Mikado Natural Lodge is a small, private resort located near the top of a large hill (mountain?), outside of Pinilla, Costa Rica, a hidden oasis arrived at after driving through dirt, unimproved roads and the much more modest/mundane homes passed along the way. Very unexpected.
The lodge is a recent addition to the plethora of vacation locations outside of Tamarindo, opening in 2021, so the buildings and facilities are new and in great shape. The resort has six individual cabins on the ground and can accommodate a total of fourteen people. Lolo, Mikado’s owner, told us about finding the property and the challenges of having her vision come to fruition. She vision and the attention to details are obvious everywhere you look, from the quality construction to the monogramed towels. The resort blends seamlessly into the forest, and is a great addition to the area’s tourism.
Tamarindo (9 miles/12km), Playa Avenalla (5 miles/8km) and other tourist destinations are reasonably close distance-wise, though the quality of the roads means your drive often takes longer than you’d normally expect..
Getting There
After arriving in Liberia and picking up our rental car, we headed west towards the Pacific Coast and the resort. Google Map’s route seemed fairly straight forward – Route 21 to Santa Cruz, Route 160 to (almost) Veintisiete de Abril, then Secondary Route 152 and finally various local roads. In fact, we quickly learned the realities of Costa Rican roads, from two-lane highways to dirt and pothole-strewed local roads: the closer to the Pacific coast we got, the poorer the roads appeared to be.
You will find two red Mikado signs at the last two turns you need to make, which does provide some comfort that you’re not completely lost … until you turn onto the very steep, very narrow, very rutted road that you doubt is correct, GPS be damned. Trust me, trust the GPS as unbelievable as it might see you are on the proper road. Keep driving past the point where Google Map says You’ve Arrived!, go over the next crest and on the left you’ll see a Mikado sign. Turn and pull up to the gate, enter the code provided on the keypad, and drive through once the gate opens.
[We’ve since learned that Waze is preferred in Costa Rica, and we ended up relying on both, depending on where we were and how much we trusted the route we were on.]
Continue driving until you see the parking lot and the Reception building, where Lolo is likely awaiting your arrival.
Our Cabin
Our cabin, Cabin #1, is located at the end of the small road that leads past reception. The cabin essentially a large bedroom with an ensuite bathroom and a deck overlooking the jungle. The bedroom is air conditioned – thankfully, likely required year-round whether for temps or humidity. – with a fan above the bed to circulate the air. The king-sized bed is comfortable with a TV that rises from the foot of the bed. You’re surrounded by windows on all sides, providing gorgeous views wherever you look, but there are also black-out curtains to keep the early-morning sun from waking you up to early.
The bathroom is behind the bedroom and is only screened in, meaning you hear nature in all its glory, especially when making a nighttime bathroom break: insects, chirping birds, the wind whispering through the trees, Lolo’s dogs, and anything else. All the supplies you’d expect are present, including a fridge with fresh, cold water and a coffee machine.
The deck is a comfortable place to enjoy the outdoors – early morning and late afternoons seemed ideal, though ultimately it depends on the insects. The rocking chairs are comfortable, but most impressive are the views, where you can sometimes see the Pacific Ocean in the distance.
Meals
Our reservation included breakfast, while dinners were one-off and arranged with Lolo by the previous evening so Lolo can do shopping early the next morning.
[I sense that dinners are normally menu-driven during the normal tourist season, but as we were traveling off-season it’s a little more casual.]
Each morning we walked to the dining area and met Lolo, who then proceeded to serve us a breakfast consisting of yogurt with granola, fruit, bread, and eggs of our choosing. Aside from the Dragon Fruit, nothing surprising but very tasty.
Dinners were three-course meals, a beef entree one night and a fish entree the other, cooked by Lolo. As we were the only guest each evening, it felt extremely intimate, sitting on the edge of the dining room overlooking the pool … at least until Lolo’s daughter started doing front-flips off the rocks into the infinity pool. Very pleasant and enjoyable.
Lolo is an innovative cook and all meals were tasty and well-prepared, definitely a quality reflective in the rest of the resort.
Other Amenities
The Infinity Pool is just behind reception and the dining room, approximately 4.5ft (1.4m) deep and is large enough for some light swimming and paddling around or just lazy cooling off. Pool-side chairs with shade umbrellas are available if you want suntan, lay around, read or whatever. There is also a hot tub on the other side of the dining room, behind the kitchen.
For a little exercise, you can take a walk on a path carved out of the hillside that traverses the resort. The path is not long or exceedingly challenging, but is quiet and a nice diversion, even if Lolo’s puppy insisted on following us.
The attention to detail is impressive. The cabins are well made and comfortable. Monogramed towels, employee shirts, drinking glasses, etc. A device that creates filtered water from the oppressive humidity. Beach towels for beach visits.
Miscellany
Reception has a book detailing activities that Lolo will help arrange, such as sunset boat rides, estuary tour of a protected national park, horse back riding, health spas, etc. She also recommend her favorite beach or places to visit near Arenal, as well as nearby restaurants. She knows the area well and loves sharing her knowledge with you. A great and gracious host.
Final Thoughts
Originally we selected Mikado because resorts and lodging closer to Tamarindo were more expensive, sometimes substantially. After seeing how crowded, noisy, and touristy Tamarindo is, we were definitely happy to not have stayed there. Yes, the roads are less than ideal, but it’s a small price to pay.
Lolo is very proud of her resort – and she should be – and we felt welcomed and well taken care of. Over the course of our visit we had some great conversations with her and learned about her, as we shared our experiences as well. Definitely recommend her resort if you find yourself needing a place to stay in Costa Rica!
Image Credits
Uncredited images © 2024 Scott C Sosna
