By the Best Mountain Hotels editorial team ·
Origins Luxury Lodge is one of the most intimate and original places to stay in Costa Rica: a handful of circular, hand-built lodges on a hillside in the volcanic highlands of the north, looking over the rainforest canopy to distant volcanoes and Lake Nicaragua. Each lodge has a terrace with a fire-heated hot tub, and the lodge holds one Michelin Key, with French-influenced cooking and a remarkable wine cellar.
Origins Luxury Lodge is one of the most intimate and original places to stay in Costa Rica: a handful of circular, hand-built lodges on a hillside in the volcanic highlands of the north, looking over the rainforest canopy to distant volcanoes and Lake Nicaragua. Each lodge has a terrace with a fire-heated hot tub, and the lodge holds one Michelin Key, with French-influenced cooking and a remarkable wine cellar.
Location: Bijagua, Costa Rica
Bijagua is a small town in the mountainous interior of northern Costa Rica, in a landscape of rainforest, rivers and volcanoes, close to Tenorio Volcano National Park and its famous sky-blue Río Celeste. Origins stands on a hillside above the town, with panoramic views of the forest canopy, the volcanoes and, on clear days, Lake Nicaragua.
Liberia airport, the gateway to Guanacaste, is about 80 minutes away by car, and helicopter transfers can land around ten minutes from the lodge.
Lodges and villa at Origins
There are just five circular lodges, built from natural materials so that they seem to grow out of the hillside, each with a terrace and a fire-heated hot tub, and a bathroom with an outdoor shower. For families and groups, the three-bedroom Villa Vertigo has a full kitchen and its own fire-heated jacuzzi. With so few guests, the atmosphere is private and personal.
Facilities at Origins
A curving infinity pool looks out over the forest, and the restaurant, led by chef Jean-Luc L'Hourre, serves refined, French-influenced menus with local ingredients, alongside a large wine cellar. The team can arrange hikes in Tenorio Volcano National Park to the Río Celeste waterfall, wildlife and birdwatching walks, river tubing and visits to nearby hot springs.
The mountain moment
The defining moment is an evening in your fire-heated hot tub as the sun sets behind the volcanoes and the rainforest below fills with the calls of birds and howler monkeys.
By day, hike through the forest of Tenorio to the Río Celeste, where the river turns an impossible shade of blue.
Why Origins is one of the best mountain hotels
Origins earns its place for its design, its intimacy and its food, recognised with a Michelin Key. It is a genuinely special hideaway in one of the most beautiful and least-crowded parts of Costa Rica.
For the Río Celeste nearby, see Hideaway Río Celeste. For more of Costa Rica's mountains, see El Silencio Lodge & Spa in the cloud forest and Nayara Tented Camp at Arenal.
When to go to Origins
The dry season in northern Costa Rica runs from around December to April, with the clearest views of the volcanoes and the lake. The green season, from around May to November, brings afternoon rain, lush forest and fewer visitors, and the Río Celeste is often at its bluest in the drier months, as heavy rain can cloud the water.
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Questions, answered
- Where is Origins Luxury Lodge?
- Origins is on a hillside near Bijagua, in the volcanic highlands of northern Costa Rica, about 80 minutes by car from Liberia airport.
- Does Origins Luxury Lodge have a Michelin Key?
- Yes. Origins Luxury Lodge holds one Michelin Key.
- How many rooms does Origins have?
- There are five circular lodges and the three-bedroom Villa Vertigo.
- Do the lodges at Origins have hot tubs?
- Yes. Each lodge has a terrace with a fire-heated hot tub.
- Is Origins near the Río Celeste?
- Yes. Tenorio Volcano National Park and the Río Celeste waterfall are nearby.
