Name: Quetzal Valley Cabins
Address: San Gerardo de Dota Km 80 Interamericana Sur, San José, San Gerardo de Dota, 11701, Costa Rica, Orosi, Orosi, Orosi, 11701, Costa Rica
Rating: 10

Smoke-free property

Heating

Private check-in/check-out

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

Outdoor furniture

General

Non-smoking rooms

Family room

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Linens

Rooms

Internet access

Internet

Car rental

Transfer services

Transfer

Spanish

English

Languages Spoken

Hiking

Fishing

Recreation

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Quepos Airport

Tobias Bolanos Airport

Quetzal Valley Cabins

Orosi

This was our last, 4 days visit, of our 3-weeks tour of Costa Rica, a country that we've been immensely impressed by, with beautiful people, many of whom we would now view as our friends. 

After very good correspondence with Peter, I booked 3 nights, in a 3-bedroom rustic cabin, for my wife, my 37-year-old son and myself. As stated, prior to making the booking Peter was very helpful in explaining about their accommodation and he made a point of warning us not to come, if we expected 5-star luxury accommodation! We paid a $25 deposit, via PayPal, as he suggested and he then gave us further advise about the area and sent maps of the property, showing walks, boundaries etc. He also mentioned that the quetzals may be nesting in the vicinity, around the time of our visit - a very big attraction!

The cabins are definitely rustic, but we found them perfect and very comfortable. We also had an unexpected full kitchen, where we prepared breakfast each day and the views from our cabin porch were absolutely stunning - definitely 5-star! After taking a very quick look around, guided by the lovely manager, Nelson, I quickly contacted Peter to see if we could expend our stay by one night, which was fine. We'd intended spending our last day back in San Jose, before leaving for the airport, but we'd heard such dreadful stories about the city, from everyone we met, both tourists and locals, that we decided to go directly from the valley to the airport, using our private shuttle, from Erick's Costa Rica Trip Guide service. Driving through the city, to the airport confirmed that we'd definitely made the right decision. How can such a beautiful country have such a dirty dump for the capital?

Later, on our first day, Peter and his co-owner wife, Francisca, arrived and we had a really good chat about the work they do here to conserve and improve the area. This culminated with them generously taking us out to dinner, at a nearby restaurant, including giving us a lift there and back. It turned out that Francisca had been worried about us having no transport and with the tough walking, had decided to upgrade us to the first cabin on the site, close to the entrance road. This explained how we'd ended up with such a grand cabin. They really are a lovely, generous couple and very passionate about their property, which made us feel even better about staying here and helping to support their quest.

We explored extensively and did lots of, for us, difficult walking. It's at 2,600m altitude, with very steep terrain and our age (around 70) together with slight altitude sickness, made walking tough, but it was well worth it. We saw huge amounts of birdlife and although we regularly heard the coyotes calling, day and night and there are lots of animals around, including puma's, we didn't see any, only the evidence of their presence. Yes, we did see a pair of the resplendent quetzal, daily, as they visited the avocado tree outside cabin 5, very close up and truly magnificent. We also saw red tailed hawk, the fabulous swallow-tailed kite, lots of swallows and many, many other birds - it's a bird watchers paradise!

On our last morning, we did a very early wildlife walk with Heron (?), who is assistant to Nelson and an amazing wildlife spotter. He showed us photos and videos of many animals and birds, that were absolutely stunning. Together with Nelson, he is responsible for looking after the forest, maintaining and producing new trails, capturing wildlife on camera traps and raising the trout in the pool by the river. We had a great walk and the trails along the river, together with the waterfalls, are truly amazing. This was a fitting end to a wonderful visit.

Whilst at Quetzal Valley Cabins we chose to eat at Mirriam's Quetzals, a fabulous little, but very popular (and famous) restaurant, 500m up the hill from the cabins. The food there is brilliant and, on the terrace, behind there are an abundance of birds of all types, including many types of hummingbirds, some no larger than a bee! We'd certainly recommend this place and Mirriam and her family, are delightful people.

Back to the cabins. This area does get very cold at night, in fact we were quite surprised by how cold we felt. However, there are plenty of additional blankets available for the beds, but we remained cold through the night, so be sure to bring some warm clothes. We used private shuttles for all of our journeys and think that this was a good decision however, there were a couple of places where having a car would have been very convenient - this was one of them. The valley is quite extensive and, as I've mentioned, very hilly. We would have loved to have explored further down the valley, but the thought of a 12 - 15km hike, each way, just wasn't an option for us,

So, thank you so much, Peter, Francisca, Nelson and Heron, for a fabulous stay, in a remarkable area and good luck to you for the future, you're doing such a fine job. If we ever return to Costa Rica, we'll be sure to stay again.

Stunning!!!

We stayed a 4 nights in Quetzal Valley Cabins. The views were spectacular, the air was clean and the cabin was cute, comfortable and affordable.
We saw exotic birds, including quetzals.  Every night quetzals came to a tree just 5 meters from one of the cabins. No guide our tour was needed.

Peter was very responsive and helpful. I definitely recommend Quetzal Valley Cabins.

Wonderful and relaxing

These are rustic but comfortable cabins overlooking a beautiful mountain valley. The temperatures are refreshing after the heat of the coasts and the drive down the to the end of the valley is an experience! There is a lovely park at the end for hiking a bit of nature. Several good restaurants in the immediate area.

Mountain cabin views all around!

The best location to see the Quetzals in their habitat and can be seen from your cabin’s porch and although the narrow unpaved track to each cabin it’s possible to drive a compact car in the dry season otherwise you need a 4x4 to negotiate access to the cabins.
The cabins are well equipped for cooking breakfast and electric heaters and a wood stove plus plenty of warm blankets are provided for the sleeping quarters.There is WiFi and plenty of electrical outlets for recharging your phones or laptops.
Initially there was a mixup at Miriam’s Restaurant who sent us to her daughter’s cabins despite knowing we had booked the Quetzal Valley Cabins which we considered unethical and after further questioning they admitted
we should be at another location “as they had experienced problems with other cabins owner” which we doubt was true.
We enjoyed our stay at Quetzal Valley Cabins and their employee and guide Joel was excellent in locating quetzals in the forest and on the property we can highly recommend other bird watchers to stay at these cabins.

Good stay at Quetzal Valley Cabins

We had a beautiful stay in a 6 persons cabin, which was recently finished.
What a beautiful view we had. All worked fine, nice chairs, nice beds, shower fine!
We enjoyed it very much and also saw the Quetzals lower down the trails... There are a view trails you can walk by and follow. Very beautiful nature.

Best View of Costa Rica

Quetzal valley cabins- we stayed in one of the 2 bedroom cabins and had the most lovely time, we didn’t want to leave. Utterly beautiful setting, with amazing views across the valley, 2 balconies where you can sit and watch the birds for hours on end. The cabin was perfect, lovely table to sit and eat at, kitchen with everything you could need, dvd and music player. Fire and lots of blankets provided as it gets cold at night. Our hosts and Nelson were so helpful, even before we arrived and made sure we had everything we needed. Lots of walking trails around the cabins that lead to a river and lovely waterfalls. Away from the larger crowds at the bottom of The Valley but still close to cafes, restaurants and a wee shop. You feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, secluded bliss. Def stay here if you are visiting!

Perfect cabin in the mountains

Shame, at first glance, the place looks good but no... the cabins upstairs are poorly equipped with heating and when the temperature drops at night it's cold. No hot water, not much to eat, poorly insulated cottage, bad mattresses.. of course, it's not expensive, but a minimum of comfort would be appreciated.

Pay a little more and go somewhere else...

We liked the location and the ease of access. It has a beautiful view and landscape. It also has several walking trails within the property. The cabins are quite cozy and well equipped for a good stay.

A very comfortable place.

The location is simply out of this world, we got to see the quetzals both this year and last year during our stay. It is calm quiet, and surrounded by nature, there are very well kept trails that go along the river and property. The rooms are great, super cozy for the chill climate of San Gerardo de Dota.

Beautiful Place! Perfectly equipped cabins, a great experience overall

A place full of beautiful views, full of peaceful, well-equipped houses, and excellent location to explore other neighboring places, and if you want to see birds, this is the best place for birdwatching, with excellent trails throughout the property.

Quetzal Valley Cabins

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