Hotel Heliconia is located in Monteverde, a privileged location, that places it near two of the most beautiful protected tropical forests in Costa Rica, the well known Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and the Santa Elena Rain Forest Reserve. It is the perfect place to begin exploring on a Costa Rica tour.
The hotel offers a perfect setting for the visitors who love bird-watching, nature photography and serenity of a mountain retreat. It has been designed to offer home-style comfort in the warmth of all wood construction, assuring the guest an unforgettable vacation. Around 1987, when the number of scientists and tourists visiting the Monteverde Biological Reserve began to rise significantly, it became clear that the Monteverde region required more lodging and restaurant services to meet the increased demand. Stepping in to fill this need, Hotel Heliconia opened with only five guest rooms, and one for the owners - doña Roxana and her family - thus launching itself as a tourism pioneer in Monteverde.
Their efforts have paid off. Today, Hotel Heliconia offers visitors an enchanting space, surrounded by vibrant gardens, lush with local plants, and 55 comfortable, well-equipped rooms. In short, they have created an ideal environment for enjoying unforgettable vacations, drinking in fresh mountain air, observing the cloud forest and, of course, relaxing and savoring the peace and quiet. Of course, they also offer an impressive list of activities, such as hanging-bridge and canopy tours; nocturnal forest tours; natural history walks, horseback tours and visits to Monteverde's coffee, milk and cheese-producing areas, as well as a number of attractions, including a butterfly garden, a reptile and amphibian garden, a hummingbird garden and an orchid garden (boasting some species found nowhere else in the world).
Accommodations
Master Suite:
These accommodations include two king-sized beds and a mezzanine with a double bed (or two single beds, on request), telephone, private bathroom, luxurious tub, balcony and terrace, and a living room that looks out to the mountains and the Gulf of Nicoya . These rooms can be linked via the balcony - perfect for family groups of 12 to 15 people.
Family Suite:
Equipped with a king-sized bed and two single beds on the mezzanine (second floor), a four-person soaking tub in the room, separate bathroom, hot water, telephone, balcony and private parking. These rooms are set off from other accommodations, offering more private surroundings for relaxing and enjoying the beautiful view.
Junior Suite:
Very spacious. Each is equipped with two king-sized beds, spacious bathroom, luxurious tub, room safe, telephone and balcony.
Junior Suite Sunset:
They are equipped with two king-sized beds, space to fit two additional single beds for families, luxurious private bathroom with hot water, telephone, room safe, balcony with a spectacular view of the mountains and Pacific Ocean.
Standard Room:
Each is equipped with two double beds (alternate bed arrangements available), private bathroom, hot water, luxurious tub, room safe, telephone; all are nearby the restaurant and jacuzzi, most have a balcony.
Amenities
* Italian Restaurant with international meals
* Spa & Esthetic Center
* Bar
* Television Room
* Parking lot
* Tour Operator
* Transportation Service
* Laundry
* Baybysitting
* Currency Exchange
* Internet Service
Tours
Monteverde Biological Reserve:
Take one of Costa Rica's most diverse natural history walks! Positioned atop the Continental Divide in western Costa Rica, the Preserve extends down both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes...
Night Tour in the Ecological Farm:
The Ecological Farm is a wildlife refuge allows you to indulge in the beauty of panoramic views and waterfalls smoothly mixed with nearby coffee and banana plantations as you walk along its trails...
Tropical Butterfly Garden:
A place where you can observe and learn about some of the tropic's most beautiful and fascinating insects. Each of the four gardens represents a different butterfly environment...
Day Hiking in the Ecological Farm:
Enjoy the daytime life at the Ecological Farm by watching a surprising variety of animal species such as the white-nosed coati, the white-faced capuchin monkey, the keel billed toucan and the blue crowned mot while learning about the highlights of its natural history...
Horseback Riding Tour:
In this 2 hours and 30 minutes tour the visitor will enjoy of beautiful views of the Gulf of Nicoya while traveling along side-roads inside Monteverde, Santa Elena, and a coffee, sugar cane and banana plantation...
Horseback Riding to La Fortuna or Fortuna Monteverde:
Start your tour in El Mirador, San Gerardo, where horses will be anxiously waiting to take you to La Fortuna along trails in one of Costa Rica's most typical rain-forest mountains. Watch a large variety of animals surrounded by nature's most diverse plant species, tall trees and natural wonders...
Jeep - Boat - Jeep:
This transfer takes you from Monteverde to La Fortuna and vice versa. It leaves Monteverde around 8:00 AM and La Fortuna, at 8:30 AM and it lasts for about 2 ½ hours...
Town Tour:
No other tour will really show you how Monteverde truly emerged, the history of the hard-working Quakers who decided to settle there and imprint their lifestyles in the region and why it is as it is today...
Selvatura Park Canopy Tour:
Get ready for an adrenaline surge! The Canopy tour, one of the safest and most thrilling adventures of all time; open the door for you to explore the marvels of an untouched forest from its canopies. Indulge at the most amazing cloud forest's flora and fauna including a wide variety of epiphytes, monkeys and exotic birds...
Selva Park Walkways:
Selvatura's Canopy Walkways are the best way to enjoy peacefully and safely of the virgin cloud forest canopy. Through the bridge system and over 1.6 miles of easy walking trails our visitors can enjoy the marvels of the cloud forest and get the chance to see some of the world's most amazing and beautiful flora and fauna...
Selvatura Park Hummingbird Garden:
In this hummingbird garden, guests can observe 14 different species, including some that aren't commonly found elsewhere in Monteverde...
Selvatura Park Reptile and Amphibian Exhibit:
In this exhibit, visitors get a good look at frogs, lizards, geckos, snakes and many more than 30 species of other reptiles and amphibians...
Selvatura Park Insect Museum:
A must-see for anyone visiting the Monteverde area!, The educational center contains biologist Richard Whitten's "Jewels of the Rainforest" exhibit, one of the world's largest private insect collections...
Selvatura Park Butterfly Garden:
Selvatura Park has one of the largest butterfly gardens in the Americas - 29,000 square feet (2,700 square meters), with a gigantic dome covered in special photothermic plastic sheeting, which helps regulate the garden's temperature, enabling us to shelter more than 50 Costa Rican butterfly species from a variety of elevations and climates...
Monteverde Cloudforest
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve has earned its fame as one of the most outstanding wildlife sanctuaries in the New World tropics. Positioned atop the Continental Divide in western Costa Rica, the Preserve extends down both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes. The resultant combination of climatic and geographic factors creates temperature and humidity gradients which change dramatically over relatively short distances. The altitude varies from about 600 meters in the lower reaches of the Peñas Blancas River, to 1842 meters at the top of Cerro Tres Amigos.
Monteverde
Monteverde is not only the name of a small town but the name is also used to describe the whole zone. There are three communities in the "urban area": Santa Elena is the largest, with a bank, shops and the local high school, and then next along the road is Cerro Plano and finally, Monteverde.
There are two routes to the Monteverde area . The one near Kilometer 134 goes through Sardinal (paved for a short distance) and the other begins near Kilometer 149 just before the bridge over the Rio Lagarto. The two join near Guacimal for the final climb. The bumpy road gives occasional breathtaking views of the lowlands below as you climb on
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roads that seem to hang by grace along the edge of the mountains. As you wind through thin clouds, cows across deep valleys look like brown or white dots scattered on the steep pastures. The slow going gives the visitor plenty of time to enjoy.
Besides the natural beauty of the place, the tiny, progressive community of Monteverde is itself worth a visit. Quakers from North America came here in 1951, drawn by Costa Rica's disarmed environment. They set up a business that now makes some the finest cheeses in the country. The Quakers bought milk form neighbouring farmers and invited them to become shareholders _ today there are about 430, including milk producers, employees and neighbours.
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The main temperature at Monteverde is 56ºF to 68ºF (16ºC-20º). The average annual rainfall is about 118 inches (3,000 mm) but it can get up to 236 inches (6,000 mm) in the reserve.
There are a growing number of options for the nature traveller in the Monteverde area. Butterfly gardens, guided hiking tours
through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve or the Santa Elena Private Reserve, canopy tours, walking bridges, horseback riding.
Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve has earned its fame as one of the most outstanding wildlife sanctuaries in the New World tropics. Positioned atop the Continental Divide in western Costa Rica, the Preserve extends down both the Caribbean and Pacific slopes. The resultant combination of climatic and geographic factors creates temperature and humidity gradients which change dramatically over relatively short distances. The altitude varies from about 600 meters in the lower reaches of the Peñas Blancas River, to 1842 meters at the top of Cerro Tres Amigos.
The Preserve supports six different vegetation communities (Life Zones). There are over 100 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 120 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 2,500 species of plants (among them 420 different kinds of orchids), as well as tens of thousands of insect species. Spectacular wildlife includes the Jaguar, Ocelot, Baird´s Tapir, Three-wattled Bellbird, Bare necked Umbrella-bird and Resplendent Quetzal.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve is a biological preserve privately owned and managed by the Tropical Science Centre (TSC), a Costa Rican no profit, scientific research and education association based in San Jose and established in 1962.
The Preserve counts on trails to receive up to 120 visitors at one time. These facilities comprise 7 trails that extend for 12.4 Kilometers. Visitors may also be attended by naturalist guides.
The Monteverde Conservation League is a non-profit organization founded in 1986. It works in land acquisition, forest protection, habitat rehabilitation, research, and small-scale sustainable development projects, conservation of flora and fauna, and education. One of its projects is Bosque Eterno de los Niños, one international children's rainforest.
Once upon a time, there was a teacher from the United States who came to Monteverde, Costa Rica, to do biological research. Her enthusiasm for the rainforest and her concern about its destruction found its way into a small primary school far away in rural primary school for away in rural Sweden. There, a class of 9 year-olds wondered if there were something they could do to save the trees, the waterfalls, and the many animals that made their homes in the tropical forest. With their teacher, they decided there was. They wrote a play and presented it for their parents, they drew cards and sold them, they gave from their allowances. That money was sent to the Monteverde Conservation League, a group working hard to protect the threatened rainforest. It was enough to buy 15 acres.
The idea of a rainforest saved by children for children spread to schools in Sweden, to Maine where the biology teacher lived, to schools in England and Germany. Now, children in other European countries, in Japan, and in Africa _ more than 44 countries in all_ are lending a hand. These children ask for donations instead of birthday presents, they collect materials for recycling, and they sponsor "green days". The result is Bosque Eterno de los Niños (Children´s Eternal Forest), the first international children's rainforest.
Since it began in 1989, the children's rainforest has grown to cover thousands of acres of virgin forest. Living in this lush vegetation are quetzals, monkeys, bare-necked tapirs. Long vines trail to the forest floor.
