Aninga Lodge

Amazing grounds after finally getting there. Planes, trains (not really), automobiles and a BOAT. You must take a boat to get here and back. Unfortunately it rained the entire time for the two days we stayed there. It was still beautiful. The real "Rain Forest" . The service here was amazing. The rooms had no glass windows, only screened openings. Air was free flowing, and so were the sounds of the rain forest. There is no a/c, no heat and no TV. There was a beautiful turtle-shaped pool. As for the food, the first day lunch buffet was very good. They had chicken breasts and pork tenderloins, along with a pasta bar. First night dinner was beef and fish, also good. There was no decent dessert. Probably a good thing because I would probably eat too much of it. Next morning breakfast was good. They had an omelette bar. Second day lunch buffet was not so good. They only had chicken thighs and drums. Dark meat only. I'm not a fan. The only saving grace was a great flan. I forgot what we had the last night...lol But we did have that omelette bar the day we left. There is a nice 2-mile walking tour through the rain forest, which was really cool. We did see some monkeys frolicking in the trees and a whole bunch of exotic birds. Our stay was really nice, but unfortunately it rained the entire time and it was supposed to be the dry season. Oh well.

My wife & I recently stayed at Aninga Lodge for 5 nights - our second visit to this property. We experienced a little more rain than normal in early December but the staff were thoughtful & wonderful and made our stay a very nice experience. Special thanks to Barbie & Emilie in the office, guide Brandon, boat captain Carlos, and our lovely cleaning lady, Anna. Also great to see boat captain John again and the restaurant staff were terrific. Also thank you to Deikel in the reservation office for all her help and fast communication. These folks were all wonderful to deal with and the location is amazing to see wildlife and to walk on the Pachira Lodge (sister property) trail, right next door. We are already planning our next visit to Costa Rica and Aninga Lodge will certainly be part of our plans. We highly recommend this lodge in the Costa Rica rainforest!

Worth the 2 hour bumpy track to get the boat to arrive. Paradise indeed. Beautiful accommodation, charming staff, everything one needs with board walks, wildlife, cocktails and the experience of a lifetime

We're here now. Its wonderful. I had made the mistake of booking through ***********, not realizing that didn't include transportation from San Jose which is only arranged directly with the lodge. Marriono with the lodge still arranged to have us picked up long after the regular shuttle had left, driven the 3 hours to boat launch, then an hour by boat. Our guides, Johnny and Carlos, took us on a jungle river excursion this morning and pointed out all the hidden wildlife. Great food and accomodations, very lovely people.

Fabulous setting in the heart of the secondary tropical forest. Lovely individual cabins on stilts with comfy bed, rocking chairs on the veranda and Howler Monkey alarm call! Catering was plentiful, tasty but basic and cafeteria style. Guides very knowledgeable and spoke fluent English for trips out on the water, to Tortuguero village, treks through the grounds and also up Tortuguero hill and it’s primary forest for a spectacular view. Lovely swimming pool to refresh and excellent cocktails!

This was my favourite hotel on my recent trip to Costa Rica. It takes over three hours to arrive at the Aninga Lodge from San Jose via a long bus journey and boat ride after negotiating a frenetic embarkation, but once you arrive it’s very enjoyable. The arrival and departure are the low points of staying at the Lodge, the transfer guides were not very friendly, in fact the return guide who came from a sister property, the Evergreen Lodge, was really rude and bossy. You also spend the first hour of transfer just driving around San Jose hotels picking people up, the embarkation point where you transfer from the bus to boat is chaotic, has limited facilities and you have to do all your own portering. I loved how you could only get around the local area by river boat so whenever you left the property that was a treat in itself. We had a very nice welcome at the Aninga Lodge from Barbie with a welcome drink. Our chalet was comfortable, we knew there was no air conditioning or TV, but the Wi-Fi was very good, and the fan was sufficient to keep the room relatively cool. There was no wardrobe but lots of shelves and rails. The bathroom was large, and I think recently renovated, with a new shower but the pressure was low at times. There is no internal ceiling in the bathroom so you need to be comfortable with whoever you are rooming with because you can hear everything in the bedroom. Housekeeping was superb despite the tricky conditions (only netting for window covers, surrounded by forest so lots of leaves, seeds etc floating about), the room was always spotless, and nothing was too much trouble for the chambermaids, every day when we returned to the rooms there was a new towel sculpture! The staff are all very pleasant and keen to help, most only speak Spanish but they always have a smile, from the bartender to the kitchen staff. Meals are buffet style at the three mealtimes, the choices are sufficient and the food fresh, well cooked and everyone I could see staying was more than happy with what they were served. As we stayed three nights rather than the usual two, we were cooked steak on our last day as a thank you which was a very nice surprise. A fellow guest seemed to have food allergies and the kitchen staff went out of their way to prepare a separate meal to his satisfaction. There was a small amount of maintenance work going on at the hotel, but this did not affect us in any way, and it seemed to be mainly retiling the bar area. The Aninga Lodge is not a place for light sleepers. On a regular basis fruit or nuts would drop out of the tree above our chalet and with a loud crack hit our roof as they fell to the ground. The jungle makes a constant noise, the howler monkeys howl pre-dawn and the rain when it happens is thunderous. I would take ear plugs if you are worried about noise. I would also think long and hard about going if you don’t like bugs. They get everywhere, inside and outside of your room. The hotel is surrounded by flora and fau