We split our time in Costa Rica between Arenal and Manuel Antonio. I knew that we wanted to stay at Tulemar Resort in Manuel Antonio. Since that was going to be our splurge hotel, we were looking for something a little more economical for the Arenal part of our stay.
Several members of our group were also interested in hot springs. Since we didn’t necessarily want to spend the money or time for a day pass to one of the fancy hot springs, we decided to look for a resort that had its own hot springs.
So with those two criteria in mind (budget-friendly and on-site hot springs), we researched and found Los Lagos Hotel, Resort and Spa. And what a find it was! For the price point, I was so impressed with all that Los Lagos had to offer.
Like pools! So many pools! There are 10 pools altogether, a mixture of natural swimming pools and hot springs. All of the pools are fed by fresh water streams and are brilliantly designed so that the pool at the highest elevation on the property has the hottest temperature and the water continuously flows to the pools below, with temperatures getting slightly cooler in each subsequent pool. The hot spring pools are really well designed and provided a great variety in temperature, size, and surroundings.
Kids are allowed in the hot springs and our teens really enjoyed them, but the natural pools also provide a more typical resort-pool experience. The main pools are super kid friendly with two water slides, one that rivals any thrill ride you’ve been on (plug your nose and hold on to your bathing suit!) and one that is much tamer. The pools are beautiful and surrounded by lush landscaping. The volcano in the background just makes the whole scene even more amazing.
The hotel’s main selling points are its gorgeous grounds, amazing pools and hot springs, and stunning volcano view. But it also has spacious rooms, good restaurants, and other on-site activities.
The resort offers 98 rooms, including standard, superior, and villa options. We had a superior room and it was actually its own individual unit that had a bedroom with 2 queen beds, a bathroom, and a small living room with a coach and trundle bed. The room was basic but clean and large. It was significantly larger than a standard room and was great for our family of four. And it had an amazing volcano view right out the front door!
The resort also has two restaurants. Las Palmas is the main restaurant, and it serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The buffet breakfast was included with our room and was excellent. We loved starting off our day with a tasty breakfast in the huge open-air dining area. We also ate two dinners there. The second restaurant is more casual and is located near the pools. They serve delicious pizza from their brick oven, as well as lots of other grilled items and sandwiches. We ate two dinners and one lunch there and really enjoyed our meals. You can either eat at the bar (swim up or land seats), at the tables around back, or take your food to go and sit by one of the many pools. It was the perfect casual place to eat and drink after a busy day of activities.
The resort offers many on-site activities as well, from zip lining to horseback riding to “rollcano zorbing”, which is basically rolling down a hill inside a giant inflatable ball. While we didn’t do any of those activities, we did explore the butterfly trail behind the restaurant. The trail was an odd mix of beautiful, with lush plants and wildlife spottings, and creepy, with seemingly abandoned buildings and a ramshackle butterfly enclosure.
We went into this trip most excited for our stay at Tulemar on the second leg of our trip but were absolutely blown away by Los Lagos. The grounds are stunning, the pools and hot springs amazing, the rooms spacious (though not fancy by any means), and the restaurants delicious and convenient. I would not hesitate to recommend Los Lagos to anyone. It is a steal at this price point!
