Rancho Naturalista Lodge Review

9/30/17 - We came for the birds and it didn't disappoint! The food is amazing, every meal was very very good.

9/30/18 - We just came back a 2nd time. Great birds, we were able to get 211 species in 3 days, thanks to the best birding guide, Cali! The food is amazing. The lodge is perfect. For some reason they don't take credit cards, which can be frustrating. The road up is rough, better have a 4x4. The neighbor Wayne is very interesting and will tell you all about bugs, birds and big cats.

The bird watching is fantastic, the hiking trails are well-maintained, the staff is professional, the rooms are comfortable and quiet with very nice bathrooms. I really enjoyed the family-style meals where we dined with other guests, who were all very friendly and shared my love of birds and nature. The chef creates an outstanding array of dishes that seemed to please all the guests palates, and the desserts are to die for delicious. Good thing they have lots of private trails on which I could burn off all those calories.

What a find - an absolutely brilliant birding lodge! The rooms are comfortable, the food amazing and the best value laundry service ever! Stand out sightings of lovely cotinga, crested owls and snowcap hummingbird. Hope to revisit in the near future - thank you team Rancho Naturalista

Lovely lodge and great bird guide in HARRY - he knows his stuff! Accommodation was quaint and comfortable. The food was magnificent...it was great to eat as a community!

Thanks for a great holiday

Wonderful place. It is so peaceful. Nice to watch birds and hummingbirds or just relax.

There are few places you don't forget, Rancho Naturalista is simply one of those that are in my head all the time, thank you to Lisa and Kathy for the amazing welcome!, certainly the place is wonderful and will be visiting you frecuently.

Very pleased to have been recommended to stay here. The mixture of forest, pasture and other close by areas to visit gave outstanding birding opportunities aided by the very knowledgeable guides. The lodge was comfortable with just the right number of guests giving a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere. The varied and very tasty meals were served looking onto the well visited garden on two tables which seated all the guests and which led to very convivial, informal and inclusive gatherings. The surrounding villages gave a much more authentic reflection of local life than the other very touristy places we subsequently visited. A very relaxing, interesting and enjoyable stay and our only suggestion would be to have more information on butterflies and bugs.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Rancho Naturalista. We chose this lodge because of the particular species of birds that can be spotted there. My 15 year old is a bird photographer. Lisa and Nikki arranged birding tours for us with Mercedes who was a wonderful guide, showing us birds we would never have noticed without her assistance. My 19 year old daughter thought that the food at Rancho Naturalista was the best food we had during our Costa Rican vacation. She also took a yoga class with Lisa. Nikki kindly arranged all the transportation for us. We felt very safe with Luis as our driver. The transportation was less than it would have been if we had rented a car.

Thank you Rancho Naturalista, Lisa, Nikki and Mercedes for a great time.

Attention to detail, warm and lovely decore and fabulous food. A must visit for birdlovers

We spent a week at Rancho Naturalista in December and loved every minute of it. We had a fantastic guide who took us on excursions to see birds in different habitats. We were amazed by what we saw. The stay at Rancho Naturailista exceeded our expectations, and we'd love to go back!