We have been discussing retrofitting our rooms at Senda Monteverde with A/C units.   The reason is not that guests who stay at Senda complain about the lack of air conditioning, but it is rather the fact that we lose a few potential guests during the reservation process who insist that they need it to sleep.  This is probably based on wrong or incomplete information. 

Monteverde is Situated at 4,662 ft (1,440 m) above sea level.  So compared to other tourist destinations in Costa Rica it gets chilly at night and we ask our guests to bring a good sweater and long pants. 

If there was a time of the year when we might understand the need for A/C in hotel rooms, it would be the months of March and April.  But only from 10 am to about 4:30 pm when the sun hits the rooms directly.  But most people are on tours during that time of the day and if they spend time in the room, they enjoy sitting on their porches with a cold beverage.   

Many of our guests have given us feedback that they enjoyed that the rooms don’t have A/C so that they can feel the pure mountain air and hear the sounds of the cloud forest. 

Our rooms feature ceiling fans, have good cross ventilation, and the roofs are insulated and are surrounded by vegetation that is a “natural” air conditioner.

According to Senda’s Tripadvisor Reviews, the second most appreciated feature of Senda (after the “El Sapo” bar) is the hot water bottle we slip under the blanket during turn-down service to warm the bed; a sign that air conditioning is not needed to sleep comfortably at night. 

By not using air conditioning, our guests also help to keep the planet from further heating up. Learn more about our sustainability actions at The Cayuga Collection here.

If you have further questions, send our reservations team a note to reservations@sendamontever.com or let me know your thoughts and write to hans@cayugaonline.com.