Villa Blanca is a cloud forest hotel that has put birding on its own front page: it presents itself as a birding destination, and its pages name more than 400 species.
It sits at Bajos del Toro, on the side of the mountains away from Monteverde and San Gerardo, and the cloud forest reserve its birding page features is El Silencio de los Ángeles. A different mountain for a birder who has already done the two famous ones.
The lodge offers birdwatching and nature walks. We have not built a fixed trip around it yet, so this page stays close to what the lodge says itself.
The lodge's birding page presents the hotel as a birding destination, names more than 400 species, offers birdwatching and nature walks, and features the El Silencio de los Ángeles cloud forest reserve. It does not give trail lengths, feeders or a guide service on the page we read.
Photo: Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel + Retreat
Bajos del Toro
Experience the Cloud Forest
★★★
A cloud forest hotel at Bajos del Toro that presents itself as a birding destination, with more than 400 species named on its pages and the El Silencio de los Ángeles cloud forest reserve beside it.
The birds below come from our highlands zone page, not from the lodge's species list, which we have not seen. The Resplendent Quetzal with a guide, all year, and the Black Guan in the oaks, a regional endemic.
At feeders in the highlands, the Violet Sabrewing, the biggest hummingbird you will meet, and two regional endemics, the Fiery-throated Hummingbird and the Volcano Hummingbird. In the canopy the Northern Emerald-Toucanet, which your field guide may still call Emerald Toucanet.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resplendent Quetzal | Pharomachrus mocinno | Quetzal | |
| Black Guan | Chamaepetes unicolor | Pava Negra | Regional endemic |
| Violet Sabrewing | Campylopterus hemileucurus | Ala de Sable Violáceo | |
| Fiery-throated Hummingbird | Panterpe insignis | Colibrí Garganta de Fuego | Regional endemic |
| Volcano Hummingbird | Selasphorus flammula | Colibrí Chispita Volcanera | Regional endemic |
| Northern Emerald-Toucanet | Aulacorhynchus prasinus | Tucancillo Verde |
Every room here is a separate white casita at the edge of a private cloud forest, so you step outside to walk between your suite and the restaurant. Each one has a fireplace for the cool evenings, and the larger suites add a terrace, a jacuzzi and a sitting room. Breakfast is part of the stay. The hotel has a lounge with a fireplace, a spa, a game room and a small chapel used for weddings. Days are for the forest trails in the morning, an afternoon at the spa or in front of the fire, and an early dinner as the temperature drops.
Meals. full breakfast included (site). The 1 Nov record names El Sendero restaurant; the suites page read 5 Nov shows a restaurant called Jungle Q as "Coming Soon".
Perfect for: a couple on their first or last night who want cloud forest, a fireplace and a short drive to the airport.
The slopes of Poás above the Central Valley, where two of our birding trips spend their first nights: cloud forest birds, the quetzal with luck, the lodge.
See the placeNo fixed trip stays here yet; we build it into a custom trip.
Want to add a luxury stay to your trip? See every hotel we represent on CostaRica.Org (opens in a new window). We plan birding lodges and beach resorts in one trip.
Tell us the birds you want, your dates and how you like to travel, and we will come back with a first itinerary: the lodges in the right order and how many nights each one really needs. That first version is just a place to start.
Or call us: 1 (800) 996-1139 from the US and Canada, +506 4052-2140 in Costa Rica.
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