The Top 4 Houses at Tree House Lodge, Costa Rica, Ranked

I’m not going to rank hotels by stars or review points on this page. Those numbers get gamed, and they tell you nothing about how a place actually feels at 6 a.m. when the howler monkeys start up and the waves are the only other sound.

I just stayed at Tree House Lodge again and fell for it all over. This is my honest stack ranking of my top 4 houses there, the ones I’d book again tomorrow. The lodge has seven houses in total, and the other three are lovely too; these are just the four I love most.

My short answer: My top 4 houses at Tree House Lodge, a 10-acre oceanfront property in Playa Chiquita beside Punta Uva beach, are: 1. Beach Suite, 2. Tree House, 3. Beach House, 4. School Bus.

Why I love Tree House Lodge

Tree House Lodge describes itself as a 10-acre oceanfront ecolodge in Playa Chiquita, south of Puerto Viejo, on the edge of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. The beach out front runs onto Punta Uva, which was named #41 on The World’s 50 Best Beaches 2025, the only Costa Rican beach on that list, according to The Tico Times.

Instead of a hotel block, you get seven standalone houses spread through the jungle, each one built like an art project. You’re on the same private grounds as everyone else, so it feels safe and relaxed: kids can wander, you can walk to the water barefoot, and you don’t need a car to reach the beach.

It’s a little paradise with its own stretch of beachfront, and it’s the place on this coast I keep coming back to. Besides my top 4, the lodge also has the Crystal House, the Garden House and the Bungalow.

My top 4 houses at a glance

Details below come from each house’s page on the lodge’s official site, checked September 2026.

Every one of the four has a full kitchen, fans and mosquito nets, so you can cook breakfast, walk to the beach and never get in a car if you don’t want to.

My ranking

1. The Beach Suite — crazy nice and super chill

The Beach Suite is my #1, and it isn’t close. The lodge compares the building to Gaudí, and that’s fair: futuristic curves, bold colors, nothing square. It sits just 80 meters from the beach, and you hear the waves all day.

It sleeps up to 6 in three double bedrooms: a king-size master, a queen downstairs and a separate air-conditioned room with its own bathroom. Up top there’s a covered rooftop terrace with hammocks, which is where I spend most of every afternoon.

There’s a jacuzzi, a full kitchen, and a big rancho with a dining table and BBQ about 15 meters away for long dinners outside.

Why it’s #1: it’s the most beautiful and the most comfortable at the same time, and it somehow still feels completely laid-back.

Good to know: there’s no direct ocean view. Mature palms sit between you and the water, so you hear the sea more than you see it.

2. The Tree House — the OG of sleeping in the trees

The Tree House is the original, and it’s the reason a lot of people find this place. You walk in across a wooden suspension bridge into a split-level house on stilts, built around a 100-year-old sangrillo tree.

The toilet is literally inside the trunk of that tree, and there’s an outdoor shower tucked into another fold of it. Upstairs is a king bed with screened windows looking straight into the rainforest; downstairs are two twins that convert to a king, plus the kitchen.

It’s about 100 meters to the beach, with a flame-heated hot tub for the evenings. Oyster’s review of the lodge singles out this house, and the lodge made Oyster’s list of the best tree house hotels in Costa Rica.

Why it’s #2: nothing beats the feeling of falling asleep up in the canopy. If you’ve ever wanted to live in a treehouse as a kid, this is it.

Good to know: the A/C is in the lower bedroom only. The upstairs king runs on fans and the jungle breeze.

3. The Beach House — where I spent my honeymoon

The Beach House has a special place for me: it’s where I stayed on my honeymoon. It’s 80 meters from the shoreline, built from sustainably sourced fallen Nispero wood, with a spiral wooden staircase up to the king-size master bedroom.

Downstairs is an open-plan space with a queen bed and the full kitchen, and it sleeps 2 to 5. There’s a private veranda looking over the botanical garden and a flame-heated hot tub.

Why it’s #3: for two people, it might be the most romantic house on the coast. Waves at night, hot tub under the palms, nobody around.

Good to know: there’s no air-conditioning. The house breathes through shuttered windows and rattan walls, with ceiling fans and mosquito nets over the beds. And like the Beach Suite, the palms block the ocean view.

4. The School Bus — who doesn’t want to stay in a beach bus?

The School Bus is exactly what it sounds like: a repurposed bus turned into a genuinely comfortable little home, a short walk through the property from the beach. I mean, who doesn’t want to say they stayed in a bus by the beach?

It has a king bed in one section and a queen sofa bed in the other, with a connecting door so the A/C reaches both. Outside, a big covered terrace has a BBQ, a hardwood dining table, a pallet sofa and a hammock, plus a wood-fired hot tub.

Why it’s #4: it’s pure fun, and it has A/C, but the three houses above are more special to me.

Good to know: there’s one shared bathroom, so it’s best for a couple or a small family rather than two couples.

Which one should you book?

• Want the best of the best, or traveling with family? The Beach Suite. Six people, three bathrooms, a rooftop with hammocks.
• Want the story you’ll tell for years? The Tree House. Suspension bridge, toilet in a tree, bed in the canopy.
• Honeymoon or couples’ trip? The Beach House. It’s the one I chose for mine.
• Want something playful with A/C? The School Bus.

Can’t decide? Book the house that makes you smile first. On this property you can walk over and visit the others anyway, and the beach is the same for everyone.

Why this stretch of coast

Playa Chiquita and Punta Uva are the quiet, beautiful middle of the southern Caribbean coast: close enough to Puerto Viejo’s restaurants, far enough to hear only the jungle at night. Puerto Viejo Satellite describes Punta Uva’s water as calm and reef-protected, which is why it’s such a good swimming beach.

For the full lay of the land, read my guide to where to stay in Puerto Viejo, Cocles, Playa Chiquita, Punta Uva and Manzanillo and my Punta Uva beach guide. If treehouses are the whole point of your trip, my list of treehouse stays in Costa Rica covers the whole country.

My take

If I could only give one piece of advice about Tree House Lodge, it would be this: skip the star ratings, pick the house that makes you smile, and if you can’t decide, start with the Beach Suite.

Before you go, check the best time to visit the Caribbean coast for the weather month by month, and getting from San José to Puerto Viejo for the drive. Then go see the Tree House Lodge site and pick your house.