Why You’ll Love Los Lagos Hotel in Costa Rica

While planning our family vacation in Costa Rica, we knew we wanted to go to La Fortuna. La Fortuna is home to Arenal Volcano, along with its National Park. It’s also well known for the great hot springs in the area. We found Los Lagos in Costa Rica and knew immediately this is where we wanted to stay.

While there are a few very popular options for hot springs, they can get expensive quickly! That’s how we found Los Lagos hotel. It turned out to be one of the most awesome hotels we’ve stayed at and we didn’t have to pay the premium price of nearby hot springs resorts.

So here is my full break down and Los Lagos resort review for those looking for the perfect place to stay in La Fortuna with the kids.

Here is why you will also love Los Lagos hotel in Costa Rica!

Why We Chose Los Lagos

If you are heading to Costa Rica, and specifically La Fortuna, it won’t be long until you hear about the Tabacon resort and hot springs.

Tabacon is really beautiful and really nice. The hot springs are magazine worthy. And so is the price.

As much as we wanted to stay there, it wasn’t in our budget.

So I continued my search, looking for a much budget-friendlier option. That’s how I found Los Lagos. It looked like a nice property, could sleep all 6 of us in one room, and I later realized it had its own hot springs on site!

Where is Los Lagos Located?

Los Lagos is just a short drive (a couple kilometers) from downtown La Fortuna. It’s also about 12 minutes from La Fortuna Waterfall, and 20 minutes from Arenal National Park.

It’s central enough that most tours you book that include pick-up are able to pick you up from Los Lagos.

Check-in at Los Lagos

In order to get into the property, you go through a security gate. The security person will verify your reservation and let you proceed.

Then you’ll stop at the lobby and go through typical check-in items.

Here, you’ll be given pool cards to exchange for towels. You can also ask to have access to the safe. It’s free to use, but they’ll give you a key to access it. All these things have to be returned at check-out so you don’t get charged anything.

You’ll also get card-keys to your room and a map. Los Lagos is a large property, so pay attention when they show you where your room is.

You are welcome to open a tab for your stay. This might be helpful if you plan to eat lunch/dinner on site or stop at the bar at the pool.

You’ll also be given wrist bands for everyone in your group.

The Rooms at Los Lagos La Fortuna

Drive up to where your room is. The nice thing is that there is parking right outside your individual building.

Rooms may vary, but here’s how ours was:

Our room was huge! It had so much more space than a typical hotel room.

The A/C worked great, which is always a relief in a hot climate.

As a family of six, we were able to get a room that had two double beds and two pull out beds. They nicely push in under the beds so as not to take up all the space during the day. My kids actually loved sleeping on these. They had mattresses, which were way more comfortable than their usual couch pull-out.

The bathroom here was also huge. Inside the bathroom was a separate toilet area, a sink, and a huge walk in shower.

The room had a flatscreen and toiletries including soap and shampoo/conditioner. It also had daily housekeeping!

One cool feature is that there was a back door to the room, which led to a little outdoor covered patio. That was nice to sit on in the evenings and listen to the animals, or more likely, the rain.

Eating at Los Lagos in La Fortuna

The great thing about staying at Los Lagos in La Fortuna is breakfast is included. This saves so much time and hassle in the mornings.

And it’s NOT a small little continental breakfast.

It’s a full buffet breakfast guaranteed to have something you’ll love. Each day we chose from eggs, rice and beans, fresh fruits, meats, cheeses, pancakes, plantains, vegetable hashes, cereals, and more.

You can also eat lunch and dinner at Los Lagos. Eat in the main restaurant, or head to the pool area where there is a bar.

Room service is also available.

Looking for more great places to stay around Costa Rica? Check out:

Amazing rental in Bejuco (a beautiful neighborhood a short walk from the beach!)

Best hotels in Manuel Antonio

Charming rental in Samara

Is Los Lagos in La Fortuna Good for Kids?

Yes. My kids loved this hotel. And here is why:

The Pools at Los Lagos

The pools at Los Lagos were unlike any hotel we had previously been to.

They were big, had deep ends and shallow parts.

They were beautiful with landscaping and bridges and volcano-shaped fountains.

But the main reason my kids loved the pools was because of the waterslides!

The waterslides were not big and obnoxious. They were not two-story, bright red slides that overtook the resort.

They actually were beautifully blended into the landscape.

One slide is for younger kids. It is short in distance, though it is a little steep! My 7-year old loved it, while my 5-year-old was too nervous to try it.

The second slide is a longer slide that actually goes underground. It ends in a deeper pool, so it’s for older kids, or your child needs to be able to swim well. We heard plenty of teens, plus our own children, coming down this slide saying how scary it was…but then proceed to slide down all night long.

The pools at Los Lagos were definitely a highlight of, well, our whole trip 😂 for the kids.

The Hot Springs at Los Lagos Hotel, La Fortuna

As I mentioned at the beginning, I didn’t realize there were hot springs on site when I booked this hotel. That was a huge surprise and a great money-saver! We knew we wanted to visit some hot springs while in La Fortuna, so it was nice to have them included.

One thing to note is that there is an optional day-pass for the hot springs at Los Lagos. This might mean that more people are on site than just guests. We visited in June and didn’t notice an influx of people during the day.

The hot springs at Los Lagos hotel were another great enjoyment for our whole family. There are so many hot springs on site that it’s easy to find one that isn’t too crowded.

Our kids especially loved swimming in the large, covered hot spring at night.

In addition to the large, covered hot spring, there were more private hot spring pods, smaller hot spring pools, and even a place at the bar.

Many of the hot springs had built-in loungers with the option to turn on bubbles.

Other Amenities and Features at Los Lagos in La Fortuna

I loved the extra features we got to enjoy at Los Lagos.

Since Los Lagos is a larger property, they offer a shuttle. We were in a room closer to the pools and restaurant, so we didn’t need to use it.

There is also a souvenir shop where you can pick little prizes or grab some snacks. If you need a break from the kids, you can also make an appointment at the spa on site.

Nature Trail at Los Lagos

At check-in, they tell you to make sure to explore the little nature trail. We figured if we had time, we’d take a little stroll. If not, we didn’t care that much.

But I’m glad we took the time to take this “little” stroll because it was awesome!

The nature trail is right outside the restaurant. I assumed it would be a short path, but it’s actually quite long.

On the trail, you’ll visit the turtle pond, ant colonies, butterfly house, ducks, swans and more. It was really a cool nature walk with beautiful landscaping. If you choose Los Lagos, I really hope you take the time to walk down this little trail. The kids will love it!

The Setting and Scenery of Los Lagos

Los Lagos spares no detail when it comes to beauty. The whole property is beautifully landscaped. There’s even a nice lake area at the front with a bridge and landing to enjoy a peaceful moment.

And, you’re probably in La Fortuna to see Arenal Volcano. You can see it perfectly (well, on a clear day) from Los Lagos resort.

Video Tour of Los Lagos Hotel

Check out the full video tour to get a feel of what the resort is like. I’m not a professional videographer, but hopefully it gives you a little idea of what it’s like on the property.

Los Lagos Resort Review in La Fortuna

Los Lagos in La Fortuna, Costa Rica was really a beautiful, relaxing, and yet fun-filled place to stay. The highlights for our family were the setting, the food, and the hot springs and pool areas.

Did this Los Lagos Hotel Spa and Resort review help you make your decision? Get it booked and then count down the days until you check in to one of the best hotels you’ve ever visited.

Why all the “Book Now!” buttons? I recommended this hotel in a group a few times after we visited. It was easy to book a couple years ago. Now people are responding that it is often booked up, so “Book Now” is actually a recommendation to book before it’s too late!

Related Posts:

Driving in from San Jose? Make sure to stop at Poas Volcano National Park!

And you must visit the hanging bridges while in La Fortuna!

Check out my full guide to La Fortuna with kids!

Take a safari float Through the jungle!

Check out these fun Coloring Pages around Costa Rica (including a picture featuring Los Lagos!)