Rancho Humo Estancia

My wife and I spent a very enjoyable 3 days here in Feb. 2024. The lodge is beautiful, located within a working ranch and large private natural area. Our room was clean and comfortable. Although it was quite hot and dry, we enjoyed nature activities in the morning and evening, and lounging by the pool in the afternoon. Our favorite activities were birdwatching on our own or with guide Santos Molina. He was excellent - very knowledgeable and attentive to our interests. The birds were awesome! The staff were all competent and helpful. The food was delicious but options were limited. At check-in, I mentioned that I am lactose-intolerant, and they were very careful to not include dairy in my meals. I really appreciated that. We have only a couple suggestions for improvement: 1) have written materials for guests, such as a map, menu and price list for excursions; 2) do a better job of picking up litter.

This place is off the beaten path, but we saw many unusual birds and we were treated like royalty. Large room with a sweeping view. Kenneth, our “guide” gets an A for customer service, and is a pretty good naturalist as well. Food was very good and reasonably priced as well.

We spent two nights here and at first I was disappointed because I thought we would have easy access to Palo Verde National Park. This is not the case but Kenneth quickly eased my mind and set us up with a boat tour and bird watching. He was amazing and made our stay memorable. I am so happy we stayed here and it’s all because of the service we received. Highly recommend if you want to spend time in a small village ( less than 200 people) and receive unparalleled attention. The food was fantastic.

Perfect hotel to stay in the Nicoya dry forests and wet areas near the Palo Verde National Park in Guanacaste (Costa Rica). Staff expertised in nature (Kenneth, a perfect guide), cuisine very good, high quality of products, owner very friendly with the guests… Many possible nature activities in the property, great views… A perfect place. We hope go there again.

This place could be 5 star but it needs some work. We were the only guests here, the *********** website shows the hotel to be full! Our rooms were fantastic, lovely bathrooms. We were greeted by Kenneth, lovely pleasant young man, in fact he made our short stay enjoyable. He's very knowledgeable about the local flora and fauna and couldn't be more helpful. The vehicle used for trips out is on its last legs and incredibly smelly and noisy. But we did see a lot of things. We did the boat trip and that was well worth it, Danilo the captain spotted so many animals and birds, oh and some very large crocodiles! Now to the food, there is no menu so make sure when you arrive you clearly specify what foods you don't like. There also was no wine when we stayed so you might want to stock up on drinks and snacks before you get here. The food is limited and once or twice it wasn't great but generally it's ok. The staff are very friendly but they nor the "manager" (who we only saw at checkout) speak English so a little Spanish would be helpful. So for us 2 nights was enough mainly because there was no atmosphere and I didn't really want to go to bed at 8.30!

If you want to experience the true Costa Rica blue zone way of life…. This fantastic boutique hotel is for you! So, you are out in the wilds but that’s the idea. The last 6 miles drive is on local unmade roads, well worth a few bumps. On arrival we were greeted by Keneth, our host for the weekend. Keneth is a mine of local information and local wildlife expert. He was our guide for the evening wet lands tour. ( an adventure in our rental car). So many birds this time of year. We also did the river tour the next morning. We were in the jungle! Again, so many birds, crocodiles, iguanas. Another must do. Kenya is the hotel chef. What fantastic, simple, tasty food. We wanted all her recipes 😂. And it’s a working dairy farm. Didn’t get to milk the cow’s though. This place is a must do in Costa Rica.

If you are planning a trip to Palo Verde National Park & Tempisque River region of Costa Rica then Estancia Rancho Humo is the best place to stay. You will love it here!! My husband and I spent three wonderful days here in March where we had hot weather in the day and rain storms at night. Kenneth will greet you when you arrive and will be your guide through river trips and Palo Verde tours and he is incredible. He speaks English very well so you will find each tour very informative and engaging. Kenneth will also be your waiter during meal times and will act as your concierge. He does it all with kindness, enthusiasm, patience and a warm, friendly smile. Ask for Rooms C-1, C-2 or C-3 as they have amazing views of the valley and tree canopy and offer a wonderful balcony to sit and enjoy the wildlife. One day we sat on our balcony and watched a large family of 10-12 Howler monkeys climb on the trees outside our room - it was heaven. As many people have noted on their reviews, the food is incredible! It is created by their wonderful chef named Kenya who works tirelessly to prepare these delicious Costa Rican meals filled with fresh fruits, breads, steak, vegetables and more. We loved every meal! You will get a great appreciation and understanding of Costa Rican food at each meal. Do not worry about being hungry, every meal is large and plentiful. Do not plan to get your own meals in town because there is not one near by so take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to experience the meals here. The water at Rancho Humo is from a well on the property so we did not experience any issues with parasites or sickness while we were there, but we were still cautious. Rancho Humo is not an easy place to get to so please plan to stay 2-3 nights because once you are there, it is worth it. Don't be alarmed when you are driving for many miles on a dirt road through neighborhoods - you are going the right way. Please do not plan to arrive in the dark as it can be hard to find. Tip: be sure to let the staff know when to expect you because no one sits all day at a Check In desk since it a small boutique hotel, so they will plan to be there when you tell them to expect you. Please take advantage of the onsite tours that include horseback riding to see the surrounding cattle ranch, the Tempisque River cruise to see tons of birds and crocodiles, the Palo Verde park tour to see monkeys, coatis, many bird species, ant eaters and more. I am not sure this is a good location for a family with little children because there is a lot of walking on the tours and the pool is not huge. Older kids should be fine. Kenneth will be your guide on all these tours and will get you there in the Rancho jeep or by boat so you will not need your car. You will adore Kenneth and all the staff as they are attentive, kind and knowledgeable. I would give Rancho Humo 10 stars!

The rooms are immaculate and spacious. We looked out from our balcony to a garden filled with bird song. The food was delicious. The highlight was our birding guide Kenneth who took us on two trips on the Tempisque river and the Palo Verde national park where we saw over 50 bird species. Kenneth makes everything enjoyable and run smoothly. Muchas gratias

When we arrived we were disappointed to hear that the jeep used for the wetlands tour was out of service. We were offered horse riding instead (declined due to bad backs!) but Kenneth went out of his way to make up for it, with a walking tour and then a drive in the ranch's truck instead! Wonderful time with Kenneth as our guide. Ranch Humo is a true working Costa Rican ranch with a large expanse of wetlands (drier during our visit) where we saw a large number of birds along the river and in the neighboring lagoon at Pozo De Agua - where we saw many Jabiru storks. Kenneth was amazing at finding and identifying all kinds of birds for us - egrets, herons, jacana, tiger herons, amongst others. We also saw some howler and white-faced monkeys, crocodiles, and many iguanas. The early morning boat tour with Danilo was a highlight and Danilo another expert at spotting birds and wildlife. Food was hearty and plentiful and all staff kind and friendly. We were well looked after by Kenneth who took care of everything for all and was constantly available and attentive.