As if proof were needed that I have one of the best jobs in the world, I had the chance to stay at the Tree House Lodge which one of Costa Rica’s most unique properties, down in Puerto Viejo on the Southeastern Caribbean coast. Be warned hotel snobs as this is not a place for those of you who expect to be pampered and waited on.

This property is located a good 30 minutes from the main town of Puerto Viejo and taxis are hard to come by so the best way to get around is either by ATV or 4×4 as the roads, if you can call them that, are nothing short of disastrous. The Tree House itself is amazing as it is built around 6 living trees and despite not having any walls, apart from the bedrooms, I was not bothered by mosquitoes and considering you are literally in the middle of the jungle I was pleasantly surprised. There is no TV, internet or a restaurant on the property which would be my only gripe as there is nowhere close by where you can eat either although there is A/C in the bedrooms. The other villas are the Beach Suite which is also very nice and can sleep 5 comfortably but does not have the wow factor that either the Tree House or my favourite, the Beach Suite have. The Beach Suite has a fabulous bathroom of over 800 sq. feet making it the largest in the country and it is nearly worth staying here for the experience and the views from the deck have got to be pretty spectacular too. The other pluses for me were the properties access to the beach less than 100m away and chances are you will find yourself alone on it, the total privacy afforded by having only 3 casas on such a large site. Also the conservation efforts made by the owners who are trying to help save the endangered Green Iguana of which there are believed to be only 500-2000 remaining in the wild by creating an Iguana Farm which is home to roughly 300 and a tour is included for guests. And for the philantropists among you you can even sponsor one of these amazing creatures.

The town of Puerto Viejo itself has some very good food and it is almost like a country within a country as the culture there is quite different to say the Central Valley or the Pacific Coast, mainly due to the fact that the people there are descendents of Jamaican and Chinese immigrants as well as the indigenous population. Therefore as a result the food is also of a different ilk with a lot more spices used as well as coconut milk for some of the best

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Filed under: Hotel & Restaurant Reviews on September 18th, 2007