but the bathroom facilities are appalling .As well as being outdated it is disgraceful that there is no hot water in the bathroom wash basin nor is their a plug so water is unnecessarily wasted
The manager is nigh on invisible and when he did appear made no effort to communicate with guests.

but it’s worth bearing in mind a couple of things ( and I’m sorry if this sounds like a bit of a first world problem )
1 Rooms-there is no hot water in the bathroom sinks so it isn’t possible to shave or wash in warm water.

Only hot water was in the shower – not the sink.

No water in hot tap : It's normal in Costa Rica - it saves the hot water for your shower!

although no hot water in basin, so shavers beware.

The rooms are bungalows and are large with two double beds, a small basin/toilet area and large shower; there is no hot water in the basin.

although we found it strange that there was no hot water in the bathroom washbasin.

and there is no plug or hot water to the basin.

but lacking in amenities (no hot water in the sink, no robes or slippers, no phones in the room to call the front desk), and the food is very underwhelming.

The boat transfer to the hotel was great; Ricardo is a very good guide.

And if you stay here, you get both a mornings and an afternoon boat tour of the National Park with a qualified guide.

We also enjoyed the daily boat excursions and each time we saw something new.

We really enjoyed the boat trips: the guides were excellent, and being in small groups was great.

The daily (twice a day) trips on the boat to the park are awesome and the guides are very knowledgeable.

With an open boat we saw a lot of wildlife and nature in the morning and afternoon tours which were included.

We had two great tours by boat and were lucky enough to spot howler and spider monkeys, a sloth, numerous different birds and caiman plus a huge crocodile enjoying the sun on a floating tree trunk.

I much rather would have gone on a boat tour in search for wildlife, which is why we come so far in the first place.

Open boat wildlife tour on the river in power shower rain

but then more importantly the two included boat based wildlife spotting trips with guide Louis, who was superb.

It is accessible only by boat and this is part of its charm.

We stopped for a delicious breakfast that was including in our transportation fee and then continued to La Pavona where we said goodbye to Omar and Jonathan and boarded a boat for a 1.5 hour tour/trip tio the hotel.

We saw tons of wildlife on our boat tours -

This wonderful boutique hotel caters to those who want to experience adventure while also being pampered from the moment you arrive,  chauffeured by boat.

The boat tours  from the hotel were brilliant.

Excellent guides run boat and walking tours from the hotel .

The rain didn't stop the boat tours from the hotel, saw plenty of wildlife and the guide Luis was excellent.

The boat ride to get to Manatus and back was half the fun.

From our bus ride from San Jose, to our boat ride to the resort, to our welcome at the resort, we felt like we were family.

After an exhillarating boat ride through the mangroves we arrived at the hotel and were greeted with a refreshing drink.

The rooms were rather dark with very little electrical plugs.

In my opinion the rooms are in need of renovation and improvement, they are too dark and the bathroom was not a good design.

The rooms are, well, roomy and well appointed if a little on the dark side for my taste.

though it was quite dark because you’re forced to keep the curtains closed most of the time as other people walk right past the windows on their way to and from their bungalows.

A highlight was a simple act of turning off our torches and standing for a minute in the dark and listening to the sounds of the forest; just magical.

The room was wood panelled and quite dark

Reading and packing after dark were a challenge.

The individual lodges are quite dark and simply fiurnished

We had to constantly have all our curtains drawn which meant it was very dark the whole time and rather dingy.

At first, it seemed a bit disorganized --- we waited on the beach, standing in the dark, for an hour.

You should know that this tour requieres for you to walk on a jungle/beach with no light and the sand is full of the holes the turtles make for their nests, it's not too bad and very worth it (just wish we'd known ahead of time that we'd be doing it in the complete dark).

Not quite the 'them and us' visit we imagined with a whole group of eager people waiting in the dark for the poor thing to lay its eggs.

We took a kayak tour with Louis and visited the Tortuguero National Park.

The staff were very friendly and the tour guides very knowledgeable, Louis was a great host for both of our excursions into the national park.

The Manatus Hotel is near these landmarks: Tortuguero National Park, Sea Turtle Conservancy, Sendero Cerro Tortuguero, Tortuguero Tours - Adventures close to Nature, Tortuguero Adventures, Tortuguero Eco Experiences, Roots Tours, Tuanis Tour Tortuguero, Costa Rica Roots Tours, Tortuguero Infocenter Tours, Tortuguero Native Tour Guide, Casa Cecropia, Hugo Tortuguero tours en français, Tortuguero Tours, Tortuguero Green Tours, Tortuguero Natural Tours, PEDRO TOURS TORTUGUERO, trips nativos tortuguero, Erik Tortuguero tours en français, Tortuguero Sport Fishing, Agalychnistours Tortuguero, Tortuguero Tours, Tortuguero Info, Mawamba Lodge Twilight Tour, Aaron Tour's Tortuguero, Hotel Cabinas y Tour Aaron Tortuguero, Iglesia de Tortuguero, Tortugueros, Tortuguero National Park Costa Rica Tours, Cariari Tours and El Zota Biological Field Station

An excellent choice for accomodation when visiting the Tortuguero National Park.

At 8:30 a.m. the excursion to the national park starts with Luis and Hector as drivers.

This location is a delightful spot to stay when visiting Tortuguero National Park.

The main focus for us as a family was to see the great biodiversity of the national park.

We had brilliant tours with Luis, around the national park and on the night turtle tour.

.we visited in the nights just before the park opens tours (July 1) for the Green turtle nesting.

Luis has such an energy and enthusiasm for his home national park and his knowledge is just great.

Fantastic hotel overlooking the water and minutes away for the national park.

The boat trips to the National Park were superb .

Tortuguero National Park is huge and the boat tours are amazing.

If you’re spending a few days in Tortuguero National Park, I recommend a stay at the Manatus Hotel!

The location, the restaurant, the swimming pool, the visits to the National Park and the charming and helpful attitude of the personnel.The guides to te National Park were very knowledgeable.

The real payoff comes when you go into the canals of the park where your knowledgeable guide (in our case Luis) can spot many animals and share with you his great insights into this protected refuge.

The hotel requires a 5-minute boat ride to get to the National Park.

The location is perfect, on the river, only a short boat ride from the town,  airport and national park river ways.

This made for a very chaotic beach and at least 50 people surrounding one poor turtle.

As others have noted there was no hot water in the wash basin and the available light for shaving or putting on any make up was very poor.

The poor lady in front of us tripped over landing in the mud.. unhurt though.

It’s a very green country so expect plenty of rain and also roads that in the main are in poor condition.

very hot, no air conditioning, poor plumbing situation and were totally shocked when we asked for extra pillows for the room.

The only negative we had was that the bathrooms were not very inviting and lighting in the rooms was very poor.

The food is very good, with the same menu presented at lunch and dinner.

Our package included all meals and the staff takes pride in getting to know you and your preferences.

Oh and the delicious food… from the daily fish, ceviche to the apple pie it was perfect for our whole family.

but could happily have eaten off the menu for longer as there was lots to choose from.

The food was only ok.
We loved the Manatus and if I was ever back in Tortuguero it would be the Manatus for us.

Excellent food served by the great team and the housekeeping team did a great job preparing the room and looking after us during our stay.

The service was exemplary, food very good and cocktails brilliant.

3 meals all included in the price and they were delicious.

The food was amazing, our exotic air-conditioned rooms comfortable, monkeys entertained us while watching bird life from the riverside pool.

Amazing experience, the staff are people willing to help you and make you feel at home, the installation is lovely, very confortable and cleaning, regarding the food they have a menu with different kind of delicious food.

On arrival the owner was there to greet us and we sat down to a 3 course a la carte lunch.

The food was surprisingly good and the restaurant staff, Alex and Jamon, took good care of us.

Strangely there were plenty of vegetarian choices at lunch

The food is included and is of a very good standard,

The rooms were large, well appointed, and very comfortable.

The girls who cleaned our room made the cutest little animals out of the fresh towels.

The rooms were good; large and well equipped (including a very good fridge).

The room was really comfortable with great beds, the bathrooms definitely needs a upgrade.

Our room was a cabin, large, clean and really comfortable.the trips on the river were wonderful

Spotlessly clean room with very comfy bed & nice big shower room.

We stayed in room #2 (hotel only has 12 rooms).

The pool was lovely and Our room had aircon which my husband needed there was a fridge and coffee maker.

Small hotel with lovely well equipped rooms.

Rooms clean and spacious, all staff very friendly.

The rooms are nice with 2 very comfortable beds and a good shower.

It has only 12 fully equipped rooms and is the only hotel in Tortugero with air conditioning and cable TV.

The rooms are very nice size and each has a private sunning/outdoor shower off the bath.

but others do not provide air conditioned rooms, which given heat and humidity is wonderful.

Our room was lodge style with a high ceiling and air conditioning.

Our room was very attractive in its furnishings and art work.

Delightful small hotel (12 rooms) with charming staff and Louis senior was a very good and interesting guide helped by Daniel (the boatman).

We had not realized that we would get in some touring and explanation while on route to La Pavona.

In addition to the nature and amazing guide Louis, the Manatus Hotel staff make the experience unforgettable.

One of the best things about Manatus is the staff, who were incredibly friendly and helpful - it is such a welcoming place.

The hospitality of all the staff was great

The staff was really lovely and kind, the little dog they have there is absolutely sweet.

A true boutique hotel, with impeccable service from friendly staff.

Beautiful location, wonderful gardens and fantastic staff.

He was extremely knowledgeable and we saw many birds, monkeys, crocodiles.

Luis was an informative guide and it was such fun to be on the lookout for wildlife from the river craft with its powerful motor.

The hotel was, to me, a luxury experience.

however the staff make the dining a good experience.

Great for birdwatching in the garden and the night walk in the rainforest behind the hotel was an incredible experience.

Our guide Luis has a lot of knowledge to share and he does the tour a amazing experience.

The whole experience was excellent and I would thoroughly recommend staying here.

This was a wonderful experience and is highly recommended

To round off our experience we did a night walk in the surrounding jungle at night.

The sea turtle outing was a memorable experience, out in the dark, we saw turtles laying eggs, covering nests and returning to the sea.

And our turtle safari (with Luis Jnr) was an experience I will never forget.

I had a very nice experience at this resort.

All of the staff are amazing and all aspects of our stay were excellent from our beautiful room, the fantastic food and the superb tours by Luis Senior and Luis junior.

Roberto and all the staff did more than we could have expected to make our stay a thrilling experience one never to forget.

We also took the twilight/night tour of the forest with Luis Jnr as our guide, what a fantastic experience, it wasn’t just the fact we saw various species of tree frogs, snakes and other animals; Luis’s knowledge and enthusiasm made the whole experience enjoyable.

Manatus hotel is a totally wonderful experience.

If you want to have a quiet up-close experience with nature, the Manatus hotel near Tortuguero is an excellent choice.

Also included were boat tours of Tortuguero, Our captain Roberto took us out for 2 excursions to see the wildlife and fauna.

Our tour guide, Luis, was fantastic and gave detailed information.

The tours were magnificent, Jose and Luis found us some truly amazing wildlife to see including sloths, monkeys, toucans, river otters, crocodiles, caimans, snakes, and many many birds.

The tours are mostly provided within the cost of your package, as is full board.

Luis was our guide for the tours and the staff were excellent right down to the care to put a special seat in the shower for Mum.

We appreciated the tours being part of the package.

Manatus Hotel

dark

poor

bathroom water

staff

restaurant

boat

room

tour

staying experience

park

Some of the outdoor areas where you can walk were impassable due to the amount of water.

but due to the bugs, unless you are immune to them, you will need to spray yourself.

but the photography was horrible due to a sky that was very overcast as we boated down the river toward the village.

but since they must import everything due to their remote location they may occasionally be out of something.

After a 3 hour trip from San Jose which passed very quickly due to the very talkative guide, unfortunately whose name I cannot remember.

Our only disappointment was that the walking trails around the lodge were flooded and not navigable due to heavy rains - that's on Mother Nature and climate change, not the Tortuga Lodge and staff.

You can borrow boots, a walking stick and a map of the garden and go explore :) I complained a lot due to my room not being what I had paid for and was after some time very well compensated.

Due to the early arrival of our plane (scheduled by the lodge)  we found they essentially double booked the room on the first day of our 3 day stay.

We should have been informed of this before booking as we feel we lost some of the experience due to this disturbance.

Meals were well cooked even if the choice is a bit limited for which the hotel makes mention of due to the remoteness of location and availability of ingredients.

Due to the food for dinner "only" 4 points and not 5.

We travelled to the lodge by bus and boat which takes a longtime due to the low water level of the river

This is not a great area if you are wanting to spend time on the beach and in the water, due to Bull sharks in the Northern Carribean and Crocodiles in the river.

It is situated in the rain forest; if you are lucky enough to be able to make use of the trails (due to the amount of rain) you will see much.

I caught a 100 pound Tarpon due to the expertise of Captain Eddy Brown on his Bull Shark fishing boat.

We were wondering what it would be like as they apologized in advance on the menu for the limited choices due to location and challenge with getting supplies to the lodge, well no need to apologize as there was not one thing that we had that we did not enjoy and the presentation was up to any 5 star hotel.

but I think that was largely due to Sunday traffic which was lighter than other days.

Getting there:
We drove from Central Valley to La Parvona, it took longer that Google suggested, we aimed for the 1:30pm boat which we found left at 1pm - apparently this can vary due to water levels so definitely leave plenty of time!

The location of this lodge is the best ever for someone wanting a remote location with very few people.

This simple lodge is the perfect way to experience some of Costa Rica’s  Carribean culture and wildlife.

The wildlife on the river, in the rainforest and even on the grounds of the lodge was incredible.

The rooms and the food is outstanding for an lodge in the wildernis!

Be sure to give yourself time to enjoy the lodge.

I also enjoyed taking photographs of the macaws, geckos, poison dart frogs and many other wildlife at the lodge.

The Lodge's food is some of the best I have ever had at any hotel/resort even in much more populace areas.

We were met at Pavona dock by Juan who looked after us for two days in the lodge.

The lodge was beautiful overlooking the river.

We highly recommend 2-3 nights at the Lodge if you are ever visiting Tortuguero.

We also fished off the docks at the hotel, swam in the pool and hiked the private trails behind the lodge.

The Tortuga Lodge & Gardens is near these landmarks: Tortuguero National Park, Sea Turtle Conservancy, Sendero Cerro Tortuguero, Tortuguero Tours - Adventures close to Nature, Tortuguero Adventures, Tortuguero Eco Experiences, Roots Tours, Tuanis Tour Tortuguero, Costa Rica Roots Tours, Tortuguero Infocenter Tours, Tortuguero Native Tour Guide, Casa Cecropia, Hugo Tortuguero tours en français, Tortuguero Tours, Tortuguero Green Tours, Tortuguero Natural Tours, PEDRO TOURS TORTUGUERO, trips nativos tortuguero, Erik Tortuguero tours en français, Tortuguero Sport Fishing, Agalychnistours Tortuguero, Tortuguero Tours, Tortuguero Info, Mawamba Lodge Twilight Tour, Aaron Tour's Tortuguero, Hotel Cabinas y Tour Aaron Tortuguero, Iglesia de Tortuguero, Tortugueros, Tortuguero National Park Costa Rica Tours, Cariari Tours and El Zota Biological Field Station

We hope to go back for 3 nights, and have a little more time to enjoy the lodge.

monkeys, iguanas, and other animals on the grounds of the lodge.

The team did a great job picking us up, getting us to the lodge, and getting us back for our trip to the next stop.

These rooms are very modern so you loose the lodge feel when staying in them (although that was probably a good thing for me and my girls).

The boat ride over to the lodge reminded me of the jungle cruise ride at Disneyland

Tortuga is one of the last lodges along the river and enjoys unrivalled and undisturbed views over the river.

The restaurant has some of the best food we have ever eaten served by very friendly staff.

The food was superb and the terrace at the restaurant is beautiful and peaceful right on the canal banks.

The food was superb, some of the best we have had in Costa Rica.

Great food, incredible location, comfortable no frills accommodation combine with staff that really know to put their guests front and centre.

The food was incredibly delicious, and we could all relax and just enjoy everything, knowing that we were in such good hands.

I would go back instant for the food and hospitality!

We enjoyed having lunch at El Patio and visiting The sea turtle Conservancy.

The food was incredibly tasty and the restaurant was gorgeous!

The food was excellent - every meal was well thought out and the staff were thoughtful enough to remember my daughters silly fruit preferences

The food was excellent, best we had in our whole 2 weeks in CR.

I will think about the food for many years to come!

Food is sublime … just love this place and would highly recommend to anyone planning a trip to Costa Rica.

but particular thanks to Zulay in reception, Bernardo, one of the guides and Martha and Mykal in the restaurant who all contributed to a memorable stay

Not only did this hotel have a great restaurant (top food and great service), a wonderful setting on the river border and a beautiful forest behind the hotel where we spotted monkeys,

If you're vegetarian or vegan - not a problem; if you like to eat dessert at lunch and dinner - NOT a problem.

though and chose to get a water taxi to/from the village for a couple of meals.

The rooms were spotless clean  and our cleaner was always cheerful and helpful.

The grounds and rooms are lovely without overshadowing the beauty of the landscape around you.

It was so wonderful to sit by the pool and watch great green macaws flying over the river, to walk around the grounds and spot iguanas, toucans and basilisk lizards, and sit outside our room looking for wildlife.

The rooms were big and lovely, you can't beat the views.

The rooms were well appointed, bright, airy and incredibly comfortable.

The rooms were very clean and well appointed and the WiFi was top notch.

Very comfortable rooms overlooking the river (only means of access and a fantastic trip from dock) Great staff, all so knowledgeable about all the wildlife and surroundings.

The rooms were spotless, the pool was incredible and the food… I don’t even have words for how good it was.

Amazing location, beautiful rooms and exceptionally friendly and efficient staff.

My room was comfortable and airy (even without A/C) .

We stayed in a family quad river view room which was spacious with a double and 2 single beds.

Away from the crowds, wonderful rooms and restaurants, good service.

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