As the Ocotea Boutique Hotel continues to grow and thrive, it's natural to look back at our team’s humble beginnings and smile. The journey that brought us from a small family-owned and operated tour company to where we are now hasn’t always been easy. But it has been incredible, and that’s why we would like to take this opportunity to share a bit about Ocotea Tours & Transfer and what it means to our family.

Do you ever wish we could go back in time to when life moved a little slower, communities were a little closer, and people appreciated the detail, time, and effort that went into something more than the brand name on its label?

While it is not my habit to write these posts from a personal place, this post is a little bit special. I recently had a bit of an epiphany, and it happened while seated in a big comfortable chair, early in the morning, in Ocotea’s back garden.

December 24th marked the first anniversary of the Ocotea Boutique Hotel, and passing that milestone naturally makes us think back on the events of the past year and reflect. We are happy to say, our first year has been spectacular, and we couldn’t be more proud of the wonderful team of people who have made that possible.

A little while ago, we wrote a blog post about some of the delicious culinary options that can be found in and around Monteverde. One of the restaurants that we discussed was Bon Appetit!which is located not far from our very own Ocotea Boutique Hotel. 

Costa Rica is famous for several things, but when it comes to tourism, canopy ziplines and eco-tourism top the list. I suppose in a way, those two things are connected because ziplining is a way for visitors to enjoy the beauty and grandeur of the forest while leaving the smallest footprints behind.

What is Craft Cuisine?

The concept of “craft cuisine” is an interesting one. In part because the craft cuisine movement involves creating food by hand, using intention, expertise, and experience. Craft foods are artisanal in nature, meaning the creator has a level of skill that is beyond the average, making the food, in essence, an art form.

In many parts of North America, we tend to think of seasons in terms of weather, and expect to enjoy four distinctly different seasons.

Life in Monteverde revolves, in many ways, around the nearby cloud forest. Why? Because it’s such a rare occurrence! Only 1% of the world's remaining forests are cloud forests. This focus on the cloud forest often distracts from the fact that we have several other kinds of forest here as well.