I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year. I can’t believe it’s 2023 – I still feel like it’s 2009. Despite the fact it’s a new year, I still have plenty of posts to catch up on from 2022 and I’m interrupting my England autumn/winter series with my first post from Costa Rica which I visited back in November.

It was late, it was raining, it was dark, I was travel sick, I was tired, I was just so ready for the journey to stop and to reach the destination. Clearly my face gave me away as the receptionist suggested we come back for the welcome drink and briefing the next day, sending us straight to our room.

I opened the door. I wasn’t tired, or grumpy, or feeling sick anymore. Instead I couldn’t stop smiling – at this amazing hotel in this insane location – and as I dipped my toes in the pool I said a little thank you for being lucky enough to be able to visit somewhere like this.

Nayara Springs was spectacular, and that little slice of the Costa Rican jungle will always have a fond place in my heart, so it felt the perfect post to kick off my Costa Rica series – lots more posts are on their way over the next few months.

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Location

Nayara Springs is located a 3hr drive north of San Jose airport, where all international flights arrive. It’s part of a complex of 3 hotels – Nayara Gardens, Nayara Springs and Nayara Tented Camp. Bizarrely after we booked we discovered my parents had stayed at Nayara Gardens back in 2016!

The closest town to the hotel is La Fortuna, just a 10 minute drive away. La Fortuna is the gateway town to one of Costa Rica’s most popular areas – Arenal National Park, home to the famous Arenal Volcano. It’s in the middle of the country so is also surrounded by primary and secondary rainforest on all sides meaning it’s also perfect for wildlife hunting. It also means the weather is super variable – we had days of sun and days of 15hr downpours that meant we couldn’t leave our villa!

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Accommodation

There are no words other than wow for the accommodation. All accommodation at Nayara Springs are villas with private pools and the same layout. The bed is huge and comfortable, the seating area lovely, and the bathroom dreamy with both a HUGE indoor double shower and an outdoor double shower too.

But the real star is the terrace. Each villa comes with its own lounge bed, hammock, table and chairs plus a gorgeous private pool set right up close with the rainforest. The water in the pools is from the natural volcanic springs so is hot, but there are taps so you can run it cold. No treatment is given to the water, it’s just changed every 3 days with new natural spring water.

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Food and Drink

The hotel has multiple places to eat and drink. We didn’t have a bad meal whilst staying here and were really impressed with the variety on offer, from local Costa Rican food all the way to Sushi.

The restaurants on site are:

• Mis Amores – Italian with the most amazing pizzas
• 2x swim up pool bars – typical quick food (burgers etc)
• Amor Loco – Fine dining
• La Terraza – Local Costa Rican and Central American
• Asia Luna – Asian (sushi, woks, curry)
• Ayla – Mediterranean and Middle Eastern
• Nostalgia – Spanish Tapas and wine tasting

Breakfast is included in the room rate, but all other meals have to be paid for as additional. The food was good value, but the drinks were expensive – totally worth it though as the cocktails were amazing.

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Amenities and Experiences

There are a number of amenities and experiences within the hotel grounds. There are 2 walking trails where you can spot a large variety of wildlife, as well as a jungle hanging bridge for epic views out across the canopy.

There is also a guided nature walk at 6am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The hotel also runs cooking classes, rum tastings, wine tastings, cocktail making and yoga/exercise classes.

A huge infinity pool lies at the top of the property, giving spectacular views out to Arenal Volcano (when you can see it – we had cloud cover for every day of our stay and it only cleared for one afternoon). I’d been on ‘volcano watch’ every day and it was an ongoing joke trying to spot it. It took until our penultimate day to actually get a shot of it!

The hotel offers 4 other pools as well and an insane spa, voted one of the top 100 in the world. The massages were amazing and all are offered in the complete bliss of a jungle hut overlooking the rainforest. On top of that, some huge thermal baths with volcanic spring water are also available to use. Dreamy.

The hotel also offers some wonderful experiences off of the property, including but not limited to hikes around Arenal National Park, kayaking on Lake Arenal, zip lining through the jungle and wildlife tours aplenty.

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So what do you think of Nayara Springs? I had the best time here and really didn’t want to leave! Although on writing this up I realise all my husband seems to have done all holiday is take photos of me from behind in my hat haaa – poor guy! Thanks so much for reading everyone – lots more Costa Rica adventures on their way. Stay safe and happy travelling!