Hotel Belmar, the family hotel in Costa Rica’s Monteverde cloud forest, has unveiled the Hotel Belmar Artista Villas, a collection of 10 private villas that it says moves the property beyond sustainability and into regeneration.
The launch comes 40 years after the hotel helped to establish Monteverde as a leading destination for nature-based travel. For UK business travellers, and for the companies that book incentive trips, leadership retreats and client hospitality on their behalf, it adds a small, high-end option in a country that has built its tourism reputation on environmental protection.
They are 10 standalone villas built on former cattle-grazing land that is now undergoing ecological restoration. Hotel Belmar says the project was designed around low-impact construction, responsible water management and energy-efficient systems, with the stated aim of restoring the land rather than simply limiting damage to it.
According to Hotel Belmar’s Artista Villas page, the collection is made up of seven one-bedroom villas and three two-bedroom villas. Guests are promised panoramic forest views and interiors finished in warm natural materials, with a design intended to reflect the slow pace of life in Monteverde.
The project also draws on Costa Rican creative talent. Work by local artists, designers and craftspeople features throughout, which the hotel says keeps the villas rooted in the culture of the area as well as its ecology. The owners present the development as the latest chapter in a four-decade family story, not a break from it.
The hotel’s approach to regenerative hospitality extends to two other parts of the estate, both open to guests.
The first is Finca Madre Tierra, which Hotel Belmar describes as Costa Rica’s first carbon-neutral farm. Visitors can see regenerative agriculture at work and learn how food, soil and the surrounding land depend on each other.
The second is SAVIA, the hotel’s 17-acre private cloud forest reserve. It offers slow, sensory forest immersions that take guests from the forest floor up to the canopy and combine science with discovery. The hotel says these experiences are central to its philosophy and are not optional extras.
That matters to employers because, as our feature on regenerative travel for business travellers set out, more organisations want trips that leave a destination in better condition than they found it.
Scale is the first consideration. With only 10 villas, this is a venue for a board away-day, a senior leadership retreat or a reward trip for a handful of top performers, not a sales conference. That intimacy will appeal to companies that want privacy and a clear sense of place.
The second consideration is evidence. Regeneration is a stronger claim than sustainability, and any business that plans to cite a stay in its own environmental reporting should ask the hotel for measurable detail on land restoration, water use and energy performance before it books. The long-haul flights needed to reach Central America will still sit on the company’s carbon ledger, whatever happens on the ground.
Third, the property lends itself to extending a work trip. Executives with meetings in the region could add a few days in the hills, and our guide to combining business travel with leisure covers how to handle the policy, insurance and expenses questions that follow. Anyone building a longer itinerary will also find our tips for planning a Costa Rica adventure trip useful.
The announcement does not include rates, so travel bookers weighing up the Hotel Belmar Artista Villas for a 2027 programme will need to approach the hotel directly. They should also check the Foreign Office travel advice for Costa Rica for entry requirements and health guidance before confirming any trip.
Hotel Belmar is pitching itself as one of the standout luxury stays of 2027. For companies that want a reward trip to carry a credible environmental story, it is one to add to the shortlist, provided the detail behind the claims holds up.
