Before you book

Policies, terms & privacy

Last updated: 2 October 2026

Cancellation · Payment · Check-in · Who can stay · House rules · Privacy · Terms of use

Cancellation & changes

Direct hostel bookings are non-refundable.

You can change the dates of your booking once, free of charge, if you ask us at least 48 hours before check-in and we have availability for the new dates. Any difference in price between the old and the new dates is settled when the change is made.

If you don’t arrive, or you leave early, we can’t refund the nights you don’t use.

If we ever have to cancel your stay for a reason on our side, we will offer you new dates or a full refund.

Guided experiences have their own conditions: free cancellation up to 48 hours before the tour; less than 48 hours before, a 50% charge applies. Payment for a tour is due at least 48 hours before it.

If you booked through Booking.com, Airbnb or Hostelworld, that platform’s own cancellation terms apply.

Payment

Prices are in US dollars, per bed per night. The total shown before you confirm is the total you pay.

Your stay is paid online, in full, when you book (secure card payment). Until online payment is available on this site, send your booking request and our team will confirm availability on WhatsApp and tell you how to pay; your stay is confirmed once we receive your payment.

Shop items and experiences are paid together with your stay or as agreed with our team on WhatsApp.

Check-in & check-out

Check-in from 2:00 PM. Check-out by 11:00 AM. Early check-in and late check-out (until 1:00 PM) are included with the Essential and Explorer packages when there is availability. Stays of more than 14 nights are arranged with our team on WhatsApp.

Reception is open from 8 AM to 8 PM. Tell us your arrival time on WhatsApp so we can welcome you.

Who can stay

Guests must be 18 or older. Guests aged 16 and 17 may stay with written permission from a parent or legal guardian, which we ask you to send us before you arrive. We can’t accept guests under 16 in the dorms.

The Women-Only Dorm is reserved exclusively for women guests. Everyone in a booking for this dorm must be a woman.

House rules

• Quiet hours are from 10 PM to 7 AM, so everyone is rested and ready for the trail.
• No smoking or vaping inside the building; please use the outdoor areas.
• Only registered guests may enter the dorms. Visitors are welcome in the common areas.
• Alcohol is for the common areas only, not for the dorms.
• Look after your belongings: use your locker (the Essential and Explorer packages include a locker with lock) or your own padlock. Wild FoREST can’t be responsible for items left unattended.
• A lost key, or a towel on loan that is not returned at check-out, may be charged at replacement cost.

Privacy notice

Wild FoREST Hostel, Santa Elena, Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, is responsible for your personal data. You can reach us at supportwildforest@gmail.com.

What we collect and why.

• Booking requests and WhatsApp messages: your name, e-mail, phone or WhatsApp number, country, dates and special requests — to answer you, manage your stay and keep the guest records the law requires.
• Reviews: your name, country, rating, text and reservation number — to check that you stayed with us. The reservation number is never published.
• Newsletter: your e-mail address — to send you news from the forest. You can unsubscribe at any time.
• On your device: this site saves your language, your shop cart and the progress of your visit in your browser. It does not use advertising or analytics cookies. The map is provided by Google Maps, which may set its own cookies.

Who we share it with. Only the services that help us run the site and talk to you: Vercel (hosting and the private storage of reviews), WhatsApp (messages), Mailchimp (newsletter), Google (map) and, when online payments are active, our payment provider. We never sell your data.

How long we keep it. Booking details for as long as needed to manage your stay and to meet legal and accounting obligations; newsletter e-mails until you unsubscribe; reviews until you ask us to remove them.

Your rights. Under Costa Rica’s law on the protection of personal data (Law 8968) you can ask to see, correct or delete your data, or withdraw your consent, by writing to supportwildforest@gmail.com.

Terms of use

We keep the information on this site (prices, descriptions, hours) as accurate as we can. Availability is confirmed by our team: a booking request is not a confirmation until we confirm it.

Guided experiences are run by independent local operators, who follow their own safety rules and make their own weather decisions.

These terms are governed by the laws of Costa Rica.

Questions?

Message us on WhatsApp at this link or write to supportwildforest@gmail.com.