Is the Majestic Lodge right for your retreat?
Different retreats need different things from a venue. Here is the honest answer for each, including the ones we are not the right fit for.
If you are looking to host a yoga retreat in Costa Rica, the Majestic Lodge works because you are renting the venue rather than buying a slot in someone else's programme. Most Costa Rica yoga retreat centres run their own schedule and their own teachers, and you fit around them. Here you take the whole building — your teachers, your timetable, your pricing — and practise on a covered deck that an afternoon downpour does not shut down.
If you are looking to host a wellness retreat in Costa Rica, the reason to choose Arenal over the beaches is underneath you. The volcano heats the groundwater, and four thermal spring resorts sit within half an hour of the lodge — Tabacon, Baldi, The Springs and Eco Termales. No coastal venue can offer that. The property also has its own massage room with a half bath on the top floor, so bodywork happens on site rather than in somebody's bedroom.
If you are looking to host a spiritual or meditation retreat in Costa Rica, it is worth being straight about what quiet means here. The lodge sits on the main road through El Castillo, with neighbours on the street. It is not a busy road — what passes goes by slowly, and there is not much of it — but it is a road, and anyone promising you total silence in a village is overselling it. What you do get is the whole building with no other guests anywhere on the property for the length of your stay, jungle directly behind the house, and mornings that start with birds. The third-floor sitting areas suit silent sitting and circles, and the deck looks out at the volcano and the lake.
If you are looking to host a corporate retreat in Costa Rica, the deciding factor is that your team can be together in one house and still have a private space of their own. The wifi is as good as any you will find in Costa Rica, there are chairs and quiet corners throughout the house so people can work comfortably wherever they settle, and the upstairs sitting room has a large TV for presentations. Best of all, there are so many excursions and team-building days on the doorstep — rafting, canyoning, the volcano — that the trip is the part people still talk about long after the offsite is over.
If you are planning a family reunion, the lodge holds three generations under one roof, and the Jaguar and Monkey rooms have their own entrances from outside for anyone who wants to come and go without walking through a house full of relatives.
Where we are not the right fit: if you want a surf retreat, or your group needs to be walking distance from a beach, this is the wrong property — we are inland, several hours from the Pacific. If you are under about six people, you will find the whole-property rate hard to justify — though a party of eight who each want their own room is worth a conversation, because very little around here has eight bedrooms. And if you are picturing somewhere remote at the end of a dirt track, this is not that: there is a public paved road along the front of the property. Cars are generally doing about 20 mph past us, because of the curves right outside, but they do go by.
Why La Fortuna rather than the coast
Most Costa Rica retreats happen on the Pacific beaches. La Fortuna is a different proposition, and for some retreats a better one.
You are in rainforest at the base of an active volcano. Mornings are quiet and cool enough to practise outdoors. Between sessions there is a waterfall, thermal hot springs, hanging bridges and zip lines all inside forty-five minutes — so a retreat here has somewhere to go on the afternoons you are not working. And because it is inland, it is markedly cheaper than the equivalent property in Guanacaste.
The trade-off is honest: it rains here, in every month, usually in the afternoon. That matters less than people expect for a retreat, because your sessions are indoors or under cover anyway, and it is why the property has as much interior space as it does. More on the weather →
What you actually get
The whole building, for your group alone, for the length of your stay. No other guests, no shared spaces, nobody else at breakfast.
| Bedrooms | 10, every one with its own bathroom |
|---|---|
| Bathrooms | 13 |
| Sleeps | Up to 33 |
| Size | About 6,000 sq ft over four levels |
| Practice space | Covered deck, plus two sitting areas on the top floor |
| Also on site | Massage room with its own half bath, gym, pool |
En-suites: the amenity that gets overlooked
For a family holiday it barely registers. For a retreat it makes a real difference.
Hosting retreats here, we notice the same thing every time: people are happy to share plenty of spaces, but they want somewhere that is theirs — and the bathroom is the one that matters most. When your guests find out that every bedroom has its own, they relax about the trip and get more excited about it. All 10 bedrooms here are en-suite, so nobody queues, nobody negotiates, and you get to run the retreat instead of the household.
Where you actually hold sessions
The covered deck is where most groups practise — open on three sides to rainforest, roofed so an afternoon shower does not end the session, and big enough to lay out mats for a full group. Above it, the top floor has a large sitting area and a smaller one with a games table, which is where circles, workshops and evening sessions tend to happen.
Next to those is a curtained corner with its own half bath where we set up the massage tables. Two therapists can work there while the rest of the group is elsewhere in the building — which is the sort of thing that only matters once you have tried to run bodywork in a house with one shared living room.
What it costs you
One rate, every month. La Fortuna has no high or low season the way the beaches do, so you are not paying a premium for February.
| Whole property | $1,350 per night (plus $350 for the cleaning fee) |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Included, up to 16 guests |
| Each guest above 16 | $20 per person, per day |
| Deposit | 50% of lodging reserves your dates |
A six-night retreat for eighteen people is $8,100 in lodging plus $240 for the two guests above 16 — $8,340 for the property, breakfast included, which is about $463 per guest for the week.
How to price what you sell
This is the part most first-time organisers get wrong, in both directions — some price so low they work for nothing, others price without knowing their floor and panic when bookings are slow.
Work backwards. Your cost is the property, plus meals, plus transport, plus whatever you pay teachers or guides. Your revenue is your per-head price times the number of people who actually pay. The gap is yours, and it should survive two or three people dropping out.
Rather than guess, put your real numbers in:
It handles the nights, the per-guest charge above 16, meals, transfers and vans, and shows what you keep.
What we take off your hands
The organiser usually ends up administering the retreat instead of running it. That is the job we take:
- Breakfast every morning, cooked here, included
- Lunch and dinner packages on site — no restaurant logistics for twenty people
- Airport transfers from San José or Liberia, both directions
- Two 12-passenger vans available for your stay, or a driver arranged
- Excursion booking — the waterfall, the springs, zip lines, rafting, staggered sensibly across your days
- Massages in the lodge's own massage room
The retreats we host
Yoga retreats
The covered deck for practice, the massage room for bodywork, quiet mornings, and hot springs twenty-five minutes away for the afternoon everyone needs off. Groups typically run six or seven nights. Unlike a yoga retreat centre with a fixed programme, you are renting the venue — your teachers, your schedule, your pricing.
Wellness and spa retreats
Volcano-heated thermal springs are the reason wellness groups choose Arenal over the coast. Four hot spring resorts are within half an hour, the lodge has its own massage room with a half bath, and we can bring therapists in for the group. Which springs to choose →
Meditation and spiritual retreats
Jungle behind the house, no other guests on the property, and mornings that start with birds. The third-floor sitting areas work for silent sitting and circles; the deck faces the volcano. The lodge is on El Castillo's main road, so expect the occasional slow car rather than total silence.
Corporate offsites
A private property with no other guests, so nobody on the team is sharing a bar with strangers at the end of the day. The upstairs sitting room works as a meeting room, meals arrive without anyone leaving the house, and we book the excursion days — so nobody on your team has to become the trip organiser.
Family reunions
Three generations under one roof. The Jaguar and Monkey rooms have their own entrances from outside, which suits anyone who wants to come and go without walking through a house full of relatives.
Planning timeline
| 6–12 months out | Reserve the dates. Whole-property bookings here are usually made months ahead; 50% of lodging holds them. |
|---|---|
| 4–6 months | Open registration. You now have a fixed cost, so you can price with confidence. |
| 2–3 months | Confirm headcount, book excursions and lock in meals. Zip lining, rafting and canyoning need advance booking for a group. |
| 1 month | Flight details to us, so transfers are arranged properly rather than at 11pm on arrival day. |
Common questions
How many people do I need to break even?
It depends on your price, not your headcount. Twelve guests at $2,000 each covers a six-night booking with meals and transport several times over. Run your own numbers in the calculator rather than trusting a rule of thumb.
Can I bring my own teachers or chef?
Yes. Plenty of organisers bring their own lead teacher and use our kitchen and staff for food. Tell us what you are bringing and we will work around it.
What if it rains all week?
Some of it will. The deck is covered, the sessions are under roof, and the hot springs are better in the rain. It is a rainforest — that is what makes it green.
Is there wifi?
Yes, which matters more for corporate groups than wellness ones. Ask us about current speeds if your week depends on it.
Talk to us about your dates
Tell us when, how many, and what kind of retreat. We will confirm availability, give you an exact total, and tell you honestly if the property is not the right fit for what you are planning.