More than 15 years ago, long before the Ocotea Boutique Hotel ever broke ground, a family of Monteverde locals founded a small tour provider named Ocotea Tours & Transfers, and the rest is history.
The vision of the Ocote Boutique Hotel is to provide a stay in Monteverde that’s both authentic and luxurious. Every day, our team works to honor the hotel’s strong roots in the community and provide a fresh interpretation of what Monteverde can be.
Travelers drawn to Costa Rica are faced with a daunting challenge as they try to narrow down an itinerary in the country. Much of Costa Rica’s charm comes from the unique character of its small towns, which are vibrant communities that each have something to offer.
Not all of the plants in Monteverde grow up from the ground. In fact, some spend their entire lives, from spore to seedling to mature flowering plants, without ever touching terrestrial soil. In this article, come with us to discover the epiphytes of Monteverde's cloud forest, including fragile orchids, striking bromeliads, the deadly strangler fig, and many others!
Perched in the misty cloud forests of Costa Rica, Monteverde is known as one of the most tranquil, peaceful places in a country known for the concept of pura vida. Monteverde was founded by Quakers from the US who objected to the Vietnam War’s draft, and they found common ground with Costa Rica’s anti-war beliefs. In this way, even the very creation of Monteverde was an act of peaceful protest.
The values of the Ocotea Boutique Hotel from the very start have been to prioritize sustainable, local, ethical products and services with an uncompromising dedication to luxury-level quality. For Founders Karen and Valeria Fallas, there would be no other way to deliver the absolute best that Monteverde has to offer while staying true to the foundational values of Monteverde itself.
Seasonal migrations of numerous bird species throughout the year make birdwatching in Monteverde a dynamic activity, where each month can bring a vastly different experience for birders seeking the rare and magnificent birds that visit Monteverde.
In Monteverde, there are no clear lines between where civilization ends and nature begins. Instead, it’s a gradual change, where carefully trodden paths offer us the chance to explore cloud forest reserves, where the natural world comes right up to your front porch, and beauty both ecological and manmade is constantly intertwined with each other.
I have been fortunate to travel a great deal in life so far, both for work as a travel and hospitality writer as well as to satiate my own oft-insatiable desire for new adventures and experiences, and in that time I have come to deeply appreciate the value of seeing new destinations through the eyes of the people who live there.