By the Best Mountain Hotels editorial team ·
Hotel Belmar is Monteverde's most loved hotel, a chalet-style retreat high in Costa Rica's famous cloud forest, ranked second in Central America in Travel + Leisure's 2026 World's Best Awards. With hardwood-clad rooms, its own organic farm, a brewery and a private nature reserve, and views that stretch to the Gulf of Nicoya on clear days, it combines comfort with a deep connection to the forest.
Hotel Belmar is Monteverde's most loved hotel, a chalet-style retreat high in Costa Rica's famous cloud forest, ranked second in Central America in Travel + Leisure's 2026 World's Best Awards. With hardwood-clad rooms, its own organic farm, a brewery and a private nature reserve, and views that stretch to the Gulf of Nicoya on clear days, it combines comfort with a deep connection to the forest.
Location: Monteverde, Costa Rica
The hotel stands on a hillside above the village of Santa Elena, close to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, in the Tilarán mountains of north-western Costa Rica. The cloud forest, permanently bathed in mist, is one of the richest ecosystems on Earth, home to the resplendent quetzal, hummingbirds, orchids and hundreds of species of birds, and its hanging bridges and night walks are famous. Liberia airport is about two and a half hours away, and San José about three and a half.
Monteverde was settled in the 1950s by a group of American Quakers, who founded a cheese factory that still operates and helped protect the cloud forest. Beyond the main reserve, there are the Santa Elena and Curi-Cancha reserves, hanging bridges and ziplines through the canopy, coffee and chocolate tours, and guided night walks to spot tarantulas, sloths, tree frogs and sleeping birds.
Rooms at Hotel Belmar
There are 26 rooms, including three suites, in a 'chalet chic' style with hardwood panelling, colourful Costa Rican flourishes and local art. Most have balconies with views over the forest towards the Pacific, where sunsets can be spectacular.
The hotel is family-run and has been part of Monteverde for decades, and its commitment to sustainability, from its farm and reserve to its energy use, is part of what makes it special. Staff are knowledgeable about the forest and can arrange guides and tours.
Facilities at Hotel Belmar
Celajes restaurant and bar serve dishes built around the hotel's organic farm, Finca Madre Tierra, which supplies coffee, cheese and produce, and Cervecería Belmar, the hotel's own brewery, has a taproom. There is no pool, but a natural spring-water pond and a hot tub in a garden gazebo with forest views, a massage room, a yoga studio with a free class during your stay, and the hotel's own Savia nature reserve, with trails through the forest.
The mountain moment
The Belmar moment is a dawn walk in the cloud forest, when mist drifts between the moss-covered trees and, if you are lucky, the iridescent green and red of a resplendent quetzal flashes through the canopy. Back at the hotel, coffee from its own farm and the view to the distant Pacific complete the morning.
After dark, a guided night walk through the forest reveals a hidden world: glowing fungi, sleeping birds, tree frogs with bright red eyes, and perhaps a sloth or a kinkajou moving through the branches overhead.
On clear evenings, the sun sets over the Gulf of Nicoya, turning the sky orange and pink above the forest, a spectacular sight from the hotel's terraces.
Why Hotel Belmar is one of the best mountain hotels
Hotel Belmar earns its place for its setting, its warmth and its sustainability, combining a beautiful cloud-forest location with excellent food and real character. It has no swimming pool, and Monteverde's weather is often cool, misty and wet. But for nature lovers, it is the best base in the cloud forest.
For Arenal volcano, see Nayara Tented Camp.
Two or three nights in Monteverde allows time for the reserves, a night walk and a coffee tour, and many visitors arrive from Arenal by the scenic jeep-boat-jeep route across Lake Arenal, then continue to the beaches of Guanacaste or the Nicoya Peninsula. The final road up to Monteverde is winding, so allow plenty of time. Bring warm layers and waterproofs, as the cloud forest is often cool and wet, and binoculars for the birdlife.
When to go to Hotel Belmar
Costa Rica's dry season, from December to April, brings the most sunshine and is the busiest and most expensive time to visit. The green season, from May to November, brings afternoon rain, lush landscapes, fewer visitors and lower prices; mornings are often clear. Wildlife is excellent all year. Monteverde is cooler and mistier than the lowlands all year, so bring layers and a rain jacket.
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Questions, answered
- Does Hotel Belmar have a pool?
- No, but it has a natural spring-water pond and a hot tub with forest views.
- How many rooms does Hotel Belmar have?
- 26, including three suites.
- Does Hotel Belmar have its own farm?
- Yes. Finca Madre Tierra supplies coffee, cheese and produce, and the hotel also has its own brewery.
- How far is Monteverde from Liberia airport?
- About two and a half hours by road.
