Gaia Hotel & Reserve

We stayed at Gaia Hotel in Manuel Antonio for 5 days. We had a great time at this hotel and very much enjoyed the beautiful setting in a nature preserve. The hotel is very different but in a good way and the service here is top notch! All the employees are extremely helpful, courteous and super welcoming and nice. The restaurant is really good and we ate an amazing breakfast every morning. The hotel rooms are also really nice as are the pools and the property overall. They have a very efficient system of coordinating your itinerary and the concierge is always available through WhatsApp to help with anything you need. I can tell you that this hotel has a great vibe and definitely is a place we would return to in the future. We saw wildlife while on the property including macaws, sloths and monkeys. It is truly a special place with amazing people working here! You will not be disappointed if you choose to stay at Gaia Hotel while visiting Costa Rica.

What an absolute pleasure! From the moment you check in and they ask you which fragrance is your preference for the shampoo and soap, you know you’re in for a great experience. Then they set up a WhatsApp chat with your concierge to assist you in anything that you require. The rooms were clean and nice. The staff was exceptional. Three nice pools to cool off. Great food. Even the owner, Boris, introduced himself and gave his personal extension if we needed anything. Just a super nice experience overall. Highly recommend.

This resort was nothing short of spectacular. We felt welcomed from the moment we stepped onto the property. They helped us park then shuttled us up to the lobby. We registered, met some of the staff and also met the owner Boris who welcomed us with a big smile. They gave us a tour of the property before showing us to our beautiful large studio room. The beds were so comfortable, the shower the best we have ever experience, the pool area fun to explore and La Luna restaurant top notch. Everything about the hotel is 5 star, but what makes it truly special is the staff. Everyone made us feel at home. Two of the tours (Macaw and Manuel Antonio) were hosted by Clarence who was an excellent guide, providing many interesting details and he had the sharpest eyes to find and share the various wildlife around us. Ada our concierge was responsive and attentive. Abraham and others at La Luna (sorry I forget names!) were always on point, the food was delicious and presented beautifully. We both had a spa massage with Teresa which was phenomenal, hiking in this area can be strenuous and our muscles enjoyed the deep relaxation. We had only booked 3 nights at this resort and wished we had booked more. It is definitely a place we would recommend and return to.

From arrival to departure, the experience that my wife Lizzie and I had at Gaia was simply incredible. We’d booked Gaia for our honeymoon to Costa Rica, and rather uniquely, we decided to stay there for the full 2 weeks of our stay. We wanted luxury, we wanted links to the wildlife Costa Rica had on offer, and we wanted a central location that allowed us to travel around the Pacific coast, down to Uvita and up into the Cordillera de Talamanca; Gaia fulfilled all three. In advance of travelling, communication with Gaia was seamless, with quick responses, providing clear information that helped guide our stay. On arrival, we were transported up to reception via golf cart and greeted with a welcome drink and Johansy (our personal concierge) made sure to say hello. To our amazement, we’d received an upgrade for our stay and we can only express our eternal gratitude to Gaia for it. Arriving late, and following a long 24 hours of travel, we were offered room service without the usual charge. The room and amenities were superb. Clean, comfortable, and beyond anything we had hoped for. The balcony in Room 211 quickly became our favourite place on Earth - the amount of wildlife we spotted just from that balcony was incredible, and the terrace was simply a bonus. The hotel itself has plenty of pool space and is set in lovely grounds that cater for a relaxing break. The staff at Gaia are so attentive, and so friendly, it made it feel like a home away from home. I want to pay particular thanks to Ricardo, Jackneil, Tony, Antony and especially Abraham, who were so lovely, kind and helpful during our two weeks at Gaia. Extra special thanks go to Johansy, who was always there on WhatsApp if needed, providing live wildlife reports from reception, asking if we needed anything else during our stay, and who helped arranging guided tours of Manuel Antonio and of the Gaia reserve, as well as our catamaran sunset tour. I cannot express how truly thankful we are to Johansy for your constant friendly presence during our stay. Across the board, the food is excellent; it is well priced for lunch and dinner, of good quality and the menu is varied, meaning that you can eat there multiple times during an extended stay. Breakfasts are fresh and tasty, providing enough sustenance for a long day out in the heat/humidity. I highly recommend using the sunset bar on at least one occasion, because the 360 views are phenomenal. To be honest, the whole setting of Gaia is spectacular, with extensive views along to coast beyond Isla Damas, and Parrita and beyond. The shuttle service to Playa Espadilla is an excellent addition to Gaia, as it is set a good distance away from the beach itself (which is a positive in my opinion). Generally, Gaia is very well located for day-tripping to the likes of Rainmaker (35/40 mins), Uvita (1 hour), and we even squeezed in a drive to San Isidro/Perez Zeledon and San Gerardo de Rivas in order to visit the Cloudbridge Nature Reserve (2.5 hours each way). Whilst in Quepos/Manuel Antonio I would absolutely recommend staying at Gaia Hotel & Reserve, in fact I wouldn’t stay anywhere else. When we return to Costa Rica, we will be returning for at least a couple of nights whilst seeing what else Costa Rica has on offer. Thank you all again for such a wonderful two weeks, you made our honeymoon so incredibly memorable.

A little late on placing my review but it has been bothering me so I'm doing it now. I stayed at this place as a guest of a friend and on a busy Tuesday night as we were leaving their terrace restaurant, I walked passed one of their waiters as he was trying to walk back to the kitchen carrying empty dishes. Apparently he got upset that he had to stop for 3 seconds to let me pass, and after I walked by he continued on his way to the kitchen but not before he mumbled "Maricon" (Faggot) as he walked away. He was clearly irritated that I didn't let him go first. I just wanted to get out of the way. I don't see how this is acceptable behavior anywhere, especially for a so called "5 star resort". I am LGBT and thought this place would be a safe place. Guess not. Mind you, one of the owners is openly gay. Being non confrontational as I am, I do regret not addressing it on the spot or telling him off or telling Boris (owner) about it. Instead I internalized it and moved on, and that's on me. But I wanted to address it now as it continues to bother me and it's simply not acceptable under any circumstances to call a hotel guest a homophobic slur and try to presenting this place as a luxury establishment. That behavior doesn't seem so 5 star to me.