Arenal Nayara Hotel & Gardens

"Beautiful boutique hotel - just my style" by (February 21, 2010)

We greatly enjoyed the Nayara - the best hotel we stayed at in Costa Rica! Its a small, 26 room hotel with lots of charm, beautiful grounds, and very good service. Each room is a casita with a large bedroom, modern well appointed bathroom, indoor and outdoor showers, and an outdoor deck with a hot tub and a view of Arenal volcano. The grounds are lush with well kept plants, and the rooms are set up so they're very private. From our deck, we couldn't see any other rooms or common areas. It was great! The pool area was small, but nice, with a swim up bar serving throughout the day. The lobby was a beautiful tropical open lobby, very inviting and friendly. They had a pretty good restaurant, and they also had a wine bar which contained electronic key-card wine service. Basically, they give you a card, and you press a few buttons by the bottle you want, after which it automatically dispenses the wine and charges your room. Very cool! Date of stay February 2010

"Perfect in every way" by Reviews by TripAdvisor (February 19, 2010)

The grounds, service, room, amenities, everything was flawless. We stayed for 4 nights, and couldn't have hoped for a better stay. Central to many local attractions, just a few miles from town, food, near hot springs, volcano, and more. Had a great time at the pool bar with reasonably priced food and drinks. Very relaxing, serene, plus had a massage. Optional outdoor shower and a spa tub facing the volcano, but still very private. If you go into town for food, see the Lava Lounge, best food in the area. They even had laptops with Internet in the lobby, with a "magic jack" phone for FREE calls back to the US. Bottom line, absolutely perfect. Date of stay February 2010

"Loved this beautiful hotel!" by Reviews by TriAdvisor (February 14, 2010)

Our casita #9 was spacious with two comfortable double beds, a sitting area, flat-screen TV and desk, a dressing/vanity area with mini bar and plenty of useful closet space, a large indoor shower as well as an attractive outdoor shower. The bright tropical decor was fabulous. The suite opened onto a generous balcony with two loungers and a two-person jacuzzi. The jungle vegetation surrounding it gave us plenty of privacy but cut off any view of the volcano ( unfortunately that wasn’t an issue for us because the mountaintop was constantly shrouded in clouds during our 3 days there.) The hotel gardens were lush and gorgeous. Though all the facilities looked quite inviting, we didn’t try out the pool, the spa or the self-serve wine bar. We did eat several meals in the attractive open-air restaurant and found the service very good and all the food fresh and tasty. We also used the excellent laundry service a couple of times. (They even repaired the torn seam on a pair of shorts.) . There was construction of a new section of units going on while we were there but we rarely heard any noise. Throughout our stay, all the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful. Date of stay January 2010

"Amazing, beautiful surroundings" by Reviews by TripAdvisor (February 11, 2010)

This was my favorite part of my whole costa rica trip. We got a room directly looking at Volcano Arenal and the surrounding jungle. At night, we got to watch the lava flow from the volcano and all the fireflies in the jungle around us. It was spectacular. The room itself was comfortable and quite spacious but a bit old and not exactly luxurious, but the surroundings more than made up for it. During the day, we took a beautiful walk along the park trails. For meals, we ate once at a local spa, and the rest at the hotel's restaurant. The restaurant was over-priced and really not that great. An important note is that cab fare to a nearby thermal spa was $20 each way....not cheap!! This is one place it would have definitely paid to have had our own transportation. Overall, there were more con's than pro's to this place, but the surrounding was just so beautiful I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. Date of stay August 2009

"A Great Experience" by Mike Hutch (April 11, 2009)

I saw this hotel on this website in mid-January and it was full - except for one day - when I was to be in the area. So, I booked it for one night only - January 30th. Upon arrival I was greeted warmly and professionally. I was escorted to my room (#25) and it exceeded my expectations. The bed was comfy (and I was tired having traveled all day). I ate at the restaurant and both the food and service were top notch. The jacuzzi on the back deck was sweet. Everything was perfect - couldn't have asked for a better visit - other than I wanted to stay longer! I will return. JC in Oregon.