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Our final night in Costa Rica was spent in the cloud forest at Villa Blanca Hotel, a 19th Century recreation of a mountain village with sustainability and ecotourism at the heart of its ethos. On arrival we were greeted with a drinks reception and a hot towel before being shown to our room. It was similar to Nayara Hotel in that we had our own little Casita, with a huge hot tub bath and a deck to sit out on. Some might say a little dated but we loved the mid century farmhouse vibe and it reminded us of the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs but in a totally ‘undiscovered-by-hipsters’ kind of way. Unless we’re the hipsters in which case it’s been discovered now… :-D

After dinner (amazing, and the service was impeccable too) and a good nights sleep we got up super early to take a walk and explore before breakfast. We had a map and took an easy stroll through a section of the hotel grounds. We saw so many butterflies and hummingbirds, the early morning light made the walk feel a little like we were in a magical Disney film.

Breakfast was a cacophony of fruits, vegetables and cheeses, most of which is grown organically on site - they even have a dairy to make the butter, cheeses and milk. Later on we had a tour of the grounds and met the cows! Obviously the raw milk is pasteurised before serving just in case you wondered.

The owners here really care about sustainability (it's part of a small group called Greentique who also have 3 other hotels in Costa Rica) they have their own wildlife research station to monitor the local animal and insect population and also to provide learning opportunities for local children. Our stay at Villa Blanca was short lived as we had to head to the airport shortly after our tour but we’d love to return and see the cloud forest for its namesake - we really want to see that climate and how it contrasts from the lower altitudes of rainforest that we’d seen so much of in Costa Rica. I guess we’ll have to make another trip... 
AdventuresHaarkonOctober 21, 2017Costa Rica, Cloud Forest, Central America, Stay