Choosing between La Fortuna hotels with hot springs is harder than it should be, because ‘hot springs’ means four different things, lots of guides and booking sites aren’t clear. My guide sorts every hotel by what they truly offer, nightly prices, drive time to town, and which ones keep the pools for guests only.
I also cover what to do if your budget won’t stretch, because there’s a way to enjoy the thermals in La Fortuna without paying for it at your hotel, with the best day passes compared.
We stayed on the volcano road at a hotel with thermal pools, across the three nights in our 7 days in Costa Rica itinerary, and after a long day of hiking or activities it was amazing to be in the pools with a drink watching the birds move around the garden from the water.
More of my Costa Rica guides to help plan your trip
- 7 Days in Costa Rica Itinerary: A first-timer route with costs, timings and where to stay
- Is Manuel Antonio National Park Worth It?: Honest tips on tickets, timing and when to skip it
- Things to Do in La Fortuna, Costa Rica: My guide to what’s worth your time and what to skip
- La Fortuna to Manuel Antonio: The four ways to travel it, costs and comparison
Do you need a hotel with hot springs in La Fortuna?
No, it’s not a necessity, but we loved having this as an option after a long day, it really made our evenings here feel special and it’s what I recommend to any friend heading out. If you can afford it, do.
Where I’d stop short is spending so much on the room that the rest of the trip suffers. If you’re weighing a mid-range hotel with plenty of activities against a top-end one with fewer, take the activities.
If your budget is tight I’ve worked through some alternative options further down.
Where the hot water comes from
The area sits on a geothermally heated underground river. Hotels tap that source and bring the water to the surface for their pools, which is why so many properties along one stretch of road can all offer thermal water. Some sell entry to non-guests for a fee, others keep the pools for people staying, and that is something to be aware of when you book.
Disclaimer: This article may feature affiliate links. If you click these links, and choose to book with that hotel or company, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate the support that allows me to continue providing this information.
The four kinds of hot springs hotel
Four quite different things get sold under the same phrase, and knowing which one you’re buying helps you decide if it suits you.
- A private thermal pool at your room. Your own pool on your own deck, fed by the springs. The fewest options and the most expensive.
- A full springs complex on site. Landscaped pools across the grounds, often a dozen or more, sometimes with day visitors.
- A few thermal pools. Two or three pools and maybe a jacuzzi. This is what most mid-range hotels have.
- A heated pool that isn’t thermal at all. Warm water, no minerals or geothermal heating.
TL;DR best hotels with hot springs La Fortuna
These are my quick recommendations if you’re in a hurry, read further down for my detailed guide to the best hotels in the area.
Best all-rounder: Volcano Lodge & Thermal Experience
Two thermal pools, a good restaurant, volcano views, and a handful of rooms with a private thermal pool. Around $150 a night, and where we stayed.
Best for a special occasion: Nayara Springs
A private spring-fed plunge pool at every villa, adults only, around $730.
Best for families: Baldi Hot Springs
Giant waterslides and a splash zone with caves, eight minutes from town, around $270.
Best on a budget with springs: Arenal Paraíso
Eleven spring-fed mineral pools for around $130, the cheapest genuine complex in La Fortuna.
La Fortuna hotels with hot springs compared
Every hotel below has been checked against what the property itself says about its water. The ones with no thermal water are in here too, and marked as such, because a couple of them are good places to stay.
| Hotel | Thermal setup | Typical cost per night | Time to town | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nayara Springs | Private spring-fed plunge pool per villa | Around $730 (£577) | About 10 min | Adults-only luxury |
| Amor Arenal | Heated mineral plunge pool, spring-fed communal pools | Around $560 (£442) | About 10 min | Adults only, 13 and over |
| Volcano Lodge | Shared thermal pools, private pool in select rooms | Around $150 (£119) | About 10 min | Best value thermal pools |
| Arenal Springs | Thermal pools, no day passes sold at all | Around $320 (£253) | About 10 min | Quiet pools, guests only |
| Arenal Manoa | Spring-fed pools, newer ponds guests only | Around $190 (£150) | About 10 min | Quiet pools for less |
| Arenal Paraíso | 11 spring-fed mineral pools | Around $130 (£103) | About 10 min | Cheapest real complex |
| Baldi | Spring-fed complex, 93°F to 152°F | Around $270 (£213) | About 8 min | Closest springs to town |
| Tabacón | Spring-fed river complex, shuttle from rooms | Around $640 (£506) | About 15 min | The most famous one |
| The Springs | Spring water pumped uphill, refilled daily | Around $700 (£553) | 20–25 min | Biggest complex |
| Hotel Los Lagos | Eight thermal pools plus waterslides | Around $135 (£107) | About 9 min | Cheapest thermal stay |
| Paradise Hot Springs | Spring-fed pools, open to the public | Around $230 (£182) | About 8 min | Hydromassage, capped numbers |
| El Silencio del Campo | Pools the hotel describes as thermal | Around $310 (£245) | About 8 min | Walking to three other springs |
| Hotel Monte Real | None, freshwater pool | Around $90 (£71) | In town, walkable | Staying cheap, buying passes |
| Arenal Backpackers | None, freshwater pool | Around $25 (£20), dorm bed | In town, walkable | Cheapest bed with a pool |
These are typical figures rather than quotes. Green season, roughly May to mid-November, should be cheaper. Public holidays and peak times will be much more expensive, as is the case with everything in Costa Rica. Use the table to compare hotels against each other, then price your own dates before you commit to a tier.
Map of La Fortuna hotels and hot springs
Hotels with a private thermal pool at your room
Three properties give you your own pool on your own deck, with some beautiful views of the rainforest too.
Nayara Springs
Every villa here has a private plunge pool fed by natural mineral hot springs, which is unusual anywhere in La Fortuna. Adults only. You reach the property across a pedestrian footbridge through the rainforest, and electric golf carts are on call if you’d rather not walk.
Booking.com rating 9.9
Cost typically around $730 (£577)
Pick this if you want a really spectacular stay on every level surrounded by wildlife whilst being expertly looked after. If you are struggling with availability check their sister property Nayara Gardens, who also accept families.
Amor Arenal
The communal pools here are spring-fed. The plunge pool on your casita deck is not: the hotel’s own wording is a heated mineral water plunge pool, with the temperature set to your liking. Both Canyon Casitas room categories have one and the property is adults only from 13 upwards.
Booking.com rating 9.8
Cost typically around $560 (£442)
Pick this if you want a private pool you can control the temperature of and want to feel like you’re in the jungle canopy.
Volcano Lodge, Thermal Superior and Junior Suite
There are two room categories with a private thermal pool, the Thermal Superior and the Junior Suite, at a fraction of what the two properties above cost. The resort rating does reflect the difference between the levels.
Booking sites relabel the rooms, so you’ll see Superior Room (Thermal) and Junior Double Room on some platforms. Look for “private pool” in brackets. The full write-up is further down, since we stayed here in a standard room.
Booking.com rating 8.8
Cost Cost typically around $250 (£187) for a room with a private pool
More private pools, but not hot springs
These two give you a pool at your room but not an official thermal spring.
Arenal Manoa, Chato Suites. The newest rooms, with a private outdoor plunge pool and a good-sized deck, two queen beds. Book it for the deck.
Villas Jawara. Five self-catering villas inside the Los Lagos grounds, each with an outdoor swim spa, plus wristbands for the Los Lagos springs. Confirm the wristbands with the host before you arrive, a guest turned up without them and spent a day arguing at the gate.
Hotels with a full hot springs complex on site
Six properties where the springs are the reason to book. At this size, ask how far the pools sit from the rooms before you pay, because at three of these six you’ll take a shuttle or a trail rather than walking out of your door.
Arenal Springs Resort & Spa
No day passes, no day visitors, and it’s one of the only hotels here where that’s true all year. On the ground you get two large thermal pools with swim-up bars and outdoor restaurants, one of them adults only, plus several smaller pools and a jacuzzi branching off, some set apart for privacy. Temperatures are 34°C to 39°C. There’s a separate swimming pool too, and enough for children to do that families are well served.
Booking.com rating 9.3
Cost typically around $320 (£253)
Pick this if quiet pools matter more to you than the biggest complex. Master Suites price on four-person occupancy and are considerably higher in dry season.
Arenal Manoa & Hot Springs
The hotel’s own wording is that its pools and ponds are fed by mineral-rich thermal waters, which is a clearer claim than most properties here make. Alongside the guest-only ponds there’s a swim-up bar, a kids’ pool, a jacuzzi and a working dairy farm on the grounds, plus a shuttle to get you around the site.
Booking.com rating 9.2
Cost typically around $190 (£150)
Pick this if you want guest-only thermal water at mid-range money. Set your expectations properly: the springs here are small but nice rather than a sprawling complex, and the large cool-water pool is the better bet in the middle of the day.
Arenal Paraíso Resort
Eleven spring-fed mineral pools, one with a swim-up bar, on a 160-acre hillside site. Ziplining and horseback riding can be done from the property, which is useful if you’re travelling with children. Breakfast is served in a glass-walled A-frame restaurant surrounded by rainforest.
Booking.com rating 8.3
Cost typically around $130 (£103)
Pick this if price is the deciding factor and you want a real multi-pool complex rather than two pools. Guests consistently describe the rooms as dated, and the site is big enough that you’ll want the complimentary shuttle to get between the pools and your room.
Baldi Hot Springs Hotel Resort & Spa
The closest springs hotel to town at about eight minutes, and the only one that publishes a temperature for every single pool: 93, 100, 102, 104, 109, 110, 113, 116 and 152°F, with the water certified by Costa Rica’s National Water Laboratory. One pool stays open around the clock for guests. Giant waterslides, a splash zone and caves make it the most child-friendly complex in La Fortuna.
Booking.com rating 8.2
Cost typically around $270 (£213)
Pick this if you have no car, or you have children who want slides rather than a soak. The standard rooms are dated, so upgrade to a Junior Suite if the budget allows. The pools can get busy in high season because a lot of day passes get sold.
Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa
The best-known springs in the country, and the most naturally built. Five springs feed the complex, the water moves by gravity rather than mechanical recirculation, and temperatures range across 72°F to 105°F. Springs entry and breakfast are included in your rate.
Booking.com rating 9.0
Cost typically around $640 (£506)
Pick this if you want the landscaping and you’ll make use of the guest-only hours and gardens. Before you book, know that the springs are across the road from the rooms, so you take a short trail or the shuttle rather than stepping straight out of your door.
The Springs Resort & Spa
The biggest of them, spread over 165 acres in three sections: Las Lagunas by the main building, Perdido Springs about 100 m below it, and Club Rio Springs down in the river canyon, reached by a free shuttle. Temperatures are 83°F to 104°F across five restaurants and six bars. The water here is captured from natural springs near the river, pumped 130 m uphill, and the pools are drained, cleaned and refilled from 06:00 every morning. Spring-fed, but engineered.
Booking.com rating 9.4
Cost typically around $700 (£553)
Pick this if you want the largest complex and you’re travelling with children, since there’s a water slide, a games room, mini golf and an animal sanctuary. It’s also the furthest springs hotel from town at twenty to twenty-five minutes, so plan on eating on site. If you’re considering the day pass instead, note the resort withdraws it from non-guests over Christmas, President’s Day week, and the weeks either side of Easter.
Mid-range hotels with their own thermal pools
This is where most first-timers will be looking. A few thermal pools rather than a landscaped complex, good value and convenience.
Volcano Lodge & Thermal Experience
This is where we stayed, and it did exactly what we wanted. There are two thermal pools as well as two regular swimming pools. The thermal pools are made up of a smaller one, and a much bigger one with plenty of space to sit or float and a bar you can use from the water. The water is thermal, held in treated pools rather than flowing naturally, and the hotel is clear about that.
Coming back after a long day and having that on site was the best thing about the hotel. Great for your legs after a day of hiking, and never busy enough to feel public. We used them every day, rain included, sitting in the water looking out. The gardens are spectacular as well, we were lucky to see a lot of wildlife right outside our door.
Booking.com rating 8.8
Cost typically around $150 (£119)
Pick this if you want thermal water on site, a restaurant, volcano views and a tour desk that can book your week, without paying resort prices. We were in a standard room and used the shared pools, and I was happy to put the money we saved into activities instead.
My Top Tip! Bring binoculars. I picked up a basic pair online before flying and used them every day, including from the thermal pool at breakfast time. It’s the cheapest upgrade you can make to a Costa Rica trip.
Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort
Eight thermal pools of different temperatures, the hottest at 37°C, plus cool pools, two waterslides, built-in seats with jets in some pools and a fake volcano. It reads more like a water park than a natural soak, and that’s the point of it. Nine minutes from town, and a 1.7-mile walk within the grounds takes you to a volcano viewpoint and the lake the hotel is named after.
Booking.com rating 9.1
Cost typically around $135 (£107)
Pick this if you have children who want slides and you want to spend as little as possible on a room with springs attached. The rooms are widely described as needing updating so choose your room type and be aware of that.
Paradise Hot Springs Thermal Water Resort
Natural mineral thermal water throughout, built around hydrotherapy: hydromassages, water jets and waterfalls of different pressures across pools running 35°C to 41°C. Be clear about what this is, though. Paradise is a public springs facility with a hotel attached, not a hotel with private springs, and the day pass is sold openly. The upside is that the operator caps visitor numbers to keep it peaceful, and because the hotel is small there’s usually space.
Booking.com rating 8.8
Cost typically around $230 (£182)
Pick this if you have a bad back or tired legs and want the jets, and you don’t mind sharing with day visitors. The premium day pass opens the Cedro area, an infinity pool looking straight at Arenal.
Hotel El Silencio del Campo
Twenty-three individual villas on a working farm, with cow milking, egg collecting and pony rides included, plus an organic vegetable garden. The hotel describes its pools as thermal water rising from the Arenal Volcano, with different pools at high, medium and low temperatures and waterfalls used for hydrotherapy. Guests are split on whether they feel like hot springs or a warm pool, and more than one has said they had them practically to themselves, which is a bonus.
Booking.com rating 9.4
Cost typically around $310 (£245)
Pick this if you want a farm stay with quiet pools, or if you want to walk to other springs: Paradise is two minutes away on foot, Baldi five and Los Lagos nine. The Family Chalet sleeps five.
Cheaper places to stay near the hot springs
If a hotel with its own springs doesn’t fit the budget, this is how to do it without missing out. None of these have thermal pools. You stay central and cheap, then buy a day pass for the springs. I have covered the best day passes to consider below.
Hotel Monte Real
The most central property in this guide, a five-minute walk from the church and 200 m from the town centre. Twenty rooms, an outdoor pool and a children’s pool with a volcano view, and it borders a river with its own patch of forest where guests reliably see sloths, toucans and frogs. Paradise Hot Springs is 2.8 miles away for a cheap day pass.
Booking.com rating 8.9
Cost typically around $90 (£71)
Arenal Backpackers Resort
A few minutes’ walk from the town centre and the bus stop, with a freshwater swimming pool, dorms, private rooms and a deluxe camping area.
Booking.com rating 7.6
Cost typically around $25 (£20) for a dorm bed
What are the best day pass options and what do they cost?
Tabacón
- The famous one, open 10:00 to 22:00 to pass holders.
- Cost typically around $99 (£78)
- Prices rise to about $129 (£102) from 8 January 2027, and peak rates apply over Christmas, New Year and Easter week.
The Springs Resort
- The pass covers two days rather than one, which works out at roughly $70 (£55) a day, and gets you three separate springs sections.
- Cost typically around $141 (£111)
Ecotermales Fortuna
- Seven thermal pools between 32°C and 41°C plus two mountain-fed cold pools. There’s no hotel here, day passes are the only way in, and a night pass from 19:00 costs the same as a day pass.
- This is the day pass I’d book. It caps how many people are inside so it never gets packed. They don’t run transport, so budget for a taxi or an Uber both ways.
- Cost typically around $49 (£39)
Baldi
- Entrance only, before you add meals.
- Cost typically around $44 (£35)
Paradise Hot Springs.
- Five hours of access between 11:00 and 21:00, with hydromassage jets in most pools.
- Cost typically around $47 (£37)
Titokú.
- Eight small pools with an 80-person cap, so it’s the quietest paid option in the area.
- Cost typically around $33 (£26)
Termalitas and Relax Termalitas.
- Local spots, several hot pools, cash preferred and no frills.
- Cost typically around $8 (£6)
My Top Tip! Watch out for booking Baldi through a reseller, where the same entrance-only pass gets listed anywhere from $60 to $85. Instead, book direct with the resort, where you’ll pay closer to $41. Prices and opening times change, so check before you travel.
FAQ’s about La Fortuna hot springs and hotels
Yes. El Choyin, also called Rio Chollín, is a public stretch of thermal river about 15 minutes west of town on Route 142, just past Tabacón. Same water, no charge, and no facilities, lifeguards or lockers. Unofficial parking attendants charge around ₡5,000, so take nothing valuable.
No. We stayed on the volcano road without one and never felt limited. Uber works around La Fortuna and every tour we booked included hotel pickup and drop-off. Just check your hotel has a restaurant you’re happy with, because dinner is the journey you’re left making.
Better, if anything. We used ours every day including in the rain, and the cooler air makes the hotter pools more comfortable. It’s the one part of your day a downpour can’t spoil, which is worth knowing if you’re travelling in green season.
About fifteen minutes in the hotter pools, then get out and cool down before going back in. Water at 40°C affects your blood pressure more than a swimming pool does. Start in a cooler pool, drink water between soaks, and keep your head above the water.
Swimwear you don’t mind staining, water shoes/flip flops and dry clothes to change into. The mineral content stains fabric, which The Springs warns about on its own booking page. Towels are included at every hotel in this guide and at most day passes, so you don’t need your own.
Usually, but ask when you book rather than assuming. Most La Fortuna hotels will let you use the pools while your room is made up, which turns a 2pm check-in into a useful afternoon. Ask about luggage storage for your last morning in the same message.
Yes, and it’s when they’re at their best. Most hotel pools stay open until around 22:00, and Baldi keeps one open around the clock for guests. If you’re buying a pass instead, Ecotermales sells a night pass from 19:00 at the same price as a daytime one.
Yes, as long as you keep them out of the hottest pools. Small bodies overheat quickly and Baldi’s hottest reaches 152°F. Check the hotel has a cool-water pool before you book, and note that Baldi and Los Lagos are the two built with children in mind.
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