VILLA BLANCA CLOUD FOREST HOTEL & NATURE RESERVE

Just over an hour from San Jose International Airport, discover a new world destination for eco-conscious travelers. Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel and Nature Reserve is a 75-acre boutique mountain hotel surrounded by the spectacular Los Angeles Private Biological Reserve. Originally owned by former Costa Rican president Rodrigo Carazo Odio and First Lady, Estrella Zeledon de Carazo, Villa Blanca has become a cherished Costa Rica destination. The Carazo's vision was to capture the simplicity, charm and deep respect for the land that is the spirit of the people of the San Ramon area. As the former president had authorized new national parks, created the University for Peace and initiated the rural medical care program, his hotel, situated where it was, would have to become something more than just a hotel. It needed to be an inspiration. Years later, this hotel would bring the president and his wife together with another visionary, making possible the extraordinary place that Villa Blanca has become today. A sustainable green hotel, in the middle of the cloud forest of San Ramón, Costa Rica. That visionary was Jim Damalas. Over time, the relationship between Jim, the President, and Estrella Carazo, revealed a shared goal of helping Costa Rica lead the world in developing sustainable eco tourism. The Carazo's knew Jim as an experienced hotelier in Costa Rica, with a successful property in Manuel Antonio, already recognized internationally as a leader in sustainable lodging practices; so when they wanted to "retire" from the hotel business, they did not put it up for sale. They decided to pass the torch directly to Jim. In December 2003, Greentique Hotels (formerly Green Hotels of Costa Rica) acquired Villa Blanca. Work began in April 2004 to transform Villa Blanca into the kind of hotel that the two men had dreamed about. Seven months later, Jim and his design team - architect Rita Chavez Casanova and building coordinator Johnny Alvarado, had converted Villa Blanca into an upscale, nature-oriented boutique hotel and spa. A full- blown renovation and remodel, the project required a local crew of up to 157 men and women over its initial seven-month phase. There is no Costa Rica adventure that equals the awe inspiring connection to the magic of nature you'll experience when exploring the diversity and intensity of life in the cloud forest. Beautifully contoured trails wind there way through this most unique and spectacular jungle ecosystem. A combination of well-maintained trails offer Villa Blanca guests the option of self-guided excursions as well as guided tours with nature guides who rank amongst the country's most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in Costa Rican cloud forest flora and fauna.

Our "Casitas":
Luxury villas and honeymoon suites. There is no other hotel or resort property in Costa Rica where you can start and end your day surrounded by the sounds of the most rare tropical forest left on the planet: The Cloud Forest. You'll be ensconced in a beautifully appointed 19th century Costa Rica casita, which is the way our hotel villas are called. The casitas at Villa Blanca actually form a small village typical of the epoch in Costa Rica's history when the region was expanding its reach into the world of international agriculture and commerce as it maintained its connection to the land and resources that still define it today. From charming single deluxe villas to romantic honeymoon suites, Villa Blanca hotel accommodations feature cane ceilings and ceiling fans, elegantly handcrafted furniture and a variety of convenience amenities that also include fireplaces, private porches and in-room whirlpool tubs in many of the rooms.

Voices of Nature Spa Treatments:
At Voices of Nature Spa we are dedicated to providing a comfortable atmosphere for healing care, utilizing many natural ingredients from our own local gardens here in Costa Rica. Our staff is experienced at massaging away sore muscles and reducing stress to enhance relaxation and rejuvenate positive energy bringing even more enjoyment to your holiday experience in "Harmony with Nature"!

Located in Costa Rica in the picturesque, rolling hills of Costa Rica's Central Highlands, just above the city of San Ramon, Villa Blanca sits in one of the most accessible cloud forest reserves in Central America. At just over 3000 feet above sea level, the 2000-acre Los Angeles Private Cloud Forest Biological Reserve protects one of the most diverse inventories of Flora amongst the tropical forests of Costa Rica, and practical alternative to Monteverde, with just 60 km of paved Hwy. from the Int. Airport and is the gateway to La Fortuna and San Carlos. Half way along the drive from San Jose to the Arenal Volcano, its majestic smoke covered peak often seen from the hotel terraces, Villa Blanca is less than two hours from the thermal hot springs of Arenal on a beautiful paved mountain road. Also within comfortable driving distance is Poas Volcano National Park. Unlike the more recent beach developments on either coastline, the mountain community of San Ramon and its surrounding farm villages, have preserved a way of life handed down from the first European settlers. Known for generations as the "City of the Poets", San Ramon features a temperate climate and rich soil that has yielded generations of family-run coffee, sugar cane, and dairy farms. Amongst Greentique Hotels' proudest relationships is its support of the on-going research within the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Private Biological Reserve at Villa Blanca, in the Canton of San Ramon de Alajuela. This active field research laboratory, on the hotel grounds, is just 500 meters from the hotel's lobby, opened to scientists, researchers, students, nature guides and hotel employees, as well as providing a very unique attraction for visitors from around the world who stay at the hotel and enjoy visiting the station as part of informative guided tours offered every day. Part of what makes this research so extraordinary is that it is conducted so close to the local population and hotel operations, making Villa Blanca one of Costa Rica's few hotels where such programs exists. The work done at the Villa Blanca Research Station is part of an international database on biodiversity shared with scientists and researchers around the world. The variety and collection of species represent an inventory, in the surrounding Los Angeles Cloud Forest Biological Reserve, similar to Monteverde's cloud forest, yet far more accessible for scientists, institutions and tourist visiting from the nearby capital of San Jose as well as many other parts of the world. Special tours take you into the cloud forest and through the research station to see the investigation being done pertaining to the expansive biodiversity represented in this protected reserve offering a better understanding of their relationships with plants, other insects and humans that often comprise this incredibly complex and diverse ecosystem still remaining on our planet.

Three of the most distinctive Costa Rican presidents, Julio Acosta, José Figueres and Francisco Orlich, were born and raised in the Canton of San Ramon, here in the Province of Alajuela. Greentique sister hotel Si Como No, on the Pacific Coast near Manuel Antonio National Park, is just a three-hour drive, offering one of the best ways to experience the beauty of the Central Pacific of Costa Rica. You'll enjoy a dramatic and inspiring descent from the cool mountains to the warm Pacific beaches and tropical forests all along the scenic, well-maintained highway. You'll cross coffee, palm and pineapple plantations on your way to some of the region's most scenic beaches