The ideal low-cost getaway awaits in Central America -book it before you get left in the cold.
MEN’S JOURNAL
Sarah Rose
November, 2009
TIP: If you must stay the night in San Jose, a big and charmless city, book into Finca Rosa Blanca, a Gaudí--esque boutique hotel and coffee plantation 25 minutes from the airport (from $235; www.fincarosablanca.com).
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Go on a coffee holiday
THE OTTAWA CITIZEN
November 14, 2009
When simply drinking coffee is not enough of a caffeine fix, why not partake of an entire vacation that revolves around java? Finca Rosa Blanca resort in Costa Rica is offering a three-night Coffee Harvest Package.
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Sustainable Costa Rica
EAST OF THE CITY
Veronica Sliva
October 22, 2009
After a direct 5 -1/2 hour Air Canada flight from Toronto to San Jose Finca Rosa Blanca (www.fincarosablanca.com) was the closest and our first destination. After a twenty minute drive through a fairly busy and populated area we arrived at a sublime, tranquil place that seemed worlds away from the bustle of Costa Rica’s capital city. The goal here is to exist in harmony with nature …to use and reuse where possible, to conserve and to save, to waste nothing. It sounds frugal doesn’t it? But nothing seems frugal at Finca Rosa Blanca.
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Great Escapes // Costa Rica and Other Nature-Infused Retreats
Melanie Haiken
DELTA SKY MAGAZINE
September, 2009
The same sense of wonder pervades the vine-hung gardens of Finca Rosa Blanca, a boutique hotel and coffee farm on the flanks of the Poás Volcano, where cars are left outside the gates to maintain an atmosphere of perfect peace.
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Costa Rica in Your Cup
Melanie Haiken
Continental In-flight Magazine
November, 2009
Coffee and Costa Rica are practically synonymous, and one of the unforgettable pleasures of a visit is waking up to the pungent aroma of rainforest-fresh brew. Raise your coffee consciousness further with a stay at Finca Rosa Blanca, a boutique hotel and organic coffee farm just 45 minutes outside San José.
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Finca Rosa Blanca
Ligia Olvera
El Financiero
10 de Junio, 2009
El día que lo visité pude ver la mayoría de las habitaciones que son especiales, diferentes y únicas. Los dueños del hotel han cuidado todos los detalles en la ambientación y decoración y tienen en cada una su toque personal. Entonces uno va viendo los recuerdos de sus viajes, como si estuviera hospedado en la casa de un amigo que trata de que nuestra estancia sea lo más agradable posible. Y uno se encuentra unas zapatillas tibetanas colgando en la pared y detalles como un jacuzzi original donde el agua corre por una pequeña cascada rodeada de plantas. Una de las habitaciones (la habitación Finca Rosa Blanca) cuenta con una vista de 360 grados y uno puede despertar viendo al amanecer el volcán Irazú al abrir los ojos.
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Eco-Tripping in Costa Rica – The Easy Way
CONDE NAST TRAVELER
Mayo, 2009
Costa Rica is known for ecotourism, but the whole rain forest thing can sometimes sound a bit, well, unpolished. The good news is that at handful of unique hotels, you can have spa treatments, lounge by the infinity pool, zip-line through the trees – and actually help the locals and the environment while you are at it.
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Five best ... plantation retreats
THE GUARDIAN
April 12, 2009
Finca Rosa Blanca, Costa Rica. Around 5,000 coffee trees have been planted on this Inn's organic plantation 30 minutes north of San José. Guests learn how coffee is grown and processed, and the spa does coffee body scrubs.
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(No) Drill, Baby, Drill. Op-Ed Columnist
Thomas L. Friedman
NY Times
April 11, 2009
These days, visitors can still see amazing biodiversity all over Costa Rica — more than 25 percent of the country is protected area — thanks to a unique system it set up to preserve its cornucopia of plants and animals. Many countries could learn a lot from this system. More than any nation I’ve ever visited, Costa Rica is insisting that economic growth and environmentalism work together.
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Trip Advisor Unearths World's Top 10 Green Eco-mmodations
Travelers' Choice Winner Tops List Of Eco-Friendly Hotels
Trip Advisor
April 6, 2009
A pioneer in sustainable living in Costa Rica, Finca Rosa Blanca employs energy conservation practices and recycles extensively, but also focuses on raising guest awareness about the local environment. The Inn's 30-acre coffee plantation is certified sustainable, and offers guests the chance to learn about growing and processing organic coffee. According to one TripAdvisor traveler, "Add their environmentally-conscious recycling, and using their organic gardens to supply the restaurant, and you have an incredible hotel experience."
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Up Close And Personal With The Great Outdoors
Condé Nast Traveler
March 19, 2009
This small eco-gem on seven tree-studded acres overlooks sustainable coffee farms, volcanoes and cloud forests. The seven junior suites in the main lodge are the most affordable, but there's little sacrifice in these spacious quarters, each with arched windows, original artwork, tiled bathrooms, and gorgeous hardwood floors. For even more space and privacy, splurge on one of the two villas or the whimsical two-story master suite, where a spiral staircase leads to a window-walled tower bedroom. Owners Teri and Glenn Jampol have consistently garnered the highest eco-credentials. One of the highlights of the property is the 30-acre organic coffee farm shaded by 5,000-plus trees strategically placed to create corridors for birds and wildlife.
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Coffee tours in Costa Rica spill the beans!
Christopher P. Baker
Moon Travel Guides
February 12,2009
“For the authoritative scoop, drive out to Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation & Inn www.fincarosablanca.com, at Santa Barbara de Heredia, to partake of the astonishing knowledge (and flair-in-presentation) of acclaimed “barista” Leo Vergnani, one of Costa Ricas most knowledgeable coffee experts. Formerly with Doka Estate, Leo recently transferred to this 14-hectare sustainable organic coffee estate that produces solely for use at the eponymous hotel. He’s also a tremendous orator who infuses his presentations with vitality and fascinating lore. You can even participate in the coffee harvest, Oct.-Jan. And the finca has a stable for horseback rides, plus a fabulous restaurant, and one of the finest boutique hotels in the country. It's one of my favorite places to lay my head. But more on that later.”
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Finca Rosa Blanca
Chris Baker
COSTA RICA HANDBOOKS: MOON PUBLICATIONS
2009
Imagine if Gaudi and Frank Lloyd Wright had combined their talents and visions; the result might be an architectural stunner as eclectic and electrifying as Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation and Inn (tel. 506/2269-9392, www.fincarosablanca.com). Inspired by Gaudi’s architectonics and the Santa Fe style, the family-run Rosa Blanca is one of Costa Rica’s preeminent boutique hotels. Its hillside position amid six hectares of coffee and orchards one kilometer northeast of Santa Bárbara de Heredia offers romantic vistas.
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Finca Rosa Blanca: Professional Review
Professional Travel Guide
2009
Only 15 minutes from the airport, this innovative white stucco structure sits 4,000 feet above sea level and commands awesome views, its tower rising like giant white rose petals above the tall Higueron trees and exotic flora that surround it.
Everything about this inn—opened in 1989 as the first boutique hotel in Costa Rica—has to do with an organic interaction between art and nature. The inn not only wins prestigious travel awards, but it is one of the few hotels to have garnered Five Leafs, the highest score for ecological achievement from the stringent ICT (Institute of Costa Rican Tourism).
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I Grow A White Rose, In July As In January
Glenn Jampol: A way of seeing life
Minerva Hernandez Fhan
FOREST REPUBLIC
February 2009
Glenn Jampol’s life might have been different. He could still be dedicated to art and living in the Big Apple. Then most likely this would not be his story.
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The World's Best Ecotourism Destinations:
Five places that are truly making a positive impact through ecotourism
Nellie Day
NUWIRE INVESTOR
February 04, 2009
NuWire decided to recognize five countries whose efforts in particular realms of ecotourism have gone above and beyond the norm.
Costa Rica: Preserving biodiversity
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San José
THE NEW YORK TIMES
From Frommer's
February 2009
Where to stay? Our suggestions: Finca Rosa Blanca (…)
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Finca Rosa Blanca Country Inn Review
FODORS
January 19, 2009
There's nothing common about this luxurious little B&B overlooking coffee farms; you need only step through the front door of the GaudÌ-esque main building to marvel at its soaring ceiling, white-stucco arches, and polished wood.
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Finca Rosa Blanca Review
Frommer's
2008
Finca Rosa Blanca is an eclectic architectural confection set amid the lush, green hillsides of a coffee plantation. Square corners seem to have been prohibited in the design of this beautiful home.
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Finca Rosa Blanca Earns Perfect Score in Sustainable Tourism
Meg Yamamoto
THE TICO TIMES
November 7, 2008
Nearly 20 years since building their pioneering boutique hotel on a bare motocross field in the middle of coffee country in Santa BaÏrbara de Heredia, north of San JoséÏ, Glenn and Teri Jampol of Finca Rosa Blanca Country Inn have received the country’s highest sustainable-tourism award, five “green leaves,” with an unprecedented 100 percent score.
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Costa Rica: Still Some of the Greenest Travel Around
Claire Bidwell Smith
HUFFINGTON POST
October 31, 2008
In August my husband and I traveled to Costa Rica for what was supposed to be one of the world's first "Carbon Neutral Vacations". (…)
Costa Rica, long a bastion for eco-friendly tourism, seems an obvious choice for such a bold attempt at sustainable travel, and our 7 day, 6 night trip began with a stay in San José.
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Travel Paradise Found
Don Gillmor
ENROUTE MAGAZINE AIR CANADA
October 2008
On a family eco-trip to Costa Rica, our writer discovers all is not lost
in one of the world's last Edens.
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Luxury in the Rainforest
Christabel Dilks
The Observer
September 14th, 2008
Finca Rosa Blanca, Central Highlands
All roads lead from San JosÈ but instead of staying in the scrappy capital start your trip in the mountains to the north where this elegant little hotel commands wide, open views of verdant coffee plantations from its 13 suites and hilltop pool. The Gaudi-esque building is all swooping lines and curving windows and each room is a work of art with hand-painted murals and tiled Jacuzzis in delightfully quaint bathrooms.
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Costa Ricas Healing Heart
Tara Roberts
Great Escapes/heartandsoul.com
August/September 2008
I started in San José, staying at the lovely FRB Country Inn, which turned out to be a perfect introduction to the country.
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Best Of Central America. San José and Environs
Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report
August 2008
Fanciful high-country inn overlooking the Central Valley and a mountain-backed landscape of rolling fields, coffee plantations and fertile orchards (15 minutes from San José International Airport). Thirteen guest quarters with private decks (no A/C) are housed by an imaginative whitewashed hacienda that marries the architectural spirit of Spain’s Antoni Gaudí with the free-form design of the American Southwest. Request king-bedded “El Cafetal,” “Ventana,” “El Guarumo” or striking “Rosa Blanca Suite” (separate living area/bar with panoramic terrace, glass-lined canopied tower bedroom, artful bath resembling a tropical rain forest). A dining room offers fine nouvelle Costa Rican cuisine complemented by California/Latin American wines. The adjacent lounge is adorned with pre-Columbian artifacts, contemporary paintings/sculptures and beautiful weavings. Sweeping hillside pool/spa with grotto-like bar-lounge pavilion; also English-speaking driver-guides for day excursions to national parks and biological reserves. A delightfully hospitable place to begin or end a trip to Costa Rica. No cars allowed.
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World’s Top Travel Specialists [And When to Use Them]
Wendy Perrin
Condé Nast Traveler
August 2008
Think of it as an investment in travel treasure. You want a truly memorable trip, and you want it to be flawless.
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Greetings from the Edge
Gene Sloan
USA Today
December 2007
Most memorable lodging: Tucked into the hills above Costa Rica's Central Valley, the 13-suite Finca Rosa Blanca Country Inn (rooms $215-$320) is a swirling, Gaudi-esque fantasy just 15 minutes from the San José airport.
The cozy bed-and-breakfast — perfect for that first or last day in the country — boasts spacious rooms, 10 acres of grounds and scrumptious, four-course dinners.
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Green Means Go
Kyra Sedgewick & Mark Seal
AMERICAN WAY
August 1, 2007
Kyra Sedgewick wanted something different, something exciting. She and her husband, Kevin Bacon, and their two teenage children, Travis and Sosie, were tired of lazy days on Caribbean beach that seemingly all of Hollywood had discovered. ¨The decision was mine¨, she says. ¨I wanted to make us go on an adventure vacation (…)¨
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Happy Trails: Treading Lightly Doesn’t Mean You Haave To Pack Lightly—Hit These Six Hot Eco Spots With All The Right Stuff In Tow
ELLE MAGAZINE
May 2007
Finca Rosa Blanca Country Inn
Where: Santa Bárbara de Heredia, Costa Rica
What to wear: Feeding off an organic vegetable garden and other natural resources, this resort keeps it simple, and you should too, with minimalist shift dresses in clean colors.
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10 Best Luxury Eco-Resorts
Forbes Traveler
April 12, 2007
Finca Rosa Blanca Country Inn, Costa Rica
Views of volcanoes, cloud forests and coffee plantations abound from this resort in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, which is at an elevation of 4,000 feet above sea level and sits on 10 acres of fruit trees and tropical flora. Guided tours to nearby national parks, cloud forests, biological rain forest reserves, and botanical gardens offer a multitude of eco-educational opportunities.
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Costa Rica. Grüne Welle im Dschungel
Von Jan Christoph Wiechmann
Stern
March 29, 2007
Natur, Natur und noch mal Natur - die Öko-Lodge Lapa Rios auf der Halbinsel Osa in Costa Rica ist der absolute Gegenentwurf zu all-inclusive. Eine geplünderte Region wurde wiederbelebt und zu einem Vorzeigeprojekt für umweltfreundlichen Tourismus.
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Luxury Ecotourism
Gregory B. Gallagher & Donald Rodríguez
Explore Magazine TACA Airlines
February 2007
The words “luxury” and “ecotourism” have existed at opposite ends of the tourism compass for years, but that’s no longer the case. This tourism phenomenon was not the result of overnight success but rather of decades of dedication, passion and imagination. (…)
Costa Rica’s verdant landscape has become the epicenter for this burgeoning niche market combining the best of luxury travel and adventure experiences. At the center of this action are two Costa Rican resorts, Finca Rosa Blanca Country Inn and Lapa Rios Ecolodge, both members of The International Ecotourism Society.
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Green Places To Stay: From Beach Huts to Eco-Chic Hotels, All Over The World
Edited by Richard Hammond
Alastair Sawday Publishing Co. Ltd.
September 2006
Teri and Glenn have created one of Costa Rica’s most recognized eco-friendly places to stay. Perched among guava and mango trees on a hilltop not far from the quiet suburbs of San José, there are wonderful views of coffee plantations and rolling country side…
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Five takes on Central America
Rich Beattie
TRAVEL + LEISURE
April 2006
Planning a trip to Costa Rica-where your choices are virtually endless- can be overwhelming. Here, five takes on Central America's jungle-and-beach paradise, whatever your interest.
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Finca Rosa Blanca, Santa Bárbara de Heredia
Condé Nast Traveler Concierge
January 18, 2006
A good intro to the country is Teri and Glenn Jampol's Central Valley homage to Antoni Gaudí. Once ensconced in their eccentrically luxurious seven-room, two-villa finca, you won't believe it's a mere 15-minute drive to San José airport. There's barely a right angle in the undulating, whitewashed interiors, handcrafted by artist-builder Glenn—it's all carved wood, murals, archways, Jacuzzi baths masquerading as jungle pools, antiques, patios, and beamed ceilings. Though this is a B&B (excellent breakfast with coffee from the surrounding plantations is included in the rates), nobody skips chef Pedro Alas' amazing guests-only four-course dinners, featuring organic produce and herbs from the lush and fertile grounds—in fact, people have been known to check in specifically to dine.
Santa Barbara de Heredia, Costa Rica
Tel: + (506) 2269-9392
info@fincarosablanca.com
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Exotic Retreats: Eco Resort Design From Barefoot Sophistication To Luxury Pad
Julia Faiers
Rotovision SA
2005
Finca Rosa Blanca, an extraordinary ecohotel overlooking the Central Valley in Costa Rica, started out as an unusually creative family home.
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Costa Rica Eco Delux
Gregory B. Gallagher
EXCHANGE
2005
Exuberant and savory pleasures abound in the tiny Central American democracy of Costa Rica.
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