Costa Rica

Finca Rosa Blanca

Rates from (ex tax)$280.00

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 21 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD316.40), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Finca Rosa Blanca Photos

Style

Eccentric eco-inn

Setting

Costa Rican coffee grounds

Tea drinkers need not apply: Finca Rosa Blanca hotel in San José is a coffee wonderland. Set on a sustainable, tree-shaded plantation, the hotel incorporates the buzzy bean throughout. Succumb to a coffee scrub in the spa, get the full scoop during a tour and tasting, or try coffee-rubbed chicken at the excellent restaurant, which has sweeping views of the Costa Rican capital.

Smith Extra

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Sustainability tour of the grounds

Facilities

Photos Finca Rosa Blanca facilities

Need to know

Rooms

13, including two suites.

Check–Out

12pm. Earliest check-in, 2pm.

Rates

Double rooms from $280.00, excluding tax at 13 per cent.

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 21 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD316.40), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

More details

Rates usually include à la carte breakfast.

Also

Arrange time to tour the plantation and take a coffee lesson. Although small, El Targua spa has excellent treatments, including a hot-stone massage and a full-body scrub using coffee. Treatments often incorporate local crops, including avocados, almonds and chocolate.

Please note

On 14 April 2017, vulcanologists from the National University's Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute (Ovscicori) and the National Seismological Network reported two strong eruptions at Poás Volcano; although these eruptions did not cause any property damage or injuries, the government has closed Poás National Park to the public until further notice.

At the hotel

Spa, gardens, library of books and DVDs, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: radio, minibar.

Our favourite rooms

Set in the circular turret of the main house, 40 feet above ground, the Rosa Blanca Suite is the most romantic spot on the property, with a beautiful private patio, 360-degree views from the wrought-iron bed, and the giant turquoise-tiled adobe tub. Junior Suite Las Aves has perky checkerboard floors, beautiful murals and an outdoor Jacuzzi.

Poolside

The spring-fed infinity pool is set on the hillside, with a 12-foot waterfall tumbling into it. Up above the deck, there’s a hot tub in a pergola roofed with a tangle of flowering vines.

Packing tips

Bring binoculars to spot the birds and butterflies zipping through the gardens; trek-sturdy shoes and long-sleeve shirts for jungle walks. The gift shop should stock any incidentals you forget.

Also

Master suite El Ranchito is wheelchair-accessible.

Children

Welcome. The hotel has a kids’ menu, and games for little ones. Rollaway beds and baby cots are free. There is no charge for children up to age three; 4–11-year-olds are $25 a night (excluding tax); 12 and older are charged $50 a night.

Eco‐friendly

Resolutely green: Rosa Blanca is a champion of sustainability, both as an organic coffee plantation and a hotel. Built from recycled materials, wherever possible, employing solar water-heating systems, growing its own food and composting like there’s no tomorrow, the hotel is a poster child for eco-tourism.

Food and Drink

Photos Finca Rosa Blanca food and drink

Top Table

On warmer nights, grab a table on the candlelit terrace, which has romantic views of San José’s twinkling lights and the fiery ¬volcanoes. On chillier nights, nab a spot near the fireplace.

Dress Code

Eco-friendly elegance will do: there’s no need to dress in your finest, but the restaurant is one of San José’s more special spots.

Hotel restaurant

Open to guests and non-residents, the rather spectacular El Tigre Vestido has won plaudits for its classic Costa Rican food and with Nuevo Latino dishes. The kitchen incorporates local ingredients – including the house coffee and organic produce grown on the grounds – into dishes such as grilled chicken with tamarind-coffee sauce and sesame-crusted sea-bass in tropical fruit. The dining room features a rainbow of art and a wood-burning fireplace.

Hotel bar

Set inside the restaurant, Bar Buho serves tropical cocktails with a kick, including a passion fruit daiquiri and the the gingery Rosa Blanca mango margarita.

Last orders

Restaurant food is available all day, from 6.30am until 10pm. The bar keeps the drink flowing until 11pm.

Room service

None, but the restaurant is open all day to accommodate jet-lagged appetites.

Location

Photos Finca Rosa Blanca location
Address
Finca Rosa Blanca
Santa Bárbara
Heredia
41-2009
Heredia
Costa Rica

Planes

San José’s Juan Santamaría International (SJO) – the nation’s hub – is a 20-minute drive from the hotel, and serves many major cities, including Madrid, Los Angeles and New York on airlines including United (www.united.com), British Airways (www.britishairways.com) and TACA (www.taca.com).

Automobiles

A rental car can come in handy for any travellers looking to explore Costa Rica’s parks and forests, but it should be a four-wheel drive to navigate the rainforest terrain. There are rental kiosks at every airport and most tourist hubs. Avis (www.avis.cr) is reliable, and Finca Rosa Blanca has plenty of free parking nearby (the plantation itself is car-free).

Worth getting out of bed for

Start your day with coffee, of course, via a tour of Finca Rosa Blanca’s plantation. Learn about the process, from seed to brew, then taste different roasts at a post-tour cupping. Visitors between October and January can see the harvest as it happens. The hotel also runs sustainability tours, and has hiking trails ideal for spotting birds and butterflies.

After you’ve had a coffee scrub in the spa, head out to explore Costa Rica’s natural bounty. Name a natural wonder, and Costa Rica has it. From bubbling volcanoes to rushing rapids, the country is packed with adventure. The hotel can arrange white-water rafting on the Pacuare, Reventazon and Sarapiqui Rivers, where you can spot crocodiles, caimans, monkeys and exotic birds. The staff can organise zipline canopy tours and excursions up to Poas, Irazu and Barva, the three volcanoes. A short drive north of the city, Braulio Carrillo National Park is a spectacular cloud forest packed with hiking trails, swimming holes and waterfalls. The 171sq km park spans from sea level up to volcanoes and includes an aerial tram for bird’s-eye views.

Local restaurants

Lluna de Valencia serves Spanish and Mediterranean food, including excellent paella and assorted tapas (+506 2269 6665).Slightly west of Santa Bárbara’s central park, Banco de los Mariscos (+506 2269 9090) specialises in fresh, local seafood, in dishes such as ceviche and shrimp with rice. Also in the neighbourhood, El Rancho Santa Bárbara (+506 2269 9369) serves classic Costa Rican fare, with a focus on seafood.

Reviews

Photos Finca Rosa Blanca reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel is visited personally by members of our team and given the Smith seal of approval prior to review. As soon as our anonymous reviewers have returned from this boutique hotel in San José and unpacked their organic Costa Rican coffee, a full account of their city escape will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Finca Rosa Blanca…

Not a morning person? Then you haven’t been to Finca Rosa Blanca in San José. The hotel is at its best in the earliest hours, thanks to a coffee braintrust that could rival the international barista championships. The artsy hotel is surrounded by its own coffee plantations, and the staff grow, harvest and roast their own beans, so ultra-fresh coffee is always available.

Start the day with a steaming mug over breakfast at the superlative El Tigre Vestido, which earns raves for its consistently excellent Nuevo Latino dishes, from breakfast through dinner. Next up, try your coffee on for size in a spa treatment that uses the exfoliating properties of ground beans in scrubs and massages.

Even without the coffee, Finca Rosa Blanca is exceptional. Each of the 13 rooms has whimsically curved rooms, nature-inspired murals and giant Jacuzzi tubs; most look out over lush gardens with a backdrop of faraway volcanoes. They’re views to remember long after the caffeine buzz fades.

The Guestbook

Whenever you book a stay at a Smith Hotel with us, we’ll invite you to review it when you get back. Read what other Smith members had to say in Finca Rosa Blanca’s Guestbook below.

We loved

The whole hotel was beautiful, understated and good service

Don’t expect

Lively nightlife - it is in the middle of nowhere but the restaurant was busy and had a great atmosphere

Rating

Stayed on 29 Mar 2016

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