3 Kms Oeste de la Iglesia, La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica | (888) 616-5829
Convenient location just outside La Fortuna
Magic Bar has a weekly karaoke night that's popular with locals
Clean, modern rooms with volcano views, coffeemakers, AC, and cable TVs
Free Wi-Fi
Junior Suites come with in-room hot tubs
Breakfast included at Lina Restaurant
Occasional traffic noises from the main road noticeable in rooms
Hotel and spa decor are generic and unmemorable
That karaoke night can get pretty loud and crowded (pro for some)
It's not fancy, but this 42-room, three-floor, mid-range hotel offers clean, reasonably lit rooms, unobstructed views of both Arenal and Cerro Chato volcanoes, and quick and easy access to La Fortuna. Features include an outdoor pool with a sim-up bar and a couple of hot tubs, but those who want a full-on water park resort in the area might prefer Los Lagos. The hotel's most notable draw is the throbbingly packed weekend karaoke-dance nights at the hotel bar.
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Scene
Draws American tourists in the high season; popular with Costa Ricans both as an affordable hotel in the off season, and for the Magic Bar's weekend karaoke night
For much of the year, the hotel is
filled with Costa Rican tourists, but during the high season, the
hotel draws mostly American couples and families staying briefly in the region before moving on to other destinations. Around 10 p.m. on Friday nights, the Magic Bar
fills up with ticos and international tourists belting out
American, Spanish, and Costa Rican pop songs. The hotel itself is a three-story block in an adobe-pink color and has open-air hallways, sometimes dim stairwells, and the general feeling of a generic, mid-range American hotel (like a La Quinta Inn). The white-on-white glossy spa is decked out with Roman and Catholic statuary; it looks like it was decorated after Caligula and Scarface (Al Pacino, not Paul Muni) made a joint shopping trip to Brighton Beach's "classiest" (read "gaudiest") furniture store.
Location
Just outside La Fortuna, and right on the main road into and out of town.
The hotel sits off a bend on busy Route
142 leading north out of Fortuna, about a five-minute drive from the center of town. To the south are a series of local
businesses, including a large Super Cristian supermarket and a
construction-supply store. On the other side is a pasture for a local
farmer, and past that is an unobstructed view of both volcanoes. Its spot on the northern
outskirts of La Fortuna makes it convenient to get in and
out of town without bumping elbows with too many backpackers or
adventure-tour touts, while still letting guests quickly fill up on supplies, gasoline, and to make tour arrangements.
Rooms
Spare but clean rooms with unobstructed views of the volcanoes and only occasional traffic noises despite being right on the main road
Rooms are clean, reasonably well-lit, and mostly spare, with white walls (except for the occasional framed close-up photos of flowers). They're modern, with white bedding, dark wood furniture, and tile floors. The highlight are the balconies with unobstructed views of both Cerro Chato and Arenal volcanoes. Amenities include AC, safes, and Wi-Fi, but Standard Rooms lack mini-fridges. Despite being on the main road, traffic noises aren't constantly audible, but definitely noticeable at intervals. (The thumping bass from the karaoke dance night at the Magic Bar on Fridays are more likely to keep you up.) Bathrooms are large but even sparer than the bedrooms -- our shower lacked even a soap dish. Junior Suites, at least, have big in-room hot tubs.
Features
The hotel is famous in the area for its weekend karaoke night, which draws droves of ticos and internationals.
The hotel is known all around the area for its Friday night karaoke night in the Magic Bar sports pub upstairs from the hotel restaurant (which touts its flambeed chicken, prepared at the table). Starting at 10 p.m., normally early-to-bed ticos swarm into the bar to belt out Spanish pop songs. The DJ cranks up the music high those nights -- loud enough that the bass comes through the guest-room windows -- and the bar parking lot fills up with young local men smoking, giggling, and generally hanging out on the hoods of their pickups and showing appreciation for the scantily clad women who prance inside to dance in the packed space. The outdoor pool has a swim-up bar, and there are a couple of hot tubs nearby.
