Rancho de Lelo Ecolodge & Sustainable Farm

Absolutely loved staying at Rancho de Lelo! My husband and I had an amazing time. Our cabin was stunning and well-kept, the staff was so friendly, and there were the cutest dogs ever roaming the property. The restaurant was delicious, and served the best tilapia I’ve ever had. I also enjoyed relaxing at the pool! I cannot recommend this place to stay enough!

This Rancho is such a gem. My son and I were passing through Monte Verde and could only stay the night, but the service was excellent. We were well taken care of and the family vibe here makes it feel very homely. The grounds are well taken care. My son had a blast playing with the dogs. It's about twenty minutes from town. If you choose to stay here, just keep in mind that it is a bit remote and the road to it is pretty bumpy, so just beware. Despite this, it is a wonderful place to stay if you want to be away from the bustle. Such a lovely property!

Beautiful place! Family owned and they are so super friendly and helpful. The food is great, prepared with care and good portions, so make sure to have dinner or lunch.

There is a small natural pool. Many dogs (7) but they are all friendly and very good with people (and kids!).

The cabins are private, and traditional decorated. The road is a bit bumpy (make sure to follow their directions from the website) not too far from Santa Elena.

We really enjoyed our stay and would definitely recommend to others!

What a truly lovely place, run by a lovely family. Hosts so warm, welcoming and make you feel at at home immediately.

A fantastic location too... so peaceful and relaxed.

Travelling in, worth making sure you have a vehicle that copes with unpaved roads.

We enjoyed staying here. The hotel is located in a beautiful surroundings, the cabin 3 was cosy, nice and clean with everything we needed.
The family who runs the hotel are very welcoming and nice people! The food is delicious. Our kids (9 and 5) were happy to play there.

We loved our stay here last December and people we've recommended it to have loved theirs too. Out of the way and lovely without feeling touristy and inauthentic. Still dreaming about the huevis rancheros. Food was delicious, and family that runs it are super friendly, accommodating, and knowledgeable. Highly recommend.

If you manage the road that leads here (4 wheel drive is needed if approaching from the west road), you will find a beautiful ranch with the most amazing staff. We stayed in cabin 2 I believe, which was lovely. The supper menu was very tasty and left us wanting to try the rest. This was one of our two most recomended stays in Costa Rica.

We had a wonderful authentic experience of rural Costa Rica at Lelo's place. The location is remote and reaching there is quite an adventure - especially on one day when the regular road was closed. The cabins are comfortable (although the wind noise kept us awake one night!) The highlight of our stay was the food - the tilapia, freshly caught from their own pond, was a real treat. So was the walk we did up a country road.

We just came back, loved the entire environment, beautiful and quiet, the owners are very nice, they cook delicious food (especially the fish) and the price is good. Location is remote and roads are unpaved, but it is only about 20 minutes away from attractions. Amazing place to enjoy the nature. Our two-day experience is absolutely wonderful!

Such a peaceful, friendly, beautiful place. We loved the cabin, the bed was super comfortable, the decor traditional style, with lovely balcony overlooking the gardens, full of flowers, butterflies and humming birds. Walking around the fish ponds and gardens is so relaxing. Restaurant is gorgeous, and breakfast delicious. Felt really at home here. Its close to lots of Monteverde attractions, wish we had longer to stay and do more in the area. We had Hyundai Tucson to get there, the roads are not paved, but its quite easy driving. Situated in San Luis its off the beaten track but very easy to find using Waze.

One of the most amazing places to stay near Monteverde, a bit out of town but the most beautiful cabins, amazing food and kind family. We truly cannot thank them enough for their hospitality and hope others come :)

A amazing hidden away gem. This is a family run establishment and you will not be disappointed with staying here. The food is amazing and you better come hungry, the portions are very generous!

I stayed at Rancho de Lelo Ecolodge & Sustainable Farm for 8 days last week, it was incredible. (They were kind enough to upgrade me to the "cabin" since I was staying so long, and I had friends in the house next door). Such a beautiful area to stay in, quiet, gorgeous views...AND it's a lot nicer, warmer and less cloudy here than it was in Monteverde (but not warm at night, no AC needed). The food was some of the best I've had in Costa Rica. The breakfast (which I didn't realize was free!) was epic. I didn't even each lunch most days since the breakfast was so good and filling. The best part was Natalia, Lelo, and the entire family and how helpful and accommodating they were. I felt like family! I miss "August", the dog, and even got to know the neighbor Yann. What a special place! If you're like me and prefer less crowds and more of an authentic experience in real nature, then you'll love Rancho de Lelo. FYI, you can get food delivered from any restaurant in Monteverde with one of the motorcycle delivery services, although I never did.

Great ecolodge and tilapia farm. The family that runs this fine lodge and restaurant, offer guests reasonable lodging with a generous heart. You will receive an authentic Costa Rican experience.

From the moment we arrived we felt at home. The owners were extremely friendly. When I ordered a fish for dinner they had my 7 year old son catch it. He was so excited. We had dinner here twice and everything tasted outstanding. My sons played with the dogs and we even played soccer on the field. Breakfast was very tasty, too. We took advantage of the laundry service and everything was cleaned nicely.

Words cannot begin to describe our wonderful time at Ranch de Lelo! We stayed 4 nights at the peaceful and tranquil ranch. On our last night we ate dinner here (best food we had all week in Costa Rica) after the ranch tour and felt evermore value in the food we ate knowing that the tilapia and other ingredients on our plate was from the farm. As an ecologist, this is what true sustainable ecotourism should be, a complete system managed by a local family or community. While we stayed at the ranch here in San Luis, we spent one day at the beach in Samara, one day at the Monteverde Cloud forest, and the other in Santa Elena. Meaning, the ranch is conveniently located for you to do a variety of activities across the pacific side of Costa Rica and it’s slightly rural location will not limit you at all (as long as you have a rental car). Also we went on a night tour in Monteverde, and each subsequent night me and my travel partner hosted our own night walk on the ranch and found wildlife/creepy crawlies we never would’ve noticed otherwise. I will personally be bringing my own family here again the next time I am in Costa Rica. It was also so great to chat with the family during our breakfasts and with only four cabins, you truly feel like family here at Rancho de Lelo. If you love being immersed in nature and wish to be encompassed by the Pura Vida energy, we highly recommend staying here. Thank you Rancho De Lelo for a beyond memorable first experience in the most beautiful country of Costa Rica! Muchísimas gracias y Pura Vida!

Great spot to stay when in the Monteverde area, far enough away from the hustle of Santa Elena and Monteverde to find simple peace but close enough to take in the attractions. The food (especially), room, and staff were excellent! Amazing value in an amazing spot. Thanks to the family for hosting us!

We have only been here a couple of hours and I love it. The place is really beautiful with a pool, some ponds with fish, and a small field which you can play catch or soccer on. The staff is also very nice, one of them showed me (13) and my brother (7), him catching a fish and preparing it for our meal. Would 100% recommend this to anyone wanting to enjoy Costa Rica.

A wonderful property with super friendly staff. The cabins are new and clean and the open air dining area is quite magical. Great rural setting with excellent views and even wildlife like howler monkeys and toucans that you might expect only in the parks or forests. The road in was no worse than many in Monteverde and we could get to most of the parks, zip lines etc, within about half an hour.

The cabins were very comfortable and cozy. My family and I were able to go on a tour of the property to see the coffee grove, chickens, pigs, and cows. We got to see the 4 tilapia ponds and we learned how the system worked for the fish. We were also told how the farm was run and how it began and also got to feel the very friendly vibe due to it being a family owned business. Ultimately this was a wonderful experience for my family and I and we will definitely be back 😁