↑ HOUSE Nº 02 · SIGNATURE · SPLIT-LEVEL · PUERTO VIEJO DE TALAMANCA ↑
Sleep in
the trees.
The original, the eponymous. Built around a 100-year-old Sangrillo tree on stilts. You reach it by crossing a wooden suspension bridge that climbs gently from the garden floor.
4
guests
~4 m
bedroom altitude
100 m
to the beach
100 yr
Sangrillo tree
ELEVATION — DRAWN BY E. BESIER, 1997
● Quick facts
Full fact sheet →Sleeps
4
2 up + 2 down
Bedrooms
2
king up · twins-as-king down (A/C)
Bathrooms
2
ensuite up + trunk bathroom below
Distance to beach
100 m
garden path, 2-min walk
Bedroom altitude
~4 m
↑ up in the canopy
Bridge
Gentle climb
suspension, hardwood planks
Built around
Sangrillo
100-year tree
WiFi · Kitchen
Yes · compact
propane stove + fridge
● ON THE 10 ACRES OF TREE HOUSE LODGE
The Tree House is the signature stay at Tree House Lodge — the first house Edsart built, and the one the entire estate is named after. It sits on the 10 acres of the lodge alongside six other houses, with botanical gardens, 300m of Punta Uva beachfront with direct private access, gated reception, EV charging, and a 5-leaf sustainable tourism certification.
→ SEE THE WHOLE ESTATE10 acres
botanical garden
300 m
beach, private access
1
gated reception
EV
charging on-site
5 leaves
eco-certified
● ONE DAY IN HOUSE 02 · 05:30 — 22:45 · LEVEL TUNE 02
● Alouatta palliata · ~06 metres overhead · A.M. doors
05:30
THE HOWLERS WAKE YOU
Not the alarm on your phone — the Alouatta troop directly above your bed. A guttural, distant-sounding bark, even though they are six metres overhead. Two minutes of it. Then quiet. Then sun.
● Coffee at four metres · in the almond tree
07:15
COFFEE AT FOUR METRES
You take the staircase down half a floor to the kitchen. Cafetera, milk from the village, the Caribbean light coming sideways through the screens. You drink it on the deck. The toucan pair eats almond fruit above the kitchen roof.
● Suspension bridge · gentle climb · 100 m to beach
10:40
DOWN THE BRIDGE FOR THE BEACH
A gentle wooden slope. Slatted planks. Steel cable in your hand. By day three you'll descend without looking. The path to Punta Uva is one hundred metres of palm shadow.
● Sand-level · sun overhead · a snack from Selvin's
13:00
LUNCH ON THE SAND
You walk back up the palm path with a bag from Selvin's — patacones, rice-and-beans, a whole grilled snapper, two cold ones. You eat it on a towel at Punta Uva, sand still warm from morning, the Refugio Nacional behind you. The next swim is right there.
● Sangrillo · 100 yr · ground-level bathroom
16:00
THE BATHROOM BUILT INTO A TREE
After the beach, the artist's bathroom. The toilet is set inside a natural fold of a hundred-year-old Sangrillo trunk; the outdoor shower is another fold. A seashell mirror catches the four o'clock light. The water is solar-heated and warm.
● Flame-heated tub · ~90 min · book yours
19:30
THE COOKING-POT HEATS
Ask reception to light the hot tub before dinner; it takes about ninety minutes to reach bath-warm. You sit in cast iron under the deck lights with the smell of wood-smoke and wet leaves. The bridge has gone dark behind you.
● Upstairs bedroom · ~4 m · king · fans
22:45
THE CANOPY GOES QUIET
You climb the bridge one more time. Mosquito-screens on every side; two fans on low. The howlers are sleeping. The cicadas take over for a few hours. You are four metres above the rainforest floor, and only sleep through the night.
● The fact sheet
Everything in one page.
Built on tall stilts, this back-to-your-childhood house is submerged by the forest, with a gently-sloped wooden suspension bridge leading to its front door. Split-level inside: upstairs a king and a small ensuite toilet; downstairs two twins that join as a king, and the kitchen. Enough room for a family and intimate enough for a couple. Handcarved sustainable hardwoods, screened windows against bugs, scarlet Birds of Paradise providing splashes of colour. The second bathroom is at ground level — a 100-year-old Sangrillo shelters the toilet in one trunk fold and an outdoor shower in another.
Sleeps
4Bed configuration
- Master bedroom: 1 King-size bed
- Downstairs: 2 Twin beds, joined as a King-size
Eating
All houses are set up for self-catering — a stove, fridge, oven, and hot running water (solar-powered), plus a good range of utensils including a juicer and a coffee maker. Every house has access to a BBQ.
In the house
Phone
iPod dock
Safe box
Air-Conditioning
Fan
Mosquito net
Full Kitchen
Fridge
Coffee / tea making
Barbeque
Jacuzzi
The Tree House · printable factsheet
Architectural floor plan + everything on this section, on a single page. Print or hand to a partner planning the trip.
→ Open in a new tab∴ RESERVATION ∴
Reserve
the Tree House.
The Tree House is the house people return to year after year. The Cloudbeds calendar is shared with the lodge — book direct for the exclusive Sloth web rate, our best price.
From $215
Season low / night
$234
Weeknight
$250
Fri / Sat
$194
Web rate
~10% off — book direct
Book your stay
live via Cloudbeds
Web rate — about 10% off, applied automatically when you book direct.
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July 2026
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Guests
2
Rooms
1
Whole-house rate — one price for up to 4 guests.
Pick your dates above to see live rates.
25% deposit secures your dates · see cancellation policy · Book direct for the best rate — prices here include the 13% IVA; third-party sites often show pre-tax rates and apply their own cancellation terms.
● LOVED BY GUESTS
4.4★294 reviews across the estate
Guests love Tree House Lodge — this score is across all seven houses of the estate.
“The tree house was amazing. The open setting of the living areas in the middle of the forest with the ocean as a background, I think that is a plus.”
∴ FAQ ∴
Questions
people ask first.
Fly into San José (SJO), then take our own private shuttle — A/C minivan, Wi-Fi, flat $290 for up to 4 guests, 4–5 hours door to door — to the lodge, about 10 minutes south of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. Or fly to Limón (LIO) and arrange a private transfer — 1h. Gated reception with parking on site, EV charging included.
Yes. Steel cables, hardwood planks, regularly checked and maintained. It climbs gently. Normally you'll cross alone or in pairs.
Yes. The estate is gated and our 10 acres are quiet jungle/coast. The wider Puerto Viejo area is a long-established tourist town; standard travel sense applies (don't leave valuables on the beach).
The deck is about 4m up — that's noticeable. The bridge is the most exposed bit (the deck has solid railings). If heights are a serious issue, we genuinely recommend the Beach House or Bungalow instead.
Yes — the canopy bedroom has its own ensuite bathroom with running water and flush toilet, and there's a second full bathroom at ground level, built around the Sangrillo tree trunk.
Couples: Beach House (romantic) or Bungalow (budget). Family with kids: Crystal House (sleeps 7) or Garden House (eco). Groups of 6: Beach Suite. A unique adventure: Tree House or School Bus. The AI assistant on every page can recommend based on your dates and group size.
Within walking distance: Sapori Italiani (Italian bakery just in front of the hotel), Gypsea Cafe (fusion), La Leyenda (pizzeria), Pulcinella (Italian), and Selvin's (Caribbean). In Puerto Viejo (about 10 min): dozens of options. We can recommend based on your group and any dietary needs.
Very. The bedroom is screened (no glass walls); you sleep with the canopy 1m from your window. Mosquito netting and good rain coverage.
Yes, free WiFi in every house. Strong enough for video calls — many guests work remotely from here.
Three-toed sloths (regularly), howler monkeys (loudest at dawn), toucans, hummingbirds, raccoons. Sometimes a kinkajou at night. Iguanas everywhere.
No shared pool — by design. We sit on 300m of Punta Uva beachfront with direct private access (a 30s–2min walk from each house) — and Punta Uva bay is one of the safest swimming spots on the Caribbean coast. Conditions change with the swell, so ask reception to point you to the day's best entry. Every house except the Bungalow has a private tub — flame-heated outdoors at five houses, a big indoor Jacuzzi bath at the Beach Suite.
Yes, signal reaches the tree house. You'll have working video calls if you must — but you might not want to.
Yes. Crystal House (sleeps 7, mini-golf), Garden House (bamboo, garden), and Beach Suite (3 bedrooms) are family-favorites. The Tree House is best for adventurous kids age 6+ given the suspension bridge.
2–4. King upstairs (fans, no A/C), and a downstairs A/C bedroom with two twins that join as a king.
5-leaf Costa Rica Certified Sustainable Tourism — the highest tier. Solar hot water, EV charging, an on-site botanical garden of native and tropical species, no AC where natural ventilation works, and the Iguanaverde green-iguana reserve is on our property.
100m. 2-minute walk through garden path. No road to cross.
Yes — the Tree House sleeps up to four across two separate sleeping areas on different levels: the main bedroom up in the canopy and a second sleeping space downstairs. Two couples or a family of four fit comfortably. Tell us your group when you book and we'll have the beds set up to suit.
Edsart Besier is the Dutch owner-builder of Tree House Lodge — a self-taught designer. He came to Costa Rica as a young man in the late 1980s, looking for a place where building could happen on the rainforest's terms. He started the original Tree House around a 100-year-old Sangrillo in 1997, then built six more houses over the decades since. The 1980-era American School Bus is the one he travelled in through Panama and lived in during his first years on this coast, delivering Heliconia flowers from it. He's hands-on — most likely the person you'll meet at reception.
Pamela Rodríguez is co-owner and runs the wellness side of the estate. Argentine, she joined Edsart later in the lodge's story. She's an ISPEF-certified Physical Education instructor with 20+ years of teaching — Yoga, Pilates, Tae Bo, GAPS body-conditioning, Cardio Dance, and Aqua Gym. She teaches at the yoga shala on the property — $10 drop-in, all levels welcome, private sessions on request.
Edsart Besier (Dutch) and Pamela Rodríguez (Argentine). Independent, family-owned, no chain affiliation. They live on the property and run it themselves.
1997, when Edsart started building the original Tree House — a stilted house around a 100-year-old Sangrillo tree — as the first stay on the property. Six more houses followed over the decades since, each with its own architecture and audience.
The Iguanaverde Foundation is the on-site green-iguana reserve. We raise juvenile green iguanas and release them back into the refuge every year as part of the lodge's conservation work. You'll see iguanas all over the property — they're welcome here.
Yes — happy to hand off. WhatsApp the front desk at +506 8734 1887 during 8am–8pm Costa Rica time (UTC-6), or email stay@treehouselodge.com anytime. I can also take your contact details right here if you'd prefer the team to reach out.
WhatsApp: +506 8734 1887 (8am–8pm CR time, daily). Email: stay@treehouselodge.com — we reply as quickly as we can. For a callback, leave me your email/WhatsApp + a good time and the team will reach out.
Yes — for kids who can treat it as a house rather than a climbing frame. The floors step between levels to make room for the tree's roots, and the suspension bridge is a crossing, not a playground; the planks can get slippery in rain, so the anti-slip strips and handrails are there for a reason. We recommend it for adventurous kids about six and up, with parental eyes on. Families with younger children are usually happier in the Crystal House or Garden House.
When the sea is calm it's excellent — the reef is right off Punta Uva, and Manzanillo's reef is a short ride south. The most recommended months are April–May and September–October; any calm low-tide day works too. We don't rent gear ourselves, but several shops in Punta Uva and Puerto Viejo do — reception will point you to the nearest.
Yes — we accept all major credit cards, and most restaurants, shops, and tour operators in the area do too. Smaller sodas and market stalls can be cash-only, so it's worth carrying some.
Costa Rica's currency is the colón, but US dollars are accepted almost everywhere on this coast — hotels, restaurants, tours. Change usually comes back in colones. Keep some colones for buses and market stalls; ATMs in Puerto Viejo dispense both.
Yes. A small gourmet market, Duende Gourmet, is a few minutes' walk toward Puerto Viejo — fresh dairy, baked bread, vegetables, and a surprising range of Italian specialties. Larger supermarkets sit in Cocles on the road to town, and Puerto Viejo itself (about 10 minutes) has everything else. Ask reception for current opening hours.
No on-site restaurant or bar — by design. Every house has its own full kitchen, and some very good restaurants — Caribbean, Italian, fusion — are within walking distance, with dozens more in Puerto Viejo, about 10 minutes away. Reception will recommend by cuisine and budget.
Yes — every house has its own fully equipped kitchen: stove, full fridge, coffee maker, blender, and the cookware to make most things. Many guests cook breakfast and dinner at the house and head out for lunch.
Never. All seven houses are completely self-contained — your own kitchen, your own bathroom, your own outdoor space. The only things you share with other guests are the gardens, the beach, and a BBQ area.
Yes — every shower in every house runs hot, heated by our solar-thermal system. The panels sit in the sunniest spots, sometimes a little away from the house, so give the tap a moment to run warm.
Yes — bath towels, beach towels, and all bed linens are included. Housekeeping changes the sheets and cleans your house every other day, and fresh towels are always there for the asking at reception.
Yes. Reception can call you a trusted local driver at any hour — we recommend René (+506 8879 5033) and Jairo (+506 8353 3989). Puerto Viejo is about 10 minutes away and costs roughly $10 each way, a little more at night.
Yes — the public bus between Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo runs along the coast road and stops near our gate several times a day, and Autotransportes MEPE connects San José with Puerto Viejo. Schedules shift seasonally, so ask reception for the current timetable.
Most guests find they don't need one. Our flat-rate private shuttle covers the San José leg ($290 for up to 4 people), local taxis are cheap, and bikes handle the coast road. Rent a car only if you're touring the country — the drive from SJO is 4–5 hours on paved Highway 32, best done in daylight. EV charging at the lodge is included.
No vaccinations are required for Costa Rica, and malaria isn't a concern around Puerto Viejo. Dengue is occasionally reported on the coast — that mosquito bites by day, so repellent on jungle walks is sensible. Every sleeping room is screened and netted. For personal medical advice, check a travel clinic before you fly.
Far less than people expect — the steady ocean breeze keeps them away, and the comment we hear most is surprise at how few there are. Every sleeping area is screened and has mosquito nets, so leave yours at home. A little repellent around sunset doesn't hurt.
The Caribbean coast runs out of phase with the rest of Costa Rica. The calmest, driest stretches are usually February–April and August–October — September and October are often the stillest, clearest months. The wettest spells tend to be July and November–January. Short tropical showers can happen in any month — they pass fast, and the rainforest is at its best right after.
Right off the property — Punta Uva bay is one of the safest swimming spots on the Caribbean coast, with the reef keeping the water calm. Directly in front of the houses the reef keeps things shallow; for a proper swim, the best entries are a short walk along our 300m of beachfront toward Punta Uva. Conditions change with the swell, so ask reception to point you to the day's best entry.
Yes — bikes rent near the lodge for a few dollars a day (week rentals usually earn a discount), and scooters are widely available too. The coast road from Puerto Viejo is paved and flat, perfect for cycling; the adventurous can head off-road toward Paraíso. Ask reception for current rates.
Plenty. Jungle hikes in the Gandoca-Manzanillo refuge, the Jaguar Rescue Center, snorkeling and diving, kayaks, dolphin watching, chocolate-farm tours, horseback riding, canopy ziplines, white-water rafting, and day trips to the Bri Bri indigenous territory. On the property itself: yoga and fitness classes with Pamela, the mini-golf course at the Crystal House (free for its guests, a small fee for other houses), and the Iguanaverde reserve. Reception can book most tours.
Both make easy day trips. The Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge starts just south of us — about 10 minutes to the trailheads at Manzanillo, where local nature guides run excellent tours (the first stretch of trail is fine on your own). Cahuita National Park is about 15 km north of Puerto Viejo and easy to explore self-guided.
Yes — every house has its own safe, big enough for a camera or a laptop. The estate sits behind a 24/7 gated entrance with security cameras at key points (the desk itself is staffed 8am–8pm); standard travel sense covers the rest.
Book direct on the site — every house page has a live calendar showing the same availability staff see at reception. A 25% deposit confirms your dates, and the balance is due fifteen days before arrival. Cancel sixteen or more days out and the deposit comes back, minus a 10% admin fee. Booking direct also gets you the Sloth web rate, our best price.
San José's Juan Santamaría (SJO) is the practical gateway — every international airline lands there, and it's 4–5 hours to our gate by road, with our flat-rate shuttle meeting any arrival. Limón (LIO) is the coastal airport about an hour away; SANSA turboprops hop SJO to LIO in roughly 40 minutes — book at flysansa.com. Private charters can land even closer, on a strip about 30 minutes from the lodge. Reception will time a pick-up to whatever flight you choose.
Three-toed sloths most days in the Cecropias, howler monkeys as a dawn alarm clock, toucans in the almond trees, hummingbirds, frogs after dark — and green iguanas everywhere, since the on-site Iguanaverde reserve raises and releases juveniles back into the refuge every year. We feed nothing, fence nothing in, and use no insecticides on the ten acres. One tip: don't leave fruit out on the counter overnight — the raccoons consider that an invitation. They're harmless, but cheeky.