It was my last morning at GUAYABO LODGE. After packing my bags, I went downstairs to have breakfast and settle my bill with Don Pedro as I still owed the lodge for two dinners. The dinners had been very tasty and healthfully prepared and included three courses - salad or soup, the main course and dessert. As I am vegetarian, the kitchen prepared special dishes for me – e.g. on the 2nd night, they gave me a vegetarian quiche. Don Pedro’s wife, Rossana, has trained the Costa Rican kitchen staff to be able to prepare gourmet European cuisine. I really didn’t know how much they were going to charge for me the dinners, but I caught a glance at the posted menu prices near the office on my 3rd day there - the fixed price for the three course dinner was listed at $17USD - a little steep for the vegetarian meals that I had, but not totally outrageous. As a result of these prices, I had my dinners in the town of Turrialba on my 3rd and 4th night there.

When I approached Don Pedro to pay my bill, I was resigned to the fact that I would have to pay him $34.00 (19,380 colones). Needless to say, I was pleasantly shocked when he told me “For two dinners, that will be $20USD - if you’re paying in colones, $10,000 would be fine.” When I confided in Don Pedro that I thought I would have to pay $17 per dinner, he smiled and said “Normally dinner includes a special meat entree, a chicken dish or a grilled trout and the cost is $17USD but for a vegetarian it is less of course. Our prices are very reasonable considering our meals are of a gourmet quality and not average restaurant fare.” I agreed with Don Pedro that the dinner tariff was indeed very reasonable. I told him, “Now that the issue of my dinner bill was cleared up, I really I have nothing really negative to say about Guayabo Lodge.” He smiled upon hearing this and said “We try as much as possible to be reasonable and fair to our guests.”

Don Pedro Ferreira is an extraordinary gentleman, a man of integrity as well as a very congenial host. He knows how to make his guests feel at ease.

On my last trip to Costa Rica, I had the pleasure of staying at Guayabo Lodge. One of the best eco-lodges/bed and breakfast hotels in Costa Rica, Guayabo Lodge is located near the small village of Santa Cruz about ½ hour from the city of Turrialba and 90 minutes from San José. Surrounded by pastures of a dairy farm, the lodge is perched on the slopes of the Turrialba Volcano about 1500 meters above sea level. Nearby is Guayabo National Monument, Costa Rica’s most important archaeological site.

With 25 guestrooms, Guayabo Lodge is the largest hotel in the Turrialba area. From the outside, the lodge looks a lot smaller than that. All the rooms are simply but tastefully decorated with paintings or watercolor prints from Costa Rica. With views of either the surrounding countryside, pasturelands or of Turrialba Volcano, most of the rooms are relatively large and airy - no two rooms are exactly alike.

The owners, Don Pedro Ferreira and his wife Rossana, are distinguished academicians and educators. They come from totally different backgrounds - Don Pedro, a native of Uruguay, has a PHD in Statistics, while Rossana is Dutch and is a Cultural Anthropologist, having received her doctorate in her native Holland. They met by chance in the late 1980’s while both were professors at nearby CATIE, the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center located in nearby Turrialba. During their many years at CATIE, they developed a strong environmental ethos and an appreciation of natural history. After leaving CATIE, they seamlessly have made the transition from educators to small hoteliers. Their environmental ethos is reflected in their hotel management style - they’ve installed solar panels as an alternative energy source, compost waste food, recycle whenever possible and are active in promoting conservation and environmentally friendly practices in the community.

Rosanna has quite a passion for cooking, as evidenced in the tasty haute cuisine meals that are prepared by her staff. She also has quite an aptitude for home décor and design – sprinkled throughout the lodge are the many paintings, arts and crafts that Don Pedro has collected during his many years of travel throughout the Americas and Caribbean. The ambiance at the lodge is indeed quite cheery and tropical. When I was there, they were in the process of expanding the outdoor gardens. In addition, Rossana has plans to enlarge the kitchen to accommodate her hotel guests and visitors as well as opening up a cooking school onsite. What about Don Pedro? I found him to be an especially amiable host, and I enjoyed hearing his many travel stories.