Hideaway Rio Celeste Hotel

My kids loved the pool. The little pools with umbrellas are hot tubs - a wonderful surprise. It rained on and off, but we were able to sit in the hot tub and wait for the sun to come out. The setting is stunning - trees covered in moss, epiphytes, a forest so green it appeared blue sometimes, turquoise river, we saw a sloth suspended in the tree - not hiding, just hanging there. The spa - new, stunning, with reasonable rates. They even let my 7 yr old read and relax in the spa lounge while I got a massage. All staff were incredibly kind and went above and beyond. We loved the details big and small - beautiful coy pond and the chance to feed the fish, umbrellas appearing everywhere, immaculate trails lined in gravel to keep us from slipping. Our new favorite hotel.

Would have appreciated rugs in the casita. The wood floors were particularly slippery and my toddler fell more often than usual. The food was nicely executed, but we’d prefer more wellness-oriented options. Would love a good Casado on the menu, and a few veggie-driven entrees that are simple and healthy.

Beautiful property! I love the location and all the friendly staff!

Nothing

Clean and very beautiful People are amazing

Food can be better if you want to be a 5 star

The hotel appears really nice and clean, but there were several things that made us not rate this place higher. We booked a garden view villa. The room itself was spacious and well appointed. There is an inside and and outside shower. Not sure why a room needs two. I tried the outside shower and my feet were dirtier after my shower than before as there was dirt from the rain on the stepping stones. This was not the fault of the cleaning stuff, just a bad concept. We really appreciated the dehumidifier in the room! The breakfast was good. They offer breads and a toaster, baked goods, yogurt, fruits, juice, milk, coffee or tea and had a station where someone prepared eggs to your liking. We did the two hiking trails the hotel offers (they interlink). It was nice, BUT there is a challenging river crossing that nobody makes you aware of! A rope to hold onto would definitely be helpful! We didn't use the pool, but it looked really nice and clean. The massage we had a the Spa was super relaxing. Would recommend!

We are tour operators and travel the world, mostly to remote areas with very special and/ or high end accommodations. It is safe to say that we are able to rank places in regards to their location, accommodation, services and prices. The villas are super close to each other so don't expect privacy. The so called garden view ends on the edge of the deck where you can look into tall plants. Right behind this tall hedge is the walkway and in our case we had the cafe with a sitting area and the new restaurant directly opposite. Because of the music and noise we didn't enjoy our deck. For breakfast the servers used a serving cart to bring the coffee and water to the tables. For a hotel that ranks itself "luxury" we thought it was unreal! It felt like in a family restaurant. Upon arrival we were ask if we wanted to make a reservation for the restaurant which they recommended. We said we would like to come at 7pm, but were told that 6:45pm would work. We agreed. When we got there maybe 1/4 of the restaurant was occupied and this didn't change after spending an hour or more there. The food was decent, but nothing really special for the prices they charge. We hiked to the natural pools of the Rio Celeste only to learn that there is not really a good access into the river. The rocks were slippery and we didn't want to risk an accident, so we skipped it. On their website it appears that the beautiful waterfall and the tubing are right onsite as well as the Tapir Valley, but it is not! You need to book a tour. Here are the distances: Entrance to Parque Nacional Volcán Tenorio (hike to waterfall) - 2km Tapir Valley - 5km Tubing - 12km We weren't super impressed with this overrated and overpriced hotel, but my impression got even worse when I found a roll of toilet paper and a used cleaning rag INSIDE my luggage, not on top!!! I WAS SHOCKED! They apologized and informed me that they will do an investigation. Never heard anything else...