We just returned from the most amazing four nights in the Yguirre tree house. Although it is a 40-minute drive from La Fortuna and the activities near Arenal Volcano, I wouldn't consider staying anywhere else.
First off, Mark and Lucy, the managers, are the warmest, most wonderful hosts. Every email I sent before our trip was responded to within an hour or two, even on the weekends. Mark especially took so much care in helping us set up all of our tours and telling me exactly what to expect with each. He helped me find a ziplining tour that would allow my youngest daughter to ride with a guide, and he answered lots of questions about different ways to spend our time, how to arrange the activities, etc. I just left it to him, and he took great care of us. Every activity he booked for us was first-rate. (In case you're wondering, we spent the first day ziplining at Eco-Glide and then taking the Rainforest Chocolate Tour; the second day volunteering at Proyecto Asis Wildlife Refuge; and the third day on the one-day adventure tour that Tree Houses describes on their web site.)
Mark and Lucy recommend renting a car if you're staying at Tree Houses, and I agree with that. The directions they provided were good, but you'll want a solid GPS to help you navigate through some of the towns along the way, as there are no road signs or addresses anywhere. You can get transportation to and from almost any of the tours, but when you get back to Tree Houses in the evening, dinner would be a little difficult (and expensive) without a car.
My family of four (kids aged 12 and 9) arrived at Tree Houses around 6 p.m. after a very long day of traveling. Mark and Lucy met us at the door and went over everything we needed to know for the next few days. They provided maps of the property's trails, info about the daily night hikes, a garage-door opener for the front gate, and an explanation about their extremely cool honor system for cold drinks and laundry service.
With keys in hand, we headed to Yguirre tree house and were absolutely delighted when we walked in. It has a great porch with a small picnic-style table, as well as two rockers. Inside is sparse but extremely comfortable (in other words, you won't find a desk, TV, or alarm clock, but each bed has its own unique nightstand and light). Yguirre has two queen/king beds and a third twin bed so you could comfortably sleep 5; for us, it allowed our two kids to have their own beds (after a fun fight over who got the bigger bed!). Extra fleece blankets were available in a cubby, as well as a mini-fridge and some dishes/cups/silverware if you ordered a pizza or brought back some leftovers. And there's a window AC unit, which did a great job of keeping the tree house cool when we were there (the only drawback is that it blocks some of the sound of the birds when you wake up).
Let me explain the bathroom, as Mark said some folks decide not to make a reservation at Tree Houses because of the shower. The shower is NOT outside. It is at the end of the small but extremely clean bathroom (LOVE the wooden sink!), but the top half of the shower walls on two sides are screened in, so you can look out and hear the birds singing while you shower. Because of the way the tree houses are configured, no one could possibly see you showering, so we all felt extremely comfortable and private, even at night with the shower light on. I actually missed that shower when we left -- not just because of the experience but because the water pressure was way better than I expected it would be!
Do be sure to take some time to take the long hike to the pools. It's about a 45-minute walk that ends with a small waterfall and a couple of shallow pools you can dip in. I recommend you wear your swimsuit with a pair of shorts/t-shirt over it, hike with your tennis shoes on and bring some flip-flops or, even better, aquasox. We did not take the hike to the river.
Do also be sure to do at least one night hike. They start at 8:00 p.m. and last nearly 1.5 hours while you meander along the loop trail around the property. Rolando was our guide, and he had enough large flashlights for each family. He knows exactly where to look for some cool wildlife. We went one night and saw a non-poisonous snake, a cannibal frog, a poison dart frog, another small tree frog, a sloth, some cool insects, and some gorgeous birds.
All this and I haven't mentioned the very best part of Tree Houses: the breakfasts! Every morning between 8:00-9:00 a.m., a free hot breakfast is served. If Mark has scheduled you on an early tour, he also arranges for your breakfast to be served earlier. They have a menu of seven different breakfasts, one for each day of the week, so we got to sample four. We had (1) mango-stuffed "french toast" (Tuesday); (2) rice and bean burritos served with a fantastic avocado salsa (Monday); (3) gallo pinto with a fried egg and fried plantains (Wednesday); and (4) our absolute favorite -- and hands-down our best meal of the whole week-long trip -- fried plantain "cups" filled with beans and topped with cheese and salsa, along with scrambled eggs and strawberry rolls (Sunday). Each breakfast comes with fresh fruit, as well as OJ, fruit juice, and coffee. The chefs also continuously put out plantains for the birds, so you'll see lots of different species come by for something to eat. You might also catch a glimpse of the agouti family that lives in the woods! Not sure what an agouti is or which bird you're looking at? Lucy keeps some laminated field guide pages that she let us bring to our tree house to help us identify all the animals and birds we were seeing. There are also some card and word games you can bring to your tree house for fun. Oh, and the staff also delivers a thermos of hot coffee to your tree house porch early every morning, so it's waiting for you when you wake up.
I was so sad when our stay at Tree Houses came to an end. Mark and Lucy gave us the experience of a lifetime. We did not see a single hotel in La Fortuna that looked like it could at all compare with our tree house, and I would stay there again in a heartbeat.