Hotels near Sarah's Gallery, Monteverde

If you’re looking for adventure, this is the place to stay. Hotel Sloth Backpackers is perfectly located near the canopy tour and other outdoor activities. The rooms were comfortable, and the staff were knowledgeable about local tours and activities. The breakfast was a great perk before heading out for the day.

What seemed like was going to be a great place to stay in Monteverde ended up being the worst part of my trip to Costa Rica. I did a lot of research before booking and even emailed the staff prior and there was someone by the name of Ran who was incredibly helpful and made me feel like booking with Pension would definitely be worth it so I booked. About a couple of weeks before my trip, I reached out again to confirm transportation arrangements with Ran who was looking into it for me and I never received a response. I reached out again a week later and received a general response from the hostel stating that Interbus was recommended. This was clearly not the individual I was in communication with and it was a red flag I unfortunately ignored. I ended up doing my own research for transportation and we finally arrive to the hostel. Upon arrival, I was greeted with the new owner who we come to find has only been in Monteverde for 3 months and seemed overwhelmed. She was complaining about how she had to take on so many roles now that she is the owner and honestly it was way more information than needed. She was unable to provide any helpful information like what's the best way to get back to the airport, good place to eat, etc. It also then made sense why Ran (previous owner) never emailed me back. It all just left a really sour taste in my mouth. Whatever. Moving on to the room, basic hostel room with no closet space, just a few shelves and noisy neighbors. I did not attempt the shower and the overall vibe of the place felt depressing with the awful lighting (felt like a prison cell). The complimentary breakfast saved us money but that was also a weird experience having to go next door to ask for it and the staff wasn't the most friendly. Then on the night before our departure, we went to reception to ask for a later checkout (as instructed on the hotel brochure in the room) and spoke with the owner who checked us in. Our bus out of Monteverde was at 2:00pm and she said we could stay in the room until 12:00pm at the latest. We thought finally this is the one positive experience and we figured we could walk around or go get a coffee somewhere for 2 hours, no problem. What a joke. At 10:40am the next morning as we were getting dressed, someone is knocking hard on our room door. After getting some clothes on, I answered and its one of the other receptionists stating that checkout was at 10:00am. I advised that the owner gave us the okay last night to stay in the room until 12:00pm. She immediately said, ”No, we have someone checking into this room and you have to check out.” There was no apology for the miscommunication, no form of recovery or compromise- just a flat out no. I work in hospitality and I understand this is a hostel but wow. I wish we would have just gave our money to literally any other local hostel. The experience we had prior to arriving to Pension to the moment we got there and finally checked out, was black and white. What an upset a