Villa Lapas at Tarcoles & Carara NP

This was one of my first jungle lodges to visit after I moved to Costa Rica and one of the quaintest ever, arranged as a colonial jungle village! 🙂 Plus it is one of the closest to where I live! It also has two good birding locations adjacent, Carara National Park and the Tarcoles River, plus a lot of birds on property. See hotel website at: Hotel Villa Lapas Jungle Village.

During my March 2024 visit I learned that they are about to become a Marriott with some special boutique designation sometime during 2025. The prices will probably go up then. The little village colonial church is a little chapel used for weddings and personal worship. Overall it is quaint, relaxing and a fairly good birding location.

Scarlet Macaws come on the hotel grounds every morning.

Would I Come Here Again?

Yes. It is nice and unique place, even if not the best. And it is close to where I live, adjacent to Carara NP and across the highway from Tarcoles River! And not too expensive yet.

Colonial Village

Likes

  • It is in the rainforest literally adjacent to Carara National Park, thus for wildlife it is an extension of the park!
  • I love the quaint Spanish Colonial Village motif for about half of the rooms.
  • I love that birding and other nature that is readily available on hotel grounds and in nearby Carara NP and Tarcoles River!
  • It was not expensive, though with Marriott coming it will probably cost more. And some of their new activities have caused the prices to increase since my 2015 visit.
  • Several hiking trails on hotel grounds.

Dislikes

  • Buffet meals! They host a lot of bus tour groups which is one reason I guess, but I don’t like buffet meals. They do have a menu option which is slower and depending on what you get, could be more expensive but worth it for me. And on the positive side the breakfast buffet includes a chef with an omelet bar. 🙂
  • Not anything else now, though I’m wondering if Marriott will make it better or just more expensive?

Nature & Other Activities

  • Nature is the big plus for Villa Lapas and about any other lodge I recommend!
  • Adjacent to Carrara National Park with excellent guides for birding or general wildlife hikes or you can walk the trails on your own, but believe me, you will see much, much more with a guide! Guides are waiting at the front gate after you pay the entrance fee.
  • Tarcoles River Jungle Crocodile Safari is the best of several boat trips available on Rio Tarcoles and the only one that specializes in birds, giving you a brochure with all the birds pictured and identified! Best to make reservations a day or more ahead. And for birds, the most will be seen in the morning, especially the 6 am and 8:30 am trips.
  • Walking the Hotel Trails for all kinds of nature, all day! And I recommend the pre-breakfast guided birding hike. See also the hotel’s page on birding for birding in general on hotel grounds.
  • The Villa Lapas Sky Way Tour is on elevated bridges through the tree tops for some nice visitas and some wildlife.
  • The Villa Lapas Jungle River Wagon Tour takes you literally up a stream on the hotel property in a wagon pulled by a tractor. I have not done this, so no personal testimony.
  • The Villa Lapas Skyway Twilight Tour is another one I haven’t done yet, but it offers special sunset views from the skyway with a guide.
  • The Villa Lapas Night Exploration is excellent as I think all night hikes are in all the lodges! 🙂 You see things in nature at night that you cannot see in the day!
  • The hotel also offers trips to two nearby beaches, Jaco Beach and also to Playa Blanca (White Beach), either one about 15 minutes away.
  • And if you know anything about nearby Jaco, you know that there many, many more possible activities from zip-lining to multiple water activities available through tour companies there.
  • Black-bellied Whistling Duck
  • Walking Palm
  • Scarlet Macaw
  • Rainforest Trees
  • Iguana
  • Cecropia Tree
  • Unidentified Dragonfly
  • Turquoise-browed Motmot
  • Black & Green Poison Dart Frog
  • Roseate Spoonbill
  • Agouti
  • Great Egret

Room & Food

  • I’ve already mentioned that I don’t like buffets, which all of their meals have, but the food is actually pretty good and I just usually order from the menu except for breakfast.
  • The Rooms are very big, clean and nice. Not upscale but very nice.
  • A Colonial Jungle Village
  • Colonial Church
  • Colonial Church is Real Chapel
  • Some rooms in Colonial Village
  • Stained Glass Art in some rooms
  • Colonial Village
  • Colonial Village
  • Colonial Village Art

Getting There

  • It is about an hour’s drive from Atenas and if without a car, a taxi is doable.
  • Public Bus from Atenas. You take either the Jaco Bus or the Uvita Bus and either will stop in Tarcoles to let you off. They say 1:05 time, so the same as driving and cheaper! The lodge is walkable from Tarcoles or with bags, there are a couple of taxis in Tarcoles. The bus driver will tell you which bus you can catch going back to Atenas. I got the wrong one once and it took me to Alajuela and I had to backtrack to Atenas. 🙂
  • Now, I use Walter’s Taxi & Tours for places like this.
From one hotel trail you can see mouth of Tarcoles River & Pacific Ocean.

My Trip Galleries for Villa Lapas

Nearby Tarcoles is a quaint little fishing village for culture and people watching.

¡Pura Vida!

The other lodge in the Tarcoles area that I’ve visited once specializes in only birding, there and in Carara Park, just not as quaint and touristy as this one. It is called Cerro Lodge (my photo gallery) and located back up Highway 34 before the Crocodile Bridge. It is much cheaper, but only birding there, though they do have a little pool. 🙂 See the Cerro Lodge Website.

Another Pacific Vista from Villa Lapas trails.

¡Pura Vida!

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