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Hotel Belmar – Monteverde, Costa Rica

Be transformed by nature at Hotel Belmar – a family-owned Austrian-style chalet in a prime Costa Rican cloud forest destination.

Location: Monteverde, Costa Rica

Review Date – September 2024

Hotel Belmar – Overview

If you are going to Monteverde, Costa Rica, look no further than Hotel Belmar for your accommodations. This family-owned property is still a hidden gem despite having received many accolades and awards from reputable travel sites.

The 26-room boutique hotel offers far more amenities than you’d expect for a property this size, including a full-service restaurant serving upscale-to-fine-dining level food that is primarily sourced from their own farm, a juice bar with vegan food options and a cerveceria (a beer pub serving their own brew). The hotel also has held the distinction of being fully carbon neutral for nearly ten years.

People go to Monteverde to experience the cloud forest with bird watching being the biggest attraction. This is the best place in the country to see the spectacular Resplendent Quetzal and Hotel Belmar is the perfect nest to use during your stay. Not a birder? You might be by the time you leave.

Whether you plan to tackle the adventures available in the area or just soak in the lush tranquility of the mountains, Hotel Belmar is an unexpected joy with surprises around every corner. It is extremely rare that I give a hotel 5-stars across the board, but Hotel Belmar earned everyone one of them and thus becomes one of the few hotels in the world I plan to return to.

Hotel Belmar – A Family Affair

Hotel Belmar opened in 1985 as the love child of a husband and wife team who had just returned from a year in the Austrian alps. They wanted to recreate the look and feel of an alpine getaway in the verdant mountains of Monteverde.

The hotel has grown over the years but it retains the personalized service that you would expect of a family-run business. Don’t be surprised if everyone addresses you by name by the second day. If you’re lucky like I was, you might even meet the owner during a tour of the hotel’s farm.

Hotel Belmar – Getting There

Tourists going to Monteverde typically arrive by flying into San Jose International (SJO) and then either renting a car or arranging for a pick up from the hotel. You can also fly into Liberia (LIB). Both airports are just over 3 hours from the hotel. Flights into SJO are more frequent and tend to be a tad cheaper.

If you are planning to visit more than one area, it’s fairly common to rent a car and navigate it yourself. Be prepared for traffic and unexpected detours and road closures, especially during rainy season. Costa Rica has come a long way in terms of their infrastructure in the past 10 years, but tourism has also increased and the country struggles to keep up.

Since I was traveling solo, I was thrilled to have Mauricio from Hotel Belmar pick me up at SJO. I was even happier that I had a local who knew the roads when we arrived at a bridge that had just washed out and had backed up cars for miles in both directions. He knew a secret to get around the closure. If I’d been on my own, I would have had to take a 2-hour detour in the dark and in the rain. No thanks. I’ll pay for the service. Worth every penny.

Hotel Belmar – Arrival

I had arrived in San Jose at 5pm, so by the time Mauricio got us to the hotel it was about 830 p.m. The hotel had contacted me via What’s App on the way to make sure they had dinner waiting for me since the restaurant closes at 9 p.m. I was pretty travel-lagged after my flight and the long drive, so I was grateful that the check-in process took about 5 minutes. My luggage disappeared to my room and I was escorted to the restaurant which is just off the lobby.

I had an immediate sense of comfort upon arrival because I was greeted with smiles despite the late hour and it was clear they were expecting me. I felt like a guest of the family right from the start.

Hotel Belmar – Accommodations ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

Wow. I love when the accommodations are better than the website pictures had advertised because it’s usually the opposite. In the case of Hotel Belmar, I found their online photos accurately represented the rooms.

I had splurged on the Penthouse Suite because it supposedly had the best views above tree level and I was there to photograph birds. The room was way bigger than I was expecting and absolutely over the top. The quality of the furnishings, the thoughtfulness of the design and the VIEW were all top-notch. The room includes a small refrigerator with a couple of beverage items plus a pour-over coffee and tea setup.

I realize that most people won’t be splurging like I was, but after reviewing the other room types I am confident that every room option at Hotel Belmar – even their most budget accommodation – is really, really nice considering the remoteness of the location and typical accommodations in jungely tourist areas.

I appreciated the spaciousness of the room and that they had real sitting areas and not just after-thought accent chairs. If you do any hiking or other adventures, you will likely be exhausted by the end of the day. It’s so nice to have a comfortable place to sit down that isn’t your bed.

Keep in mind that Monteverde is close to the equator, so they enjoy 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark all year. That’s another reason that having a comfortable lounge area in the room is important. It gets dark early and you’ll likely be back in your room well before bedtime.

Monteverde is also a cloud forest so rain is common. I had the best nap of my life on my outdoor day bed during a rainstorm one afternoon.

Hotel Belmar’s decor is reminiscent of an Alpine Lodge, yet adapted to fit perfectly into the lush jungle surroundings. The entire property is set up on a hill so most rooms have at least some view. The Nicoya Suites are at the highest point on the property and they require a little effort on foot to reach. They are accessed from the main lobby by either walking up the (steep) driveway or cutting through the garden. Other than the bottom floor suite, the suites are accessed by stairs.

There are rooms in the main lodge building which overlook the garden. The remaining rooms are in a building called the Chalet across the driveway from the main lobby.

Pro-Tip: Next time I visit, I plan to stay in the Sunrise or Sunset room in the Chalet. They are plenty big and have tubs that look more functional (Sunrise room’s tub is inside, Sunset’s tub is on the deck). The tubs work best as a hot or cool plunge. My Penthouse Suite had a concrete tub on the deck, but it took almost 2 hours to fill and there wasn’t enough hot water to use it as it was advertised. They Chalet rooms are also a little less of a hike and still have good views.

Pro-Tip #2: This is still the jungle so expect to meet the locals. It is important to keep your doors closed or at minimum the screens closed at all times. Below is the video I took outside of the Chalet building after taking the on-property hike. I also found a coati that liked to take his afternoon naps on the fire escape outside my room.

Hotel Belmar – Property/Grounds

The property at Hotel Belmar is full of surprises around every corner. As mentioned above, there is a terraced garden hidden just behind the main parking area. There is a pathway from the lobby that leads down into another garden (and you’ll find the large indoor jacuzzi in that direction).

The path continues down through an old orchard and through the trees, eventually ending up at a spring fed pond which is conveniently located right next to the cerveceria. There is also a lovely little nature path that starts off the main driveway and ends behind the Chalet building. I took my time and spent about an hour exploring it.

The grounds are a great place for bird watching. I got at least 30 species without leaving the hotel.

I was nervous about swimming in the pond as I don’t like it when I can’t see through the water. That fear was quickly forgotten when it got super humid one afternoon. I took the plunge. Absolutely divine. It was chilly, but worth it.

Hotel Belmar – Food ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

Welcome to all of you who skipped the rest and scrolled right to the review of the food.

You’re my people 😉

For me, the food is usually where hotels struggle. I am a foodie and have high expectations (or at least high hopes). Hotel Belmar fully exceeded my expectations across all 3 of their dining venues.

The main dining room at Hotel Belmar is Restaurant Celajes. This restaurant serves a sit-down breakfast, lunch and dinner with dinner being a fine-dining experience. The hotel has its own sustainable farm (the farm tour is a must) so you are getting almost entirely organic, locally sourced food there. Such a treat in such a remote location!!

One of my favorite things about Costa Rica is the typical Costa Rican breakfast of beans and rice with eggs and cheese. Breakfast is included in your room rate which I appreciated because it’s not like there are other easy options.

Unlike Turtle Inn in Belize which was of a similar caliber to Hotel Belmar, the free breakfast was anything you wanted off the menu and not just a continental option (with the most appealing items being an upcharge).

If you don’t like beans for breakfast, I promise you there were more options than you’ll have time to try.

In addition to the main restaurant, a highlight of staying at Hotel Belmar is the cerveceria which is essentially a little brew pub that sits next to the spring-fed pond lower down on the property. Cerveceria Belmar has a great little pub menu plus a large selection of local and house-brewed beer (and wine and cocktails).

It was fairly new when I visited in September of 2024 so the hours were a little sporadic, but it now appears that the cerveceria is open daily from lunch until 9 p.m. or so. It is open to the public and sometimes has live entertainment in the evenings. There is a wide lawn just outside the cerveceria overlooking the pond so I would imagine it is just lovely for an evening of outdoor music and cold beer.

As if these two options weren’t enough, there is a third option for dining at Hotel Belmar. Vegans and vegetarians, prepare to rejoice!

In the Chalet building, you will find a Juice Bar & Tea Room (another reason I’m staying in the Chalet on my next visit – easier access for morning tea). It was one of the sweetest surprises I’ve ever come across.

I am a primarily plant-based eater. Costa Rica is a meat-centric country for the most part, especially this far away from the coast. I was THRILLED to be able to get a fresh-pressed juice or a smoothie in the afternoon when I didn’t want a full lunch. I also had the tempeh sandwich one afternoon and it was great (tempeh sandwich in the cloud forest!)

There was one night that I just wanted to stay in my room and didn’t really want to order off the main restaurant menu for room service. I was able to arrange for a sushi delivery with a little help from the front desk.

I realize this is a little nuts, but once I figured out it was an option I had to go for it. Sometimes you just need sushi. I believe it was from Monteverde Gastropub.

There are lots of other options for delivery and room service is available for all meals at Hotel Belmar.

Santa Elena ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

It’s always nice when a destination offers a little main street and some opportunity for retail therapy. Hotel Belmar is located just outside of the town of Santa Elena, which gets 5 stars in terms of a village in a tourist-based community. Safe, walkable and enough stuff to explore to kill an afternoon.

I walked into town to look for a memory card for my camera. It’s a reasonable walk, maybe a mile and a half. Just be prepared that it is downhill for the most part on the way into town – which means uphill on the way back. Taxis are available but I don’t like the stress of having to negotiate as a solo female traveler. I’m fine with walking.

Santa Elena is a bigger-than-average village. There are tons of restaurants, most looked like places I would actually eat at. The town was bustling and felt very safe. You can get by with English pretty easily anywhere in Costa Rica and this was no exception.

I caught a whiff of fresh baked goods as I was getting into town and came across a panaderia (bakery) that was just taking their daily goods out of the oven. On the way back, I found a place that sold milkshakes. Perfect thing for the hike back up hill.

Other than walking into town, the surrounding community needs to be explored by car. I did walk in the opposite direction of town one afternoon to check out the community co-op. It was about a mile walk as well. The co-op was cute and had some souvenirs made by local artisans plus a cafe and a Whole Foods which I had to check out.

Hotel Belmar – Spa & Wellness Services – ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

Hotel Belmar has a couple of spa treatment rooms just off the Juice Bar. I got a lovely massage at a very reasonable price. They also have a small room for yoga in the same area. I believe one yoga class per stay is free with a nominal fee for more. Just notify them the day before if you plan to attend as they typically need a minimum number of guests in order to schedule a teacher. I was the only one who showed up the day I decided to practice, and the teacher was kind enough to do the class just for me.

Hotel Belmar – Excursion and Other Activities

Most people coming to Monteverde will take advantage of the variety of adventure tours in the area. The hotel has several options or you can book with local tour operators.

Bird Watching – I was there primarily for bird watching so I hired a private guide through the hotel for a whole day.

Daniel was my guide and he was fantastic. He had grown up in the area and was passionate about birding. We went to three different spots plus the Hummingbird Garden attraction. I highly recommend asking for him if you want a bird guide. He is one of the possible guides you will get if you schedule the Hotel Belmar birding tour which takes places mostly on the property.

Please plan to bring cash to tip your guides. The hotel has a means of letting you add gratuities at the end of your stay, but I think the guides would appreciate receiving a tip right after the excursion. U.S. dollars are fine for tipping and easier than figuring out the Costa Rican conversion.

Finca Madre Tierra – This is a must-do excursion in my opinion. The tour involves a short car ride to Hotel Belmar’s organic farm. They raise a variety of animals here (which means they sometimes have baby animals). You will take a tour of the farm plus the cheesemaking facility. If you do a horseback riding excursion, these also leave from the farm and can be combined with the farm tour.

I don’t enjoy horseback riding so I milked a cow and played with baby goats instead.

Savia Forest – There are several different excursions that involve jungle hikes of varying levels of intensity in the Savia Preserve. I did the “Breakfast in the Canopy” tour which was a short hike followed by breakfast on a platform high in the jungle that was accessed by a handing bridge.

I’m terrified of heights so this was a big challenge for me. The guides (Jungle Mobility Experts) were absolutely fantastic and I managed to get on the platform long enough to have a few bites of the gourmet spread they had set up ahead of time and snap a great photo of a hummingbird before retreating back to solid ground.

San Lucas Tree Top Dining Experience – This is not technically an excursion offered by Hotel Belmar but they helped me arrange transportation for it. As if the foodie perks on property were not enough, the San Lucas Treetop Dining Experience is just a short drive away and is a must-do for any foodie when visiting Monteverde.

The restaurant has built about 6 individual dining cubes high up in the treetops with all-glass walls. It feels like you’re floating above the mountain while enjoying a pre-fixe 9-course gourmet dinner.

I was traveling alone and had planned on doing it by myself but I got very lucky and met a nice couple from Florida who were interested and we went together. The food was not as great as I was hoping for (and it was expensive, especially after you included the wine-pairing) but I would still do it again.

We had a dedicated server and each course was themed based on a different region of Costa Rica. If you are a couple or on a honeymoon or anniversary in Monteverde, it’s a must. With the kids? No way. I’m not sure you can even bring kids so check if you plan to ignore my advice.

There is more than one seating time per night. I would choose one that correlates with sunset. Once it gets dark (usually 6 or 630 p.m. at the latest), you won’t be able to see a thing.

Hotel Belmar – Service ⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

The service was exactly what I like at Hotel Belmar. Kind, friendly, not stuffy. Attentive but not intrusive. Staffed smiled and seemed happy to be there. They used my name and made me feel seen. They were readily available for any question and had answers to everything. The staff was well-acquainted with the area and were reliable sources of information.

The hotel delivered on all of the promises made prior to arrival, including securing me a private guide as I had requested.

Hotel Belmar – Final Thoughts

Costa Rica is the land of pura vida (pure life). Hotel Belmar in Monteverde delivers the full essence of pura vida in one of Costa Rica’s most incredible destinations. It is one of the few hotels in the world that I am truly looking forward to going to back to. And I didn’t get to see the Quetzal, so I’ll likely go back in the spring.

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