Where to stay in Costa Rica

Seasons decide the price

• Dry season (December to April) is high season. Prices peak, and Christmas to New Year and Easter week are the most expensive weeks of the year.
• Green season (May to November) is half the price and it does not rain all day. It rains hard in the afternoon and the mornings are clear.
• September and October are the wettest on the Pacific and, oddly, the driest on the Caribbean, which is why Puerto Viejo is a good September choice.
• Book December to April months ahead. Book May to November a week ahead and haggle.

Where to stay

• Do not build a trip around San Jose. One night on arrival or departure is plenty; the country is elsewhere.
• La Fortuna for the volcano and the hot springs, Monteverde for cloud forest, Manuel Antonio for the easy wildlife-and-beach combination.
• Guanacaste (Tamarindo, Nosara, Samara) for surf and dry heat, closest to Liberia airport.
• Puerto Viejo and the Caribbean coast for a completely different country: Afro-Caribbean, slower, cheaper, wetter.
• Osa Peninsula and Drake Bay for the serious wildlife, and it is a long way to everything.

Types

• Cabinas are the local budget standard: simple rooms, often family run, USD 30 to USD 60.
• Ecolodges are the signature offering and range from rustic to expensive, usually including guided walks.
• Hostels are excellent and the backpacker circuit is well developed.
• All-inclusive resorts cluster in Guanacaste and are a different holiday from the rest of the country.

Practical

• Air conditioning is not universal and matters enormously on the coast. In Monteverde and the highlands you will want a blanket instead.
• Hot water in cheaper places comes from a "suicide shower", an electric heating element on the shower head. Do not touch it while the water is running.
• Mosquito nets and screens are worth checking for on the Caribbean coast and in the lowlands.
• Check-in 15:00, check-out 11:00 is typical.
• Many rural places are cash only or charge a card surcharge.
• Ask about the road. "Four wheel drive recommended" in a listing means the last kilometre is a river bed.