Rooms With A View

In my travels to both Costa Rica and Honduras in 2008, I’ve had the good fortune to stay at two intimate, mountain-top lodges with sweeping views: Los Altos de Eros and Hacienda San Lucas, respectively.

What struck me about these two properties is how brilliant and successful they are in their simplicity.

Neither is at the cutting edge of technology (the idea here is to get away and relax, not to telecommute), and neither offers an "eclectic international menu" in an overpriced, overdecorated hotel restaurant (both serve local cuisine, simply prepared by local cooks in open-air dining areas).

But both offer truly warm hospitality that starts with the owners (Calvin & Jacqueline Haskell for Los Altos and Flavia Cueva for Hacienda) and carries through to the locally recruited staffs. And both provide one-of-a-kind locations and experiences–like open-air yoga studios in serene settings.

The pictures below are easily worth 1,000 more words, so I’ll leave you to see for yourself what I mean when I say that the best hospitality occurs when someone simply and kindly welcomes you into his/her home, and it feels like it could become your home.