Lodges Essence Arenal Spa & Yoga (formerly Essence Arenal and Spa) 

17 Jan 2025

From the moment we arrived, we felt welcomed and at home. Staff are exceptional - very helpful and well informed. The vegetarian food served is delicious and imaginative, grown on their farm. Beautiful surroundings and places to walk and relax with . yoga, massage and a spa. Excellent tours on site. It seems to attract very nice guests and meal times were a great opportunity to talk together. We felt very relaxed and were sorry to leave

15 Jan 2025

Everything was AMAZING. We did all three tours and can’t recommend them enough. Aurelio was a perfect guide and provided a truly priceless experience. The food was unbelievably good and very reasonably priced, and the staff were all amazing. Our lodging was clean, comfortable, and private. All around it was a very memorable and pleasant experience. We didn’t want to leave.

12 Jan 2025

Amazing place to stay, with its own forest trails, 2 amazing viewpoints and onsite tours with a fantastic tour guide Aurelio. We saw loads of wildlife on the night and bird tour including toucans and tree frogs and Aurelio was such an informative and enthusiastic guide. The staff are super friendly staff especially Rui and Manfred. The yoga was excellent and the whole site and facilities were excellent. Really good value for money for. The view from our room was beautiful across lake Arenal. It rained most of the time but this didn’t affect how much of a brilliant time we had. El Castillo is a beautiful area and we did our own really good solo hike around the area. Essence is a great option to stay surrounded with forest and views, with additional tours, yoga and really good vegetarian food. Breakfasts were excellent.

05 Jan 2025

It’s a great hotel to calm in El arsenal environment. They have a great concept (yoga sessions, spa and a vegan restaurant) and an amazing view on the volcano! We enjoyed the hotel room as well as the spa and the dinner! Even we did not have a car there is a shuttle service as some of the rooms are located a bit far from the reception and the way is a bit steep. Please don’t expect a luxury place. We highly recommend this place!

30 Dec 2024

The staff were very kind and considerate and accommodating. Very trustworthy too. We left our bag with all our important stuff in it when we checked out. We drove for 3 hours to our next destination before we realised and had to drive back to collect it. We were convinced we were going to be told it couldn’t be found but was very grateful the bag was still there and nothing was taken. The chef really tried with his menus and he really impressed us. We really enjoyed the fresh food being cooked for us. The wine has been the best tasting and the most reasonable since we have been here so far too. The amenities on the complex are really good too. If you’re looking for somewhere reasonably priced, to go off grid, get personal with nature and have lots of treatments and wellbeing activities this is the place to come. It’s a 30 minute drive from La Fortuna and right by the sky adventures place which is an absolute must have to do.

27 Dec 2024

Was an amazing place, nicest people, best food, best therapies, best yoga, and s purely magical place!

27 Dec 2024

Location and views were amazing. Staff were great..Food was very good too.

14 Dec 2024

Really unique, amazing location. The staff is very friendly and they offer very interesting and fun tours on the property. We were able to spot many different animals, even around our cabin. Also the massages, spa and yoga are great add-ons. We really enjoyed our stay!

13 Dec 2024

Beautiful views and wonderful staff. It felt like the property was trying to be as sustainable as possible. The yoga in the morning was brilliant. The little pool was big enough for us all to have a dip with the kids. Brilliant Kombucha at the restaurant and healthy drinks. The nighttime jungle tour was superb. The guide Arewel really taught you about the importance of nature.

18 Oct 2024

- landscape: beautiful view of the volcanoes and the lake, if you are lucky in rainy season. The villas are set in serene surroundings. - staff is very helpful - price is just fantastic