Monteverde Lodge & Gardens

Set in a vast, glass-plated room with pots of greenery stacked in every corner, El Jardin Restaurant and Bar lives up to its name. The menu includes a variety of Costa Rican and international dishes including fabulous signatures like beef tenderloin in a blackberry and coffee sauce, squid ink risotto, and a salted rum-caramel and chocolate cake for dessert. In between your adventures, enjoy a dip in the pool or a little reading on the sunny terrace, ensconced in the greenery.

The lodge has 28 rooms on the ground floor (with lovely bay windows and garden views) and first floor, many of which have a balcony that overlooks the cloudforest. The style is clean and tropical with white linens, honeyed wooden floors and minimalist furnishings, and a cloud-like pillowtop bed dominates the entire space. Beautiful, fresh-cut flowers will be there to welcome you and create a splash of colour. Rooms with a balcony have a rattan sitting area and hammock, but all rooms enjoy the constant twitter of birdlife.

Whether it's on foot or horseback, there's plenty to see, day or night. Explore the main Monteverde Reserve, or smaller Santa Elena Reserve and Curi-Chanca, where no more than 40 visitors are allowed at a time. Along the way, spot the incredible, larger-than-life orchids, hear the call of Hoffman's two-toed sloth, or watch spider monkeys perform acrobatics in the treetops. Enlist a guide to get a closer look at the forest's fascinating amphibians and butterflies at various 'gardens', or learn all about the Pre-Columbian history of chocolate.