Rancho Naturalista

The staff was lovely. The guides were excellent. The meals were very good, and the company was amazing. We would have liked soap, shampoo, and a hair dryer in the room. Also a heads up about the 4:15 wake up with the coffee maker going on. Most of all an amazing experience.

We had a lovely five-night stay at the Rancho on a birding trip. The staff went above and beyond, and the food was top notch. Comfortable beds and great views from the balcony, not only of birds, but also of the volcano Turrialba and the valley. “Bucolic” is probably the best word to describe the experience. Tons of hiking trails to explore around the rancho, so even if you’re not into birds, it’s a great place to relax and unwind.

We stayed at Rancho for eight days in late November 2023 at the recommendation of birding friends. We were pleased with the accommodations, the options for hiking and birding, and the excellent guiding. We would have changed only two things: first, we are not frequent restaurant-goers, so the food though delicious, contained more salt than we usually eat. This led to swollen ankles and feet on some days while hiking. In retrospect, we could have drunken more water during the day but hiking, sometimes on private land, makes relieving yourself a problem! Second, we would have enjoyed a complete dominoes set (the current one has missing pieces), a few decks of cards or board games for rainy afternoons (Wingspan is popular with birders and others).

Rancho staff go above and beyond to make your stay comfortable and enjoyable. I loved birdwatching from the decks and the family style meals. The rooms were beautiful and perfectly clean. We even got room cleaning twice in a two night stay, a rarity these days.

If you are a birder the onsite guides are great. We were only there for a short time but Mercedes our guide knew our target list better than we did and took us to local hotspots to find birds. We are grateful!

Rancho Naturalista is a birders’ paradise. In the course of three days we saw 140 different species. Our guide Steven was amazing—fantastic English, incredibly knowledgeable about birds, able to find everything and, critically, able to describe exactly where in the treetops you should point your binos. On top of that, the location and house is charming, and the food is delicious. Rancho Naturalista really is such a gem. Couldn’t recommend enough!

We really enjoyed our stay at Rancho Naturalista. It is a gorgeous setting for a lodge. Set on a hillside, surrounded by beautiful trees, birds and other wildlife, RN is a peaceful place to stay. Right off the back porch and deck you can see many birds including: Oropendola, Toucan, Motmot, Chachalca, Brown Jay, Social Flycatcher, White winged dove, Clay colored Thrush and huge variety of hummingbirds.
The staff is very attentive. We were happily greeted when we arrived and before we could turn around, our bags were already in our room. We arrived later than planned but they had dinner ready for us. Lisa, the proprietor, is ever present to make sure her guests are happy and comfortable.
We really enjoyed the meal times. At 7am, 12pm and 6pm they ring a bell to remind everyone to come and eat. The guests are seated a tables of 6 to 8 and eat family style. We loved talking and getting to know the other guests. We met people from all over the world at RN.
The guides that are available for tours are so great! RN actually has many trails right on site. You don't have to have a guide but if we just walked the trails on our own we would not have seen much as they are professionals for a reason.
Their website is full of information which we used to plan our tours.

We just stayed here in January for the first time and absolutely loved it! The location is amazing with such beautiful views and we stayed in Room#1- Sunbittern room - which had a private deck with seating and a hummingbird feeder. It was a great spot to relax and see birds and it was set back from the main deck that is for the lodge. The feeder was frequented by the Crowned woodnymphs, White-necked Jacobins and the Rufous-tailed hummingbirds. Our room was also spacious, and had glass doors to the deck that could be left open for a breeze which was a nice feature. The bed was comfortable as well! The picture is from the main deck looking back to our room's deck. It was such a treat to have breakfast, lunch and dinner served each day which was always, delicious, plentiful and varied! It was also fun to meet and chat with so many different people who we sat with at each meal and it rotated with the timing of people's stays. It was also one of the guest's birthdays at our table and the staff made a beautiful and delicious cake to be shared with all of us to celebrate. All of the staff were so nice and we especially loved the time we had with the guides which is so worthwhile. We are bird enthusiasts and were thrilled to have so many birds pointed out to us. We had Fabian for our first morning and he was knowledgeable and helpful pointing out birds around the property and focused on what our interests were especially finding the Lovely Cotinga. Our most special day was with Mercedes as our guide and Renee as our driver(and guide)for the full day trip up to the Turrialba volcano highlands to see the Resplendent Quetzal which we were so lucky to see multiple times as well as numerous other beautiful birds and hummingbirds that only live in that region. Mercedes was so wonderful and she took the time to create 8 checklists on Ebird covering each area we went to and she also sat with us to go over it since it was new to us. We were also very lucky to have Mercedes again for the Silent Mountain Base trip to see the Sunbittern which we got to also see a few times as well as many other birds! Lastly, we walked to Ranch Bajo three different times during our stay(part of the property) and each time we saw the beautiful Snowcap hummingbirds- male, female and juvenile. We found that when we went later in the afternoon, that we were able to see the male sitting on a branch so we were able to get some spectacular photos!

We had the best time at Rancho Naturalista! The property is gorgeous, the guides are incredible, the food is fantastic. We felt
absolutely pampered-did I mention the birdlife?? Would definitely recommend a stay!!

We stayed at Ranch Naturalista for a 3 night birding vacation staying in the Tinamou suite.
Were do we start? This property is amazing!!! We saw so many beautiful birds (many lifers) and wildlife. We did several excursions with Mercedes.She is a top notch guide finding birds that we wouldn’t have seen and sharing details about the birds , nature and history of the region. She was the best!!! We also appreciated Daniel who was completing a placement as a guide assistant. He was very helpful as well.
The Tinamou suite was secluded, comfortable and beautiful. A note for improvement was that the lighting was very dim which made it a bit difficult at times.
We met many wonderful people from around the world sharing our experiences over meal times which was fun.
The food was exceptional and the staff was very accommodating for food intolerances. We appreciated 5:00 am coffee for our early morning birding on the balcony as well as the lunch they prepared for our drive to Manuel Antonio at our departure.
A lastly the staff and team at Rancho Naturalista was second to none and everyone showed top rated customer service at all times. This is a team of stars.
We will return.

Cheers
Kirby and Lucie
Canada

What an outstanding resort to stay at. The food was amazing. Friendly staff made you feel at home. Best birding guides we have had on a tour. Thanks so much

Rancho Naturalista is a great place to relax and enjoy nature. We went there to photograph plants and animals in Costa Rica and the rooms were very clean and very nice to stay in. The food was prepared 3x a day and the family style dining and being able to visit with the other guests was an unexpected bonus. The bird guide, Steven, was exceptional. There are a few very nice trails through the cloud forest with a lot of diversity of wildlife. We thoroughly enjoyed our 4 day stay.

A great little lodge. Very good spot for viewing humming birds as well as other wildlife. The grounds have some walks on site.
The hospitality of the staff is great. Meals were always very tasty.

John and I had a wonderful time at Rancho Naturalista - we saw lots of birds in a beautiful environment. Great food. Terrific guides.

Rancho Naturalista is a birders dream! The rooms are clean and comfortable, the staff are friendly and very accommodating. The family style meals are included in the price and we were never once disappointed in the chef's offerings, everything was excellent! The birding guides that work with/at the Ranch are top notch, knowledgeable, friendly and flexible. The guides prefer to be paid in cash and their rates are very reasonable. We would recommend this place to any birders or nature enthusiasts or even anyone wanting to get a little off the beaten path and see the Costa Rican countryside. One note - the shared balcony is the meeting place for every days' activities and groups start gathering there for coffee and birding before the sun comes up. For us, that was the best part, but if you are not a birder or an early riser, you may want to choose a room away from the main lodge! Thank you to Lisa and Nikki for the help in planning and organizing our trip and transfers. Thank you to guides Harry, Steven and Fabian for the amazing day trips. Thank you to all the staff at the lodge who made our stay so comfortable!

An excellent place, and we had an excellent stay. This lodge is technically not very far from San Jose and Cartago, but it is in the highlands, so has a remote vibe. The property itself is sizeable: it takes several minutes for a car to chug slowly up and down the steep road between the entry and the lodge. I'm glad we hired a driver instead of trying to operate a rental on the roads to and within the property.

The lodge building itself is lovely, with the kitchen, office, lobby, dining areas, reading room, and a bedroom or two on the bottom; and several bedrooms and a large balcony on the second floor. (There are several detached cabins near the lodge, as well.) Our bedroom, the Sunbittern Room, was spacious and has a small balcony of its own. We enjoyed the room a lot, though it is directly above the kitchen and dining areas, so if that kind of noise is an issue for you, consider one of the rooms on the other side of the building.

The second-floor balcony is pretty much the lodge's social hub. It is a sizeable balcony that gives good views of a valley below, a volcano beyond, and various feeding (fruit, corn, etc.) platforms positioned next to the lodge to attract birds (and agoutis). Oropendolas, chachalacas, blackbirds, doves/pigeons, and other kinds of birds make regular appearances at the feeders. Numerous hummingbird feeders hang at various places of the balcony--White-necked Jacobins were the most abundant hummers during our stay, but several other species can be seen at the feeders and in the flowery bushes nearby. Be sure to wake up early to hear the "dawn chorus" from the balcony, and on most days a bird guide or two were around from 5:30-7:00 am to chat and point out birds. A scope is available for use on the balcony, and there are many guide books (on birds and other things) to enhance the experience.

We have mobility issues, so did not get to use the more challenging trails on the property, but between the balcony, walking around the lodge building, and the more accessible trails radiating from the lodge, we were able to view numerous bird species. We hired the services of a guide (Steven) a couple of times, and we highly recommend it. He helped us find and navigate accessible locations on the property, and also took us to off-site locations for Sunbitterns, marsh birds, and more.

In addition to the birding, the overall nature experience at RN is highly rewarding. The bushes and landscaping surrounding the lodge attract colorful butterflies and other insects, and the pasture (accessible via an easy trail) also was a goldmine for butterflies. Be sure to check out the opportunities for mothing--there's a station near the lodge equipped with a moth light and curtain. We did this twice and were astounded by the quantity and beauty of moths that showed up. But also look inside the lodge for moths--some do wind up inside, and darn, they're beautiful.

The RN staff is great--no exceptions. Everyone from the innkeepers to the kitchen workers and the cleaning staff were super professional and skilled. The grounds crew have a huge task each day, but they are amazing. And compliments to the chef--delicious food. Meals were served at precise times (7 am, 12 pm, 5 pm) and occurred family-style at a large table.

Breakfasts include fruit, juice, some kind of egg dish, rice and beans, cheese, sometimes potato patties, and sometimes a meat. Lunches are complete meals, for example: pumpkin soup, chicken cutlet, rice and veggies, and flan. Another lunch was Bbq beef ribs, potato salad, steamed carrots, and banana cake. Dinners were substantial, too, for example: fish with tomato sauce, green beans and carrots, oven roasted potatoes, salad, fruit mousse. Another example: Grilled pork with blackberry sauce, roasted cauliflowers and potatoes, salad, and grilled pineapple with rum sauce. Very fresh, inventive, and tasty meals.

Rancho Naturalista exists with the serious birder in mind, but nature lovers of all sorts and levels will enjoy what it has to offer. We loved it and hope to return someday.

Rancho offers world class birding and wonderful food. The guides are friendly, enthusiastic experts who can deliver any species available at Rancho in that season. The food is delicious and abundant. Dietary restrictions are accommodated at every meal and the replacement meals are great.

Comfortable rooms, great food and service and wonderful wildlife. The guides were fabulous! Friendly, knowledgeable and great at logistics. 300+ bird species in an off-season stay; can't recommend it enough!

The rooms are comfortable, I'd say about average for most Costa Rica lodges. We really enjoyed the food, although I'll mention they serve a specific meal and you either like it or you don't. I liked everything, so no issue for me. The staff was great, very friendly and accommodating. There was a very laid back and relaxing vibe to the place, which was nice. Of course the birding was great, I went on several walks with the guides and saw a lot of birds. One thing I thought was really nice was on the days I was there, in the mornings and afternoons, the bird guides would be on the observation deck pointing out birds to anyone there. It didn't matter whether you were a paying client or not, they were there pointing out birds and providing interesting information on them as they came and went. Overall, my experience at the lodge was an easy five star experience. Can't wait to visit again!

First off, this is a stunning setting to have a birding lodge and is extremely tranquil with staff and guides that make you feel at home and amongst dear friends. The food is top notch in presentation, freshness and delicious to the last bite. The guides, Harry, Mercedes and David were outstanding in their knowledge of all things avian with the biggest tip of the hat to Harry who was with me on every adventure, and yes, I will be back to enjoy the great lodging and great friends I made in my short stay at Rancho Naturalista -Cheers 😃

This is a premier birding location and the resort is set up with serious birders in mind. Outstanding guides and excellent food served family style promotes a sense of comradery and community. Super friendly and attentive staff, from the owner to the guides to the chefs, servers and cleaners. Highly recommend and would definitely return.