Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat
Airport Road 150 M Oeste Del Aeropuerto, Puerto Jimenez 60702 Costa Rica
Lock in the lowest price from these sites
Expedia.com
Hotels.com
Booking.com
View all 6 deals
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
Full view
View all photos (131)131
Room & Suite (15)
Dining (5)
About
#7 of 12 hotels in Puerto Jimenez
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
At "Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat" you are GUARANTEED to see WILDLIFE. How certain are we? Well, have you ever sat in a Tropical Lounge and viewed from your chair a Scarlet Macaw, a Monkey or a Kinkajou? You can at "La Chosa". Many guests have said they see more wildlife at "Chosa del Manglar Nature Retreat" than at any other location during their Costa Rica vacation.
Read more
Suggest edits to improve what we show.Improve this listing
Property amenities
Free parking
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Bicycle rental
Boating
Highchairs available
Taxi service
Banquet room
Meeting rooms
Diving
Hiking
Horseback riding
Snorkelling
Canoeing offsite
Fishing
Patio
Walking tours
Couples massage
Foot massage
Full body massage
Hand massage
Head massage
Massage
Neck massage
Baggage storage
Concierge
Laundry service
Show more
Room features
Blackout curtains
Air conditioning
Additional bathroom
Desk
Dining area
Coffee / tea maker
Extra long beds
Walk-in shower
Housekeeping
Private balcony
Safe
Seating area
Separate dining area
Separate living room
Sofa
Private bathrooms
Wake-up service / alarm clock
Stovetop
Electric kettle
Kitchenware
Sofa bed
Bath / shower
Complimentary toiletries
Show more
Room types
Bridal suite
Non-smoking rooms
Suites
Family rooms
Good to know
HOTEL CLASS
HOTEL STYLE
Quaint
Mid-range
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Location
73Somewhat walkable
Grade: 73 out of 100
10Restaurantswithin 0.5 km
2Attractionswithin 0.5 km
Contact
Airport Road 150 M Oeste Del Aeropuerto, Puerto Jimenez 60702 Costa Rica
Getting there
Car HireSee all Puerto Jimenez car hire
100Reviews3Q+A14Room tips
Reviews
Traveller rating
- 46
- 27
- 13
- 5
- 9
Time of year
Traveller type
Language
More
Selected filters
- Filter
- English
Popular mentions
Sort by:
Most Recent
This place lies in de mangroves, which makes this very good place to see a lot of animals which is nice. The staff is very pleasant and helpful! (They knew we wanted to see animals so when they saw something they pointed them out to us.) The rooms were very basic and ours a little damp. It was advertised as having a 'river view' but I wouldn't really call those mangroves a 'river but it was nice enough. We saw a racoon there :)
Read more
Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
I’ll go straight to facts. When I checked in, the lady at reception took my payment for a room in Chosa Manglar. Then, AFTER THE PAYMENT, she told me that she has 2 rooms available, one at the back and one at the front. Of course, I thought it was 2 rooms in Chosa Manglar, which corresponded to the price I paid, so I answered : ok I will have the one in the front so I can be closer to the raccoons (never even saw one but that’s not the point). So I got the room in the front and was really disappointed, it didn’t look like what I saw on the pictures of my reservation. The room was ugly, the tap barely working, the decoration almost non existent. I would never have paid more than 70 euros for that. The day after, she told me that I actually stayed in Palapa hut and not the Chosa Manglar I paid for. Palapa Hut is half the price of what I paid. I felt scammed. Why didn’t she tell me that there was a price difference between the 2 available rooms? If I knew, I would obviously have chosen the Chosa Manglar room I paid for!!! But she never mentioned the price difference, she let me stay in that cheap room even if I had paid double the price. No compensation was offered, only a rude attitude when I asked about a solution to this problem. I should have trusted all the negative reviews I have read about them. This lady is dishonest and only cares about making money. The rooms are bad and way too expensive. I have stayed in 12 different lodges in Costa Rica, all of them amazing, and this place was the only disappointment. To avoid!!! Worst customer service ever…
Read more
Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Response from Andrew Gray, Owner at Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat
Responded 4 Nov 2022
Here's what you really need to know about the place. The quoted text below was written by a fellow traveler and left here on Trip Advisor, who really understands the essence of the place, unlike someone who is upset with room pricing and because the business had the nerve to NOT adjust the room price downwards after they asked the staff to move them to a section of the property where their friend was staying so they could be closer to each other. We did move the guest at no charge AFTER the guest asked us to do them a BIG FAVOR! Some Big Favour huh? "Don't listen to any negative reviews. We have toured around Costa Rica and Panama for a month now. We're in our mid 30s so we avoid hostels and stay in places that are basic and clean. All accommodation under $100 a night is basic in CR. If you can get A/C and hot water then you're winning. This place had a shared kitchen which admittedly was a mess but only because of a few younger guests. The poor hotel staff cleaned this up every night. This place was everything we needed and had the added bonus of beautiful nature and great staff." Pura Vida, Andrew
Read more
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We absolutely loved it here. On the grounds we saw capuchins, scarlet macaws, toucans, raccoons, tiger herons and frogs. The room was basic but clean with hot water and decent A/C. What makes it though are the owners. They really cared about our stay. I took a bad fall and they cleaned me up and checked in on me. We booked the Corcovado day hike through their guy. It was incredible. We paid a bit extra to get dropped at Drake Bay after the tour and to have our own guide. It was worth every penny. Don't listen to any negative reviews. We have toured around Costa Rica and Panama for a month now. We're in our mid 30s so we avoid hostels and stay in places that are basic and clean. All accommodation under $100 a night is basic in CR. If you can get A/C and hot water then you're winning. This place had a shared kitchen which admittedly was a mess but only because of a few younger guests. The poor hotel staff cleaned this up every night. This place was everything we needed and had the added bonus of beautiful nature and great staff.…
Read more
Date of stay: January 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
The owner is very friendly and full of recommendations. Waking up and seeing monkeys in the trees is amazing, the place is accessible, right next to the meeting point for the excursions in the parc, and the city center is sufficient for a couple of nights The shared space is cosy, the room has a mosquito net which is especially useful around the moistures area
Read more
Date of stay: August 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip: Look for the big signs naming the hotel, google maps isn’t leading to the main entrance
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Just wandered in to admire the rambling mangrove garden, reckoning it beyond my backpacker budget. After some craic with the character who is Scots Canuck Andrew, who runs the place, the close to my Costa Rican chapter was going out with a bang. Safari type trips tend to knock the stuffing out of careful money management in wildlife-rich parts of the world. Yet sometimes in a months-long trip with necessary economy comes the occasion to bite the bullet. So it was with a $90 day trip into Corcovado of the wild wet west, with a guide who really knew his jungle critturs. Andrew offered me a dorm bed for $14, which was a lot less than I expected, given the mini-rainforest of the grounds & their cost of upkeep. However, up an iron spiral staircase, with a grubby wee bathroom attached, this was a tired cell of a place for my last night in Costa Rica. Not up to the lovely ambience of the rest of the property, with its birds & lizards & monkeys & butterflies & the cheeky thieving raccoon trying her luck. Thank you, Andrew, for your take on the world and setting up that Corcovado trip with such a switched-on guide. Two more words: Passerini's Tanager! …
Read more
Date of stay: July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
We liked staying here b/c there were 2 adults and 2 kids and there's a huge well-equipped kitchen that makes it easy to cook--and even prepare food for hiking instead of having to buy food at the bakery. There's a BM supermarket in town within walking distance and another food store right across from the hostel. The tent on the covered platform is nice for 1-3 people (we had 4 :). And yes, there are animals around --monkeys, herons, even saw a raccoon.
Read more
Date of stay: July 2019Trip type: Travelled with family
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip: Wifi works well in large common area.
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Driving through Puerto Jimenez, looking for the hostel Chosa Manglar, I was sceptical on how much of a nature retreat it would be. After finding the place, I was positively surprised! Despite it being pretty close to the road, the whole hostel has this amazing serenity to it. In the middle of an amazing green forest in combination with mangroves. We absolutely loved it. During our visit in March, we only saw a couple of macaws, crabs and iguana's, but I'm sure this hostel has more animals crawling around. The breakfast buffet is wonderful as well. The best thing about this hostel are the owners. Not only are they extremely kind, they really put an effort in working out a small issue we were having. The owner proved to be very professional and worked through solutions thinking on the long-term. I would definitely recommend this hostel!…
Read more
Date of stay: March 2019Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
Did we like our experience at Chosa Del Manglar? We loved it! The staff was, by far, the nicest we met during our trip around the country. The owner, Jackie, along with her staff, have only one thing in mind: your happiness and well-being. If there is an issue, tell them and they will fix it in the minute, litterally. The site, idillic, offers some of the best monkey watching of any site in the country. Hords of white-faced monkeys come a couple of feet from your cabin. In fact, sometimes, they were so close that we thought they would jump on us. A fantastic experience! But, do not think that you can only see white-faced monkeys, since we had the opportunity to observe upclose spider monkeys, tucans, parrots, hummingbirds and much more, right there on site! We strongly recommend you take their Reserva Chimpol Tour through the primary jungle. Ask to walk the Mirador-La Ceiba Trail which will transport you into the deep peninsula jungle. That was one of the nicest trail we did in our life. In fact, the nature was so rich that we felt like it was going to engulf us. I would go as far as to claim that it was a mystical experience. Also, it’s very reasonably priced at 39$USD (compared to the outrageous 90-120$USD Corcovado one-day tours - see below for more on Puerto Jimenez). On the Chimpol Tour, you will see trees hundreds of years old, wild animals, spiders, countless ants colonies, hidden waterfalls, all this while you follow your guide opening the trail with a machete. Unreal! Note that the entire walk is around 12 hours, so you have to be in good shape. If you go on the tour, which you definitely should, make sure you wear good walking shoes, flip-flops (for the 8 rivers crossings), a towel, a 1 liter watter bottle (that you can refill along the way in one of the many clean-water sources), sunscreen, some snacks and a sandwich, a headlamp (should you come back after sunset as it happened to us), and a hat to offer some shade on a very sunny day. The resort offers two guides, Rony and Benny, both very knowlegeable and friendly. We had a great time with Benny who only speaks Spanish. Rony speaks some English. If you take the tour, which leaves at 6am, ask them to keep you some breakfast for when you come back. As we mentioned, these guys are great! Breakfast is offered for free each morning from 7am to 10am. You can have creamy eggs, pinto, bread, fresh fruits and jelly. Coffee is available all day for free. Also, they offer free filtered water (nice touch). There is a bar and they sell beer. For those who fancy a swim, they have two very clean pools. You can also use one of their campsites or rent camping equipment on site. Walking around the site itself is an experience and the main strong point about this place. They even have a butterfly garden and marked trails. Gorgeous! Should you wish to wash your clothes, there is a laundrymat accross the street. They charged us 5$USD for 3kg of clothes and they will wash, dry and fold your stuff. The room cleanliness was acceptable and our cabin offered AC which was an amazing addition, especially during the heat wave we experienced at the time. Note that electricity cuts out a couple of times every now and then, but only for a couple of seconds. Our room offered a water tap outside to clean our stuff and feet. Also, the room had a shower, a toilet and a bahroom sink. A nice addition would be shelves, which we didn’t have in the room. There are terrasses and chairs outside each cabin. On the downside, the Wi-Fi was very irregular and we often had difficulties simply uploading a picture on Facebook, which was frustrating. They were aware of the problem. Should you decide to visit Puerto Jimenez, we cannot recommend this place enough. Amazing stay! Puerto Jimenez and around There is much to say about Puerto Jimenez, and most of it, in our experience, is not positive. Let us explain. We arrived on the 12pm bus from San Jose at 8pm and, as it happens to most tourists landing there, we were approached by a very dodgy looking taxi driver, which we kindly refused. Then, there is the challenge to find the hotel which was not as easy as we thought. The town is oddly made and confusing, there were constructions on various streets and we had to ask to several people and correct our itinerary as we walked along. On our first day, we tried to get organized and we explored the city. We went to most tour organisers and asked for prices and options to Corcovado. Most tour operators are offering the same products, only the prices vary, from 90$USD to several hundreds (for similar products!). So, for heaven’s sake, please do go around and shop your tour because these unscupulous people - more than anywhere else in the country - are only interested in one thing: your money. As most travelers go to Osa to take a Corcovado Tour, which the local operators know too well, all the infrastructures are build around that activity. Know that you cannot enter the park without a guide. Solo exploration is therefore not an option here. Taxis will cost you around 80$USD per person for a 45 minutes drive, regardless of the number of people in the car. The cheapest fare we found, after 30 minutes of haggling, was 75$ for two, to both Carate and Matapalo with a private 4x4 (Tony : 506 83 31 57 81). Most tours do NOT (let us emphasize NOT) include transportation and/or entrance to the park, so, again, do your homework and do not let convincing marketing get to you. Remember, all tour operators, regardless of their marketing skills, offer more or less the same experience. So, if you are adament about visiting Corcovado, regardless of the price, go for the cheapest. One of the operators, Osa Dreams, offers a tour to Piro which is an interesting alternative to the Corcovado Tour, but it’s still 75$ per person (negotiated price) for a half-day. You will find their office on the main street under the Eco Tours banner near the police station. Here are the lessons we learned from our 5 hours shopping tour and 5 days stay in town. All operators will let you off in Carate. Then, you will have to walk 1 hour to the park’s entrance in La Leona. There, a guide will take you for a walk less than half-way to the Sirena ranger outpost. Know that the trail is along the beach, so you will not actually get into the jungle itself. You will follow other groups of tourists looking up - cameras in hands - and expecting to take pictures of animals. By the way, no operator guarantees that you will see any animal (which actually makes sense). Moreover, in the summer, it is very common that you will have to come back half-way through your planned walk if someone in your group has a heat-stroke, which we were told happens all the time because of the very hot temperature close to the beach. And, by the way, should this happen to you, do not expect a refund. They will not keep their promise, but they will keep your « plata ». Welcome to Puero Jimenez! In our experience, sharing our impressions with many other outraged fellow travelers who came to Osa to visit Corcovado, we can confidently say that almost half of them changed their minds because of the inflated prices which verge on criminal extorsion. So, this is when the Reserva Chimpol Tour comes in as a great alternative (see above). Renting a bike can also be a challenge. Do not be surprised to pay between 10$USD to 25$USD a day for a rental. Although it’s very expensive for bikes that are not all in good shape, it is still cheaper than taking a taxi. A piece of advice, try using Uber or offering some money to a fellow traveler with a rental car. There is a collective minibus that leaves every morning at 6am for Carate (10$USD) and Matapalo (5$USD) for a reasonable price should you wish to go there. If you go to Matapalo, you may want to check out the King Louis waterfall. To find the « collectivo » office, ask around for the « collectivo » and locals will tell you where to find it. You can buy your ticket the day before to secure a place. If you feel like bathing, you can take the road south east from the airport which will bring you to Playa Preciosa. The walk is around 6km and is nice. Watch out for small (but mean) dogs along the way. On the street before the Delphin Bar (coming from the airport), there is a small trail on the right (about 5 minutes walking from the bar) where you can see crocodiles at some times of the year. There is a small laguna of greenish still water. We finally decided to rent some bikes at Ciclo Paniagua, on the main street (tel.: 506 27 35 58 36) for around 10$USD to go to Rancho Raices in Cañazo for a chocolate tour. That was a great experience that we enjoyed a lot, although accordingly priced at 40$USD for a 2:30 hours tour. The ride is 13km each way and you get to see plenty of palm trees plantations along road 245. Mora beach, is also accessible through a dirt road south of the ranch.For a nice meal, stop at Soda Denia which offer great food for cheap. Note that Ciclo Paniagua rents bikes with gears, not the usual « banana » bikes which are not good for long rides. The rental place in front of the BM supermarket only rents fat bikes for 25$USD a day. These are good for riding on the beach. Should you want to eat well at a reasonable price, we found that Soda Valeria and Soda Sabroso were the best options. The supermarkets are some of the most expensive we found in the country. Here, expect to pay 30% more for solar screen and 10-20% more for everything else. The Pali supermarket, next to the bus statio, offers a little bit better prices, but still high. Puerto Jimenez has slowly took the title as the main doorway to Corcovado from neighbouring Drake, but prices have become inflated to the point of extorsion. If you have the money, be their guest. However, my wife and I like to pay fair prices and we were not willing to be screwed that hard. Instead, we chose to keep our money to go to Disneyland, which is (astonishingly) still cheaper than the « Corcovado Ripoff », not to mention that our friend Walt does keep his promise and shows us animals! Would we go back to Puerto Jimenez if we would have known this beforehand? Yes, probably. But we would stay only 3 nights at Chosa Del Manglar. The reason being that we kind of lost two days just making sense of this confusing and overpriced place. This also explains why we wrote this extensive review to help other fellow travelers not to fall into the trap.…
Read more
Date of stay: February 2019Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
5 Helpful votes
Helpful
We were very pleased when we entered the property. The grounds are gorgeous, with well maintained gardens and lots of colourful birds around. And any staff we met were so nice and very helpful. Especially Jackie and Lilliana. However, the actual buildings leave a lot to be desired. We were first given a room with a broken lock. No one could get it working, so they immediately gave us a new room. It could best be described as “tired”. And we were shocked when we were shown the communal kitchen. It was very large, but everything was old and there were signs everywhere to wash and dry your dishes, but there were no towels! For the money charged, the quality of the actual buildings should be better. If you are using it as a stopover in PJ to go shopping and use the bank, it is adequate, just do not expect too much.…
Read more
Date of stay: January 2019Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Rooms
Location
Service
Room Tip: Go far from the reception.
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
It took me a couple of weeks to decide: La Chosa Manglar or Cabinas Jimenez? Well, I ended up in La Chosa and I'm glad I did it! If there were some not so friendly reviews about this tiny Resort, I have only one question: What those People have been expecting for the money they paid? There's no way to get Ritz-Carlton quality service over there. It's on the edge of the jungle, extremely remote area. You have to consider this making Your choice. Breakfest is good enough to get started, clean rooms, always warm water in the faucet, walking distance from Mercado, restaurants, travel ofices, yet still You can see a lots of wildlife on the property. On the third day I just stopped pay attention to the visiting White-faced Capuchin monkey; Spider monkey frequently hangs around the reception area; If one gets lucky, will catch the glimpse of Howler monkey high up in the canopy or, definitely, will hear them howling in the neighborhood, pretty much every morning. Not enough? Within 6 days stay in La Chosa Manglar, property about 3 acres of size, I have frequently seen the Scarlet Maccaws; large birds, most likely Chachalacas; Hummingbirds, Green Iguanas, Racoons, Mealy Parrots and few kinds of Parakeets. My trap camera took one night a picture of some hard to identify creature (only half of the body with tail) from cats family - Tayra, Jaguarundi, Oncilla? To Me, a Paradise for nature lovers. The only problem could be a language barrier if You don't speak spanish and the owner is not around. But usually He is. The WiFi signal is not amazing too, but hey, for a few days everyone can afford taking off from googling, messaging, Skype, Whats-upp! And one more think: if You're Drone enthusiast like Me, don't You even try to pull Your baby out of the bag - it won't be able to take off on this property. To close to the airport. Don't know how they do it, but even engines won't start. You have to be at least 200 meters from the edge of the runway. On the other hand, taxi is obsolete. 2-3 min. walk to the Resort!…
Read more
Date of stay: December 2018Trip type: Travelled solo
Rooms
Location
Service
Room Tip: You pay more, You get better room
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
PRICE RANGE
US$80 - US$107 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
Costa RicaProvince of PuntarenasOsa PeninsulaPuerto Jimenez
NUMBER OF ROOMS
18
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim Your ListingCHOSA MANGLAR NATURE RETREAT: UPDATED 2022 Hotel Reviews, Price Comparison and 131 Photos (Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica) - Tripadvisor
Frequently Asked Questions about Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat
Which popular attractions are close to Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat?
Nearby attractions include Artes de Osa (0.3 km) and Los Higuerones (0.4 km).
What are some of the property amenities at Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free wifi, free parking, and meeting rooms.
Which room amenities are available at Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat?
Top room amenities include air conditioning, an additional bathroom, and blackout curtains.
Is parking available at Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat?
Yes, free parking is available to guests.
What are some restaurants close to Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat?
Conveniently located restaurants include Italian Restaurant Carolina, Hellen's Chill House, and Jade Luna.
Does Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat offer any business services?
Yes, guests have access to meeting rooms and a banquet room during their stay.
Which languages are spoken by the staff at Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat?
The staff speaks multiple languages, including English and Spanish.
Is Chosa Manglar Nature Retreat accessible?
Yes, it offers wheelchair access. For specific enquiries, we recommend calling ahead to confirm.