Las Cruces Biological Station

We had an amazing time. The property was beautiful and well maintained. Thoroughly enjoyed our time with Jason. Definitely would come back.

We enjoyed our cabin with an amazing view and deck. The food was good and the grounds were wonderful for walking for birdwatching which is what we were there for. We also had an excellent guide (Jeisson) for an early morning bird walk.

Las Cruces is a beautiful botanical garden and the accommodation is lovely, with a nice terrace and views. The guide was wonderful and its a great garden for bird watching. Food was good and tea and coffee was always available. The walking outside of the botanical garden was a little less extensive than I had hoped but there is some and the garden itself is magical.

The food was simple, tasty, and consistent, prepared and served by lovely kitchen staff in a very clean, beautiful dining area open to the breeze and overlooking the Wilson Botanical Garden. Rooms were clean, spacious, simple. In addition to the gardens, there are good trails into the adjacent rain forest. This property is in the mountains of southern Costa Rica - not so hot as elsewhere and a very interesting place to stay.

Fantastic staff at a spectacular location.

It may be important to know there is no bar or alcohol available at the biological station. Bring your own booze, or there’s a good bar/restaurant about a quarter of a mile away on the road back towards San Vito.

Get an appreciation for a special climate and animals of Costa Rica. The guide service was informative. We even did some extra trips after hours. Food service is simple, convenient, and more than sufficient.

The tour of the gardens was fascinating.

The free tour was worth every minute of it through the greens. I also enjoyed the free breakfast and the view from my balcony.
It was a very nice and peaceful place to be

excellent place, it felt good our money contributed to some meaningful eco work. The shop was closed so no chance to contribute more by buying the gardens souvenirs. solar-power water heater, plenty of very hot, high pressure water despite cloudy/rainy day.

We were given a private cabin in the forest which we thought would be better than the villas across from the dining hall. The photos of the rooms on hotels.com, however, are of the villa rooms, which appear to be better, but I can't vouch for that as I did not see them in person. Our cabin was dirty, run down and in need of a major remodeling. There was no hot water, the mattresses were in poor condition, and the shower was so gross, neither my husband or I used it. There was mold on the ceiling above the beds and various insects crawling about the cabin as well. The breakfast was skimpy-- undrinkable coffee, two small pieces of papaya, a couple scoops of rice and eggs and musty-tasting toast that had the crusts sliced off. We only stayed one night to go birding in the Wilson Botanical Garden and were glad to check out in the morning. We stayed the following night at Casa Botania a mile down the road, which was absolutely wonderful.

Very simple accommodations, very simple meal plan, grounds of Wilson Botanical fantastic to see and wander about. Staff very helpful and tour guide Jason very pleasant and a book of knowledge about Flores and fauna.

This is a field station of the Organization for Tropical Studies, where scientists, students and volunteers conduct biological research. They offer available rooms to guests, along with full board. Rooms are small but comfortable for their basic purpose. Bathroom very small but adequate; plenty of hot water for showers. Food was plentiful and very good, plenty of salad, vegetables, and vegetarian options. No alcohol.

Anyone looking into lodgings here is presumably interested in the birds and/or plants, as many species of both are found here. The station is located in Wilson Botanical Garden, so you need only walk out your door to find what you came for. A guided walk is included with your stay. and is very informative.

If you want to stay here during the high season, you would be wise to inquire at least 6 months in advance. I inquired in September about availability of 3 nights in February or March, and at that time they had only two such slots still available.

This is not the least expensive lodging available in the area, but with all meals included it is good value for the money, and you can feel good about your dollars going to support OTS' good work.

We really liked the Las Cruces Biological Station and the hotel. Lots of trails to hike on that were well marked with numerous plants identified. Many birds to look at, take photos or just enjoy them. Guided tour was excellent and enjoyed by all. Hotel was very close to everything. Meals were excellent. Don't miss it.

We did both a night tour and an included morning tour with guide Jason. He was excellent. Wonderful palm and bromeliad collections. Terrific birding. At night--frogs, spiders, sleeping birds, toads, snakes. The bird feeding station had a wonder variety of tanagers.

Very well managed place with accommodations for overseas researches as well as tourists. Fantastic birding of Colorful birds at the feeders. The garden grounds is huge and full of hummingbirds.

absolutely beautiful!

The biological station Las Cruces is integrated in the Wilson Botanical Garden, which is one of the most important and largest botanical collections in the tropics. We took the public bus from Ciudad Neilly and let us be dropped directly in front of the Las Cruces station (6 km south of San Vito). We spent 2 nights in the station: The rooms were very comfortable with a great view to the garden. At night, it can get cold, so it is a good idea to bring warmer clothes. The garden itself is very nice, botanically very interesting and an excellent location for birdwatching. Also, the adjacent tracks (many kilometers) into the primary and secondary rain forest are definitely worth a walk and one can easily spend several days exploring the station and area around (bring closed shoes!). The guided tour through the garden with Jeisson was excellent, he is really an expert,, was able to define and imitate nearly all birds and could answer all of our questions.
The food was really excellent and the kitchen women were amazing and very helpful. As there were only few tourists, we were eating together with the researchers.
All in all, the stay was great and we would absolutely recommend it, if you don't expect luxury, if you are interested in nature and want a familiar atmosphere.

Excellent staff, hotel, garden and forest. The plants and birds that you can see are amazing.

If you stay here you should know that this is a working academic research site not a traditional hotel. Food is very good given the family style. Rooms are modem clean and have nice private balconies. Great value!