Where to Stay in La Fortuna: Affordable Options + A Splurge!

La Fortuna: The closest “town” to Arenal Volcano. If you want to be in a town where you can walk to restaurants and stores, this is where you want to be.

Arenal: More so an area north of the Arenal Volcano rather than a town. There are certainly hotels up and down route 142 that cater to the hot springs and there are a few restaurants splattered here and there. But there is no actual “town.”

So where is the best place to stay?! Is it better to stay in downtown La Fortuna or closer to the Arenal Volcano?

We actually opted to stay in both areas.

Why?

We wanted to have an experience at a hotel with hot springs, which are located in the Arenal area. We also had plans to hike around the Arenal Volcano and visit the free hot springs, which are also in the Arenal area.

Therefore we splurged to stay in one resort with hot springs access and then stayed one more night at a more affordable hotel in the Arenal area.

However, we also wanted to stay in La Fortuna where we could explore on foot.

Therefore, we spent one night in a fancy hot springs resort, one night in an affordable hotel in Arenal and 2 nights in La Fortuna!

For someone trying to visit La Fortuna on more of a budget, staying in La Fortuna is your best option. There are more hotel options and you can get around town by foot.

In La Fortuna I recommend staying at San Bosco Inn, a 3-star hotel located in downtown La Fortuna!

Pros

Location: San Bosco Inn has a great location in La Fortuna. You can easily walk to downtown La Fortuna from San Bosco. The central location also makes it a great spot for pick-up for excursions. We were easily able to be picked up for our white water rafting trip, which was super convenient.

Parking: It also has plenty of parking, which is important since renting a car is the best way to get around Costa Rica.

Everything to know about renting a car in Costa Rica!

Hot Springs: One of the coolest perks, is that a night at San Bosco Inn gives you free access to the hot springs at Volcano Lodge.

Pool: Another nice perk is that San Bosco has an outdoor pool to enjoy after your warm, humid hikes. It also has a nice view of Arenal Volcano from the pool.

Cons

Simplicity: San Bosco Inn isn’t anything fancy. The rooms are pretty small with tile that is probably considered outdates.

But, aside from aesthetics, the hotel is great!

Where to stay in La Fortuna if you want a unique and luxurious experience. If you aren’t on a TIGHT budget, you can splurge for a super unique experience by staying at a hot springs resort.

What makes the La Fortuna/Arenal area so unique are the vast amounts of hot springs that flow from under the Arenal Volcano.

It is really cool to experience a hotel with natural flowing hot springs through its property!

For a thermal resort, I recommend staying at Tabacon Thermal Resort and Spa!

Pros:

Natural Thermal Springs: By far, the best thing about Tabacon is the incredible hot springs. It is one of the only resorts that have hot springs that run directly from the Arenal Volcano and through the property.

And they have some of the largest number and variety of springs as well.

Amenities: The resort has everything you will need for your stay including restaurants, bars, shops, parking, pools, a gym, a spa and more.

Views: Many of the rooms offer incredible views of the Arenal Volcano.

Look at the resort and hot springs ⬇️😍

Cons:

Price: The obvious con, and really the only one, is the price. The Tabacon is not a cheap option.

However, the price depends on the time of year you visit (we visited during shoulder season and it was cheaper) and how many people you split the room with (we had three people to split the cost.)

Day passes to Tabacon Thermal Springs is around $99 per person. So, even for a couple, it would cost about $200 to visit the springs for a day.

With a night at Tabacon, you gain access to the springs for the day (and we even had access to them until 10:00pm the night after, so we went twice.)

So you have to do a little calculating, but if you are wanting to at least buy a day pass, a night at the Tabacon may be worth it.

Here is everything you need to know about visiting Tabacon Thermal Resort and Spa!

If you would like to split your time between La Fortuna and the Arenal area, but don’t want to splurge for one of the thermal resorts, you can find a reasonably-priced hotel in the area.

If you want to stay in the Arenal area on a budget, I recommend staying at Hotel Lavas Tacotal!

Pros:

Location: Hotel Lavas Tacotal has a great location on rt 142 only a 3 minute drive from Tabacon Hot Springs and the free hot springs. Therefore, if you would like to experience the hot springs in the area without the price tag, this is a good location to be in.

Price: Again, this hotel is an affordable option amongst a cluster of fancier thermal resorts.

Room Options: Hotel Lavas Tacotal has rooms in a traditional hotel setup. But they also have more private, hut-like rooms that are cute and often have a view of the Arenal Volcano.

Amenities: Another perk is that the hotel comes with a nice pool and also includes breakfast.

Cons:

Aesthetics: The rooms in the “normal hotel” section are pretty basic and have some outdated decor and furniture. But they are clean and aesthetics rarely bother me. The bungalow-style rooms are more updated.

There are loads of hotel options in the La Fortuna and Arenal areas and it can be a little overwhelming trying to decide where to stay!

However, we stayed at these three hotels and think they are great options to fit different budgets and different location preferences.

Here is how to spend 5 days in Monteverde and La Fortuna areas or 8 days in Costa Rica if you have more time!