuous working model, production of vegetables and meat, production of energy, development of local resources. The chalets are beautiful and comfortable, immersed in the vegetation, the meals are excellent. The 'night hike' allowed us to see a lot of animals, including a lot of red eye tree frog.
Only downside the dining area / bar lacks light during the day, and it is very humid in the rooms.
Thank you for letting us stay in the amazing house. It is going to be a definite highlight in our trip to Costa Rica. We enjoyed our stay in Rancho Margot with three kids that together with us loved to explore the gardens, the farm animals, the wildlife, the excellent buffet, yoga in the morning and in the afternoon, the guided tour run by eminent Fatima who explained to us about the permaculture, circular thinking, how to create sustainable energy, about the worm beds, biogas, compost, plants, micronutrients, medicinal plants, guanabana with correct pronounciation, soap making, cheese making, recycling, educational programs, community programs, Don Juan the man the myth the legend and much more. The natural pools are great, the whole resort is an architechtural wonder, we were awestruck by the beauty of the whole place and how it blends so well with the surrounding jungle.
We are primarily vegans but we got a very good understanding of how the animals of the farm fit into the circle of life. Nevertheless, there is plenty to eat from on the buffet meals and the veggies, they are nothing but world class. A tip: offer some green smoothies/juice to the breakfast meal by blending green herbs, spinach, pineapple, cucumber and water when you have some extra energy ;)
Peas and Love!
This ecolodge is in the middle of the rainforest by the volcano. It is self sustaining and a wonder to stay at. Tons of nature/wild life to observe, free morning yoga, and delicious food. The bungalows were awesome. Pack your rain coat!
What a unique place! You can do everything for the bird watch relax or just enjoy The view. With a small self-sustaining farm. We enjoyed excellent food prepared and raised on the farm. We were also able to learn so many things like hydroelectric how they raise their birds and hogs. Their view on conservation very good including recycling of everything it is a must if you're in the area.
Ecolo! And top. Very interesting, it's worth understanding how it works!
We had an amazing time at this beautiful, quiet resort! The staff is friendly and helpful and the bungalows are gorgeous.
The rooms are very very good, but the meals are really basic, not very typical, even quite frugal. If you like pizzas there is something for every meal ...
It's a great example in sustainability without compromising on standard of living.
Nice, very out of the way place. Drove from our hotel to have supper. Its only served after 630. But had some nice pizzas instead.
I truly cannot say enough good things about Rancho Margot. My friend and I visited for 5 days a few weeks ago and it was an amazing experience I will never forget. The owners and staff are caring and so knowledgeable! We stayed in a bungalow with two queen beds and were pleasantly surprised by how comfortable and at peace we felt all throughout our stay. The hammock and chairs on our balcony were such good features and we used them every single day. Loved laying in the hammock and listening to the rain! This is a special place that offers several tours on site which made it convenient for us as we did not rent a car. We loved every tour and the tour guides were amazing! We went kayaking, horseback riding, a tour of the ranch, and then on our final night we splurged and visited the Hot springs. They even helped us arrange transportation to and from the airport AND to the hot springs! This property is truly a hidden gem in this area and I believe EVERYONE should experience Rancho Margot. The food was amazing and we really enjoyed the Costa Rican coffee, fresh breakfast and organic juices, along with lunch and dinner. A truly inspiring and beautiful experience! Absolutely cannot wait to go back!
Our daughter scheduled her wedding at Rancho Margot; party of 20. Really remote. Beautiful setting, well decorated, nicely hosted. Many side activities. Wonderful bungalows. Very good, plentiful food; especially fresh fruit. Exceptionally responsive, helpful staff. Very informative tour of facilities explaining Eco concept. Suggest better signage on facility buildings and depicting local trees and wildlife. More hills than 74 year old liked; fewer insects than expected. (Early May) Entire stay very tranquil; well worth few inconveniences. Karla's parents
This place was pretty neat. The lodging was pretty rough and the bug nets are a must! The food was pretty good here, especially the pizza! It was awesome to see how they're off-the-grid in terms of self sufficiency. Also the pigs and chickens and others were so cool to see! The yoga was Megan was amazing! She was exceptionally good at it. It was interesting learning about everything rancho margot has to offer. Only bad thing really, was that the wifi was basically non existent. :( I would absolutely recommend the hike to El Mirador or whatever it's called. It's a strenuous hike, but it's worth it!
Excellent visit of an exciting experience permacole 100% autonomous.
A unique place to stay in. It's all about the experience, it's a self sufficient ranch with all food included. Food is great! Staff is lovely everyone of them is smiling and happy to serve you. If you stay here you really don't need to get out. There is a football pitch, yoga classes, natural pools and a guided tour of the ranch included in the price. There is wildlife to watch in the ranch, birds, squirrels, reptiles, etc. The rooms are really simple but it didn't bother me at all. It's just the bed and bathroom. As I said a truly unique experience and so happy I stayed there!
Most beautiful eco retreat. Delicious organic food and wonderful people.
Rancho Margot is a sustainable ranch that has two types of accommodation, the bunkhouse that are rooms with bunk beds with shared bathrooms and common area, and the bungalow that are for the traveler on a larger budget, with its private bathroom and embedded in the jungle of the rain forest, a unique experience. This place produces its electricity, it is 100% self-sustainable in the production of dairy, chicken, pork and beef meat products, as well as in the production of electrical energy. Close to being the same in the production of vegetables and food that are served to the visitors and employees of the Ranch. His plan is to be a self-sustaining community in a short time, an example for many. A place worth visiting. A chemical-free place in harmony with the environment.
Fantastic place, excellent structure and the raw materials (of their production) for the preparation of the breakfast very good. The price is excessive for the service offered, very basic.
My first trip traveling solo and teaching yoga abroad I got a work exchange program with Rancho Margot. This is the most beautiful lodging you can find. Wonderful meals and a private bar in the open air lobby. Hiking trails and lots of activities to participate in as well. But this is an experience to unplug from technology and distractions and to reconnect to nature. Namaste
A wonderful place where if you go for sure you will return where you can be in harmony with nature and eat healthy you can also know about sustainability since ranch Margot has that system
Very exotic damage a lot of rain for our stay and the pool too cold
A nice off-grid experience. Everything you eat is grown on the ranch. Hiking trails, pools, and plenty of animals, help to fill your day.
It's a very rocky road (literally) to get there, but it is so very worth it. Rancho Margot is a wonderful place for nature lovers and people who wish to learn about sustainability, and more. This place can appeal to all of your senses. Every day I was surrounded by the wonderful sounds of the rustling trees, singing/chirping birds, and crowing roosters. I was enveloped in green, with highlights of other beautiful colors, from the varied and lush greenery from the plants and trees, as well as lovely flowering plants. There are walking paths that snake their way through the grounds, also beautifully lined by flowering trees and plants.
Everywhere you look, trees, shrubs, and herbs were planted to serve to be both ornamental and beneficial for human, animal and land alike. Their mission to demonstrate self sustainability, teach about nature, agriculture and horticulture, and much more, is commendable and great for travelers and students alike. Everything is made to look as though it fits right into its natural surroundings. Keep in mind, you are in a rainforest and this is not your typical resort. Don't expect lux or high end. On the other hand, it's not glamping either. From my bungalow (#4), I could see and hear the life of the rainforest and the farm around me, both while inside the bungalow and outside on the porch.
The staff and the volunteers were always friendly and always ready to help. I felt so welcomed and I was able to ask them for help with my tours and excursions.
There are awesome hiking/walking trails on the grounds. One is a forest trail, another loops around the river and pools, and a more challenging steep uphill trail leads to a lookout point, overlooking Lake Arenal and Volcano on a clear day.
The tour of the grounds was very informative and gave you a great view of the property and the beauty of the surrounding landscape. The whole process of the lodge is just amazing from eating what's grown, to the animals getting the good food mostly from the vegetation on the land, and the even the use of their waste for fuel. Harnessing the power of water for electricity and for the pools. Most everything is recycled and reused in some way. Most of the furniture, windows and doors are handmade by skilled carpenters on the premises. This is also a great tour to take if you're not staying at the ranch.
The food was absolutely wonderful : very fresh and tasty. For those who have not had REAL, unadulterated dairy, this is the place to try it. I'm talking to you, butter lovers. lol I really like the fact that you can drink the water right from the spigot in the bungalows and around the grounds: I always carry a water bottle and was able to fill it easily while walking around.
I took advantage of the massages offered. The massage hut is set in the midst of trees and you can hear the stream from the river flowing by, along with all of the birds. It was so very peaceful. The Pools were nice, but unfortunately I didn't get to experience the warm pool, as it hadn't warmed yet by the times I got in.
Now, if you are squeamish about insects of any kind, know that they are going to be around and may be in your bungalow/bunk. A warning for those who aren't used to the effects of humidity: Don't bother styling your hair, it takes forever for anything to dry, and much of your things might feel slightly damp when you put them on...this goes for the sheets and towels as well on high humid days.
WONDERFUL experience. The eco lodge is so interesting (the tour is a MUST DO) The cabinas are lovely and the food is delicious.
It's an experience ! Juan has a vision and you're invited to share it. Energy, food, soap, everything is produced locally in an ethical and organic way. We've done the horse tour, kayak on the lake, super fun, nice staff. Beds could be better.
One of the best experience I've had in costa rica ! they believe in the fact they can do everything by themselves and they experience everything they can to achieve that goal... the atmosphere is great... stay one or two nights if you can otherwise the minimum is take the tour and a meal... i miss this place so much already!
ranchomargot.com