Lauraceas Lodge

We loved our two night stay at Lauraceas. The accommodations are beautiful. The property is next to the (very very quiet) road, but the cabins are raised and have huge windows that look directly onto the wooded area across the road (and onto the beautiful front garden, so you can sit at your window and watch hummingbirds come to feed!). Our room was spotlessly clean with massive comfy beds and a huge, immaculate bathroom. It does get chilly at night as others have mentioned, but we were super cosy under all the blankets (and you can ask for a heater). The owners and non-family staff are super lovely and the food - THE FOOD - hands down the best we ate in our two week trip by a long way. All in all a lovely way to finish off our holiday, definitely our favourite place that we stayed.

Lovely individual cabins on the Valley floor. Large room, large bathroom, and large sitting area - with outside porch. The cabins seem right in the parking lot, but once you are inside the cabins, the elevation is such that you see over the parking area, and you see the river. Beautiful avocado orchard behind the cabins. The gardens and bushes around the property are full of hummingbirds, and other birds. Breakfast was good, served in the restaurant beside checkin. There is a bar and coffee shop there too. Very quiet property even though it is close to the road. Liked that there was a kettle and French Press coffee pot in the room, with fresh local coffee in a jar and teas. Lots of great restaurants within walking distance, or a short drive away. The Lauraceas Gardens nearby are gorgeous and a great place to see birds, etc. A 4x4 SUV is recommended for the road into the valley. It is quite steep in places and some unpaved portions. It was dry when we were there but I can imagine it might be a challenge if wet.

TL/DR: 5th star missing because of no outlets that are useable by the bed and repetitive breakfasts. Still highly recommend. Everything everyone said in the reviews is true. It is well run and the hosts are always easy to find and helpful. It is a very small property with only 3 or 4 rooms available so book as soon as you can or miss out! The included breakfast was very good but half a point comes off for how repetitive it is. You have 4 choices but one is a fruit plate, one is just pancakes (no eggs or bacon to fill you up), and I don't remember the last one. The best and obvious choice is the traditional breakfast with rice and beans, eggs, plantains, fruit and so on. so .5 a star less than perfect. Great bathroom but be careful the tile is slick. Huge comfortable room with two full sized beds and a sitting area with a table and 2 chairs plus a sofa. Tons of space. The beds are fabulous and cozy. The one negative is they installed the headboard to the wall in a way that makes it impossible to use the bedside outlets. An easy fix would be to add some space between the headboard and the wall. Even though there are plenty of outlets in the room not having one by the bed is a real problem if you use a CPAP or if, like me, you like to have your phone on the bedside table. so half a star off for the design fail.

I regret booking this place. Its in a nice area but I think our stay would have been better with a place off the main road and with heat. Even with the little heater they supplied, the room was COLD in the morning!! My guess would be about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Second night was a little warmer, maybe 60 degrees. If you are still up in the dark, cars go by and can see what you are doing. There's a drape that separate's the beds from the sitting area but I dont like to feel like a fish in a fish bowl while I sip on my coffee at 5am. Its a newer place so the smells are annoying. The bed covers are not washed every stay so I worried about the sheets. The smells are my mixed review. Nothing smelled fresh. Pillows are terrible! Hard and flat. No coosh (my word) and with my headache from altitude, I didnt sleep but 3 hours a night. Breakfast was okay, not amazing. And I dont know what everyone is talking about when they say the owners are a family and so nice and friendly. We didnt experience this. We were uncomfortable with "her" personality. We met one girl and tried to avoid her because I felt like a nuisance. I gave this a one star because I think the rating needs to be knocked down. Not worthy at all of anything over 3 stars. And I must mention, we are not a difficult couple. We are passive and enjoy all walks of life.

Cabins are nice except no refrigerator in the room, but we expected a more remote site for birding. The cabins while nice overlook a parking lot! The garden has few birds. There was no one to help take luggage up a stairway with no handrails. Very disappointed. If you’re a serious birder, don’t bother.