Lapa Rios Ecolodge

Sustainability Practices

Set in a private nature reserve spread over acres of Central America's last remaining lowland tropical rainforest in Costa Rica, Lapa Rios Ecolodge overlooks the pristine point where the Golfo Dulce meets the wild Pacific Ocean, making it an ideal destination for travelers from around the world. Originally, Lapa Rios was built by John and Karen Lewis as a private nature reserve. A Minnesota couple driven by a vision, John and Karen liquidated all their assets to finance the purchase of a large tract of rainforest and to build the small supporting tourism project. Today, Lapa Rios contains 16 private, upscale bungalows with a full service restaurant and maintains a conservation easement elaborated by The Nature Conservancy and Cederena to ensure that this private reserve will be preserved into perpetuity. For the past seventeen years, the privately financed Lapa Rios Ecolodge is more than just a beautiful rainforest hotel or eco resort next to the beach. With almost 60 employees, Lapa Rios is a model ecotourism project that strives to show both its guests, its employees and the surrounding community that a forest left standing is worth more than one cut down.