During our vacation to CR we stayed here 2 nights before moving on to Monteverde and loved it. It's a bumpy drive to get there but the view and accomodations was worth it. The room and property are spotlessly clean, the staff was extremely helpful and the food was very good. I saw some comments about the food prices but since our last trip to CR in 2005, the food costs all over the country have gone up and they were no higher at Linda Vista than anywhere else we stayed or ate. Make sure you visit Alonso at the El Castillo welcome center if you're going to book any adventure or sightseeing trips. His advice was invaluable when we were interested in doing any of the hundreds of available tourist type stuff. When you come down the drive from the hotel, turn left onto the dirt road. He's located at the bottom of the hill in a little house. He has signs for information on the road and house and can book most anything you want to do. You can also find a great little pizza place just beyond his house. Drive past his place, cross over the bridge and look on the left for a little sign on the next corner just as you come into the little town of El Castillo. Park on the street and walk up the little dirt road by the sign. It's on the right more or less at the end of the road and it's owned by an ex-pat from Calif and has very good pizza.

We found this through TripAdvisor reviews and were not disappointed. It's on the lava side of the volcano. Although we didn't see any lava for a week, the view was outstanding from our room and there was a lightning storm that was as good as any we've ever seen. We ended up booking an extra night because we were so happy with the surroundings.

First, 4x4 rental is almost mandatory to enjoy this area. The hotel is easy enough to find, but it's a bumpy 10km ride from any paved road. That said, we had a lot of fun with our Rav4 (rented from Alamo). One traveler tip - pay extra for the "zero deductible" insurance. You can bring your car back on Empty and not worry about any stones being thrown up from other vehicles. It's peace of mind for $20 extra per day.

Staff here is outstanding - from maid service to servers. Bernardo at the front desk is a veritable treasure trove of local knowledge, booking us on a horseback riding adventure to a newly discovered waterfall. While the trails were not yet well developed, this is the type of experience you want when traveling to Costa Rica.

And, make sure you take a side trip to Pizza John's just up the bumpy road in a small village past El Castillo. While almost impossible to find, it was a great $15 meal (including drinks). No better recommendation was that we saw 3 staff from our hotel ordering take out pizzas at various points during our meal. All 3 stopped to visit with us while they were waiting.

Breakfast was great, but dinner at the hotel is expensive compared to local options. La Fortuna is less than 30 minutes away (which is why we recommend a rental car).

I can't say enough about this place! The room was wonderful, the staff was helpful, the view - well the view was just beyond belief! At night we could was the lava flow down the volcano from the swimming pool (with swim up bar!) or from the dinning room of the restaurant. Although the room did not have AC, or a TV or radio, we just relaxed and enjoyed to views. Outside our room we saw toucans, hummingbirds, and hawks (and more that I don't know the names of). The staff was reluctant at first to let us sit at the bar for dinner, but after the first night they treated us like old friends. We will definitely be going back for another visit!

we had a great room with a view of the volcano and lake.
Staff was very friendly, rooms were clean and food was good.
I would recommed it and hope to return one day