Harmony Hotel

Overview

Description

The Harmony Hotel is a stone's throw from the best break on Playa Guiones, home to the best surf in Nosara and some of the most consistent year-round waves in the world. Adventurers will have fun exploring other local surf spots: Playa Pelada for a reef break that's best with a north swell at incoming high tide, Playa Nosara for a great beach break with peaks and shallow rock reef lefts that get barrelling with a large south or southwest swell, and Playa Ostional for a beach and reef break with rights and lefts that works on higher tides and south to southwest swells. Playa Ostional is also part of the National Refuge where hundreds of thousands of olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea), and Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas) lay eggs annually.

At the Harmony, comfort meets effortless sustainability. Here guests can enjoy the rare luxury of knowing that the beauty they see is rooted in ecologically sound practices. The landscape has been restored to thrive as it once did -- on limited external resources and organic gardening. Plant positioning is informed by the needs of local wildlife to create an inviting habitat for diverse animal species. See the "Making a Difference" section below for more information on our sustainability initiatives.

Rooms

• We have 10 "Cocos" rooms, each one opens onto its own private, enclosed back patio equipped with a heated shower and seating area.
• 13 bungalows are spread throughout the property's gardens, each with an open layout and comfortably furnished seating area. The room extends to a raised floor with an inviting bed. All bungalows have a wooden deck built around them with rocking chairs and hammocks. Some of them have a heated outside shower.
• One Suite; located just steps away from the ocean, our two bedroom suite bungalow is the ideal accommodation for your family or group. It features two ample bedrooms with luxurious king-sized beds, additional sofa beds, and one large bathroom with a bathtub and shower. A wide wooden deck with hammocks and outdoor furniture wraps around the bungalow and gets bathed in sunlight each morning. The two bedroom bungalow suite can comfortably accommodate up to 6 adults.

Making a Difference

At the Harmony Hotel, we have worked diligently to incorporate the standards set forth by the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) program into our operations. This rig­orous certification system, adminis­tered by the Costa Rican Ministry of Tourism, awards hotels with a sus­tainability rating of “leaves” based on a scale of one to five.

CST bases its rating on four factors:

• Physical-biological environment: How does the property impact and protect its surrounding environment?
• Services and infrastructure: How does the property’s operations af­fect the environment?
• Socio-economic environment: What effect does the property have on nearby communities, including staff and community education as well as community service pro­viders?
• External clients: How does the property promote and teach respon­sible tourism with guests?

People frequently ask us why is it necessary for the Harmony Hotel to be certified as a green hotel when we are already implementing a num­ber of sustainability practices. We have found that in a climate where green-washing has exploded as a marketing ploy, it is an important part of our mission to identify the Harmo­ny Hotel as genuine in its passionate commitment to the environment and local community throughout every level of its operations. In doing so, we can help travelers to create an itiner­ary that is truly aligned with their eco­logical interests and concerns.

CST is not currently mandatory for all properties in Costa Rica, which makes it even more imperative that the consumer chooses a CST cer­tified business. By doing so, they will support fair, honest and, above all, truly sustainable business practices.

Some of the sustainable features the Harmony Hotel has incorporated into the facility include:

• On-site vegetable and herb garden
• Nutrient-rich soil thanks to compost made from the hotel's kitchen waste and garden clippings
• Landscaped gardens irrigated via UV-filtered gray water system
• Monitoring of water consumption, waste, and electricity use throughout the hotel
• Rigorous recycling
• Seedling program aimed at the reintroduction of native plant species to the hotel property and surrounding land
• Education for guests, including labeled vegetation on our beautiful pathways that are frequented by gorgeous birds and butterflies
• Sustainability-oriented book and gift store
• Copper, silver, and zinc ion swimming pool (no chlorine)
• Weekly documentary showings focusing on healthy lifestyles and sustainable living
• Educational workshops and tree planting activities along the beach for local community and guests
• Safe, clean, convenient, and economical community living for staff on site
• Bio-diesel generator

The Harmony Hotel participates in the following projects related to the sustainable development of Nosara:

• Blue Flag Certification
• Plant a tree program
• Protecting Them: Code of Conduct to Fight Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in Travel and Tourism
• Green drinks
• Carbon offsets
• Environmental education by the Quiksilver Surf Team schools of Nosara: turning hope into a reality
• Protect the howler monkeys

Rates

$150 and up

For more information about rates, please visit:

• www.harmonynosara.com/en/reservations_rates.html (available in English).

Getting There

Nearest international airport: Liberia (LIR)

Nearest local/national airport: Nosara (NOB)

Travel time to nearest airport: 15 minutes

Four-wheel drive vehicles are recommended when driving to the Harmony. The hotel can be reach year-round.

Additional Information

Date This Information Was Provided

October 2012.

Photos courtesy of Harmony Hotel, Costa Rica, for SustainableTrip.org.