Santa Rita accommodation from NZ$135

The most gorgeous place we've ever stayed. Phenomenal room, service, and food. Many things to do on the property. Just breath taking.

The property has a river running behind it for a beautiful view. The owner walks the grounds and interacts with the guests and staff. Every employee was so friendly and helpful! The buffet breakfast was amazing as well as the dinner menu. I can’t find anything bad to say!

This lodge and spa is located in a valley between two mountain ranges at about 5000 feet (compared to Monte Verde 4300 feet) and is considered to be within the range of cloud forest. When we arrived, we were checked in and the host was very nice but failed to give us clear information of how to navigate the privately owned cloud forest with very hilly resort location and four water falls all within the property. Even though we mentioned that my wife is just recovering from knee surgery he completely ignored the fact. It was very cloudy and misty, and we wanted to finish the waterfall trail that evening. There are no clearly marked trail makers, nor the maps given were accurate. Maps were schematic and could not be relied upon for trekking. When my wife and I followed the trail, we reached a fork and had to decide to take either the mystery trail or melody trail. The map or the board showed no information on the level of difficulty. Our check in host just mentioned that they were both in a loop. We took the melody trail which turned out to be a big mistake and we struggled a lot in the hiking. This could have been easily avoided by any indication of difficulty levels by the guide, signboard, or the map. In any case, we made it. The waterfall was just OK, luckily while returning we took the mystery trail which was much easier and well paved though at some forks there were no sign. I do wish the property will improve so the visit will be much better for others in future.