Opinions FONDA VELA Monteverde

Wonderful staff all around, from the front desk to the spa and restaurant. The grounds and room were beautiful. Located near Monteverde Cloud Forest, but just on the outskirts of Santa Elena - it was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the town and fall asleep to the sound of their beautiful fountain and nature sounds. The stretch of road leading to the hotel isn't paved so having high clearance helps. The hot tubs were out of service during our stay, unfortunately, but the staff offered the Jacuzzi in their spa as a solution, which I very much appreciated (but we ended up not doing this as it needed advance notice for them to get it ready). Thank you for a wonderful stay! Will definitely plan to come back next time we're in the area!

Lovely staff! Very tranquil. Big room, plenty of towels. A little stuffy in the room because no AC but they did give us a fan. VERY helpful staff, made sure we were happy. We saw toucans, agouti and capuchin monkeys from our windows. Would definitely return!

Nice place to stay when visiting Monte Verde.

Lieu trés nature et personnel trés agréable, personnel trés souriant et disponible .
Chambres cosy et confortable ...
Accueil chaleureux.

Lugar tranquilo, buena comida, personal amable. Hay senderos propios.

Great hotel, ask for a fan if it is warm. Pool is heated and perfectly warm.

Nicht zu empfehlen! Pool Area scheint seit bald einem Jahr renoviert zu werden (wir haben nie jmd arbeiten sehen), alle Whirlpools sind außer Betrieb! Poolbar auch nicht besetzt. Rezeption sehr lustlos und unfreundlich, die angebotenen Aktivitäten vom Hotel aus sind zum Teil falsch angegeben, wir mussten beispielsweise vor Ort bei einer Tour plötzlich mehr zahlen als vom Hotel mitgeteilt - nicht professionell! Preis-Leistung stimmt hier insgesamt gar nicht, da auch die Zimmer als auch die Anlage an sich sehr in die Jahre gekommen ist

We really enjoyed our stay here. My husband said it was his favorite hotel he's stayed at in the last five years.
The only cons were:
1) The pool still being under renovation. I emailed them in August and they said it would be done by end of August, and we arrived in November and nowhere close to being done
2) They could use softer pillows and preferably some with feathers.

Other than that, everything was great. The room had a strong mountain vibe and a great view. We loved how quiet and not humid it was. They had a dehumidifier as well which was great. No AC but didn't need it.
Not in town but a short drive if you have a car. Super close drive to the parking lot for the cloud forest reserve. We wished we had stayed here three nights instead of two. Also wish breakfast was buffet instead of ordering from a menu. Staff at restaurant were fantastic but the restaurant was always almost empty.
They had the most delicious homemade pineapple tropical fruit jam for toast.
If you need laundry done, check out Sparkle Laundry close by. Did our laundry same day for around $25 USD.

This is an amazing place to stay. The rooms are spacious and peaceful. The beds are like sleeping in clouds, the most comfortable bed by far of any other hotels. You wake up listening to the birds of surrounding forest.
Staff in the bar and at breakfast are friendly and helpful. You can't fault their service here. Reception staff are lovely and helpful, just one person let down the reception team. The food is really good and the breakfast too ????.

Comfortable to rooms in a great location.

Muy bonitas instalaciones, las están remodelando. Sería muy bueno que se apunten a algún estándar o certificado de sostenibilidad turística al estar en una zona tan dedicada al cuidado del medio ambiente.

El servicio fue excelente en el restaurante, la comida bien pero no excepcional. El servicio en recepción estuvo bien, pero el recibimiento fue más enfatizado en lo que se cobra (perder la llave, etc) y no nos informaron que teníamos una alimentación extra por una promoción que tenían.

Old fashioned decor- quite dark and although we were in a refurbished room it smelt a bit damp/ musty. Clean room, and very comfortable bed. Too far out of Monteverde village - 40 min walk. It wax very quiet ( mid Sept) so no buffet breakfast- menu only. Breakfast was very good but very small, and there were pretty steep vharges for anything extra ($5 for granola). Very good bar/ restaurant in a hotel just up the road- Selina.

We were aware the pool was still being refurbished before we arrived, so we expected that. They did proactively offer free access to the Jacuzzis to moderate for this which was nice.

The room we had had clearly been refurbished and I thought it was very nice. There was a fridge in the room which was useful as well as a table and chairs which was also handy and a dehumidifier which I think is necessary here. The wildlife also was quite happy to walk past your bedroom so you just had to look out to see the coatimundi come to the fountain for a drink

The hotel had a 800m ish nature trail too which was pleasant and there was a book swop facility at reception. Staff were very helpful including supplying a list of the tours you could book via different providers and the times of the buses into town (pic attached)

It was off season (September) so very quiet, and it was a long way into town (40 min walk) with just 4 buses a day, breakfast was not a buffet, so you order from a fixed menu and the portion sizes were a bit small.and everything else was charged for.

There was also a much more lively bar and restaurant just the other side of the road about 200m in the direction of the rainforest park, so if its too quiet here it's much more lively at the Selina Hotel and restaurant happy hour 6-8pm, giant jenga, free pool ta le open fire etc...

Hemos estado en lo que ellos llaman temporada baja. Parece ser que por ese motivo tenían la piscina en mantenimiento ( vacía ) y sin poder usarse. He leído otra opinión de hace 4 meses y ya estaba así. La habitación que nos dieron no se corresponde con las fotografías de las que publicitan en su web ni en Booking, por ejemplo. Es ínfima para 4 personas . No había espacio para dejar las maletas, ni sillas, ni mesa. El armario es muy pequeño de un metro de altura por dos cuerpos ( para 4 personas). La habitación no tiene aire acondicionado ni un triste ventilador en el techo. No se debe haber reformado en más de 40 años. En el baño no hay sitio ni para dejar el neceser y las paredes son de pintura... El peor sitio en el que he estado en Costa Rica y en los países por los que he viajado. Esa habitación no tiene ni la categoría del 2 estrellas en mi país. Cuando en recepción les pedimos que nos cambiasen, se escudaron en que la agencia había reservado ese tipo de habitación. ¡ No sé cómo! Publicitan habitaciones muchísimo mejores en internet. Y además tenían el hotel vacío,podían haber tenido el detalle...
Y la amabilidad del personal bastante pobre... Aquí no son ¡ Pura Vida!

Hôtel sympathique mais prix exorbitant au vu de la piscine hors service, nous n'avons été prévenus que le jour de notre arrivée, alors que nous avions choisi cet hôtel en partie pour sa piscine...

Habitaciones nuevas, magníficas, sin aire acondicionado. La piscina estaba cerrada cuando visitamos (gran decepción para los niños). Hay happy hour de 16.00 a 18.00 (gran alegría para ños padres).
El desayuno un poco corto (no hay piña ni dulces).
Servicio, excelente!

This is a magical place. The rooms are gorgeous and clean. The staff is friendly and helpful. The restaurant is a true gem. The food was delicious. They masterfully prepared many items that weren’t even on the menu.

My 12 year old would like to add that the grounds were really beautiful and special and the pool (which was closed for cleaning while we were there) looks really fun. Like you’d be swimming in the forest

This place is 3,5 stars from me. I will explain. Minus one star for NO working pool and Jacuzzi. They are under construction. We were notified prior coming that this property doesn’t have working pool.
Another 0,5 starts down is for room service. We got 2 towels instead of 4 upon arrival. I had to call and ask, then next day, cleaning service took some of the towels again and one of the bathrobes (not sure why?).
Otherwise the property is very nice. There is a trail on the territory.
Service in the restaurant is great though!
And also the bed sheets were gorgeous!
I would recommend this place only when pool renovations are done.