Nestled just a short walk from the beach, this boutique hotel comprises 14 guest rooms, a three-bedroom villa, yoga shala, gym, restaurant, pool, and lobby, as well as the necessary back-of-house facilities. The site was surrounded by native vegetation and majestic Guanacaste trees, which became both the project’s greatest challenge and its most defining inspiration.

Designing a project of this scale without disturbing its natural surroundings demanded a thoughtful, sensitive approach. The vision was to create a place that feels tropical, sustainable, and sophisticated—yet understated.

The hotel’s zigzagging layout emerged as a direct response to the trees, allowing the architecture to weave between them rather than compete. This rhythm not only preserved the existing canopy but also created privacy between terraces, where guests can enjoy views toward a long central pool that anchors the project. The pool’s placement was strategic: it channels the wind through the site, naturally cooling the rooms with a soft breeze—a passive design gesture that enhances comfort while reducing environmental impact.

At the heart of the property, the restaurant was conceived as a tree itself, its expansive wooden ceiling delicately supported by slender metal columns that give the impression of floating among the branches. One of the site’s largest trees grows through this space, blurring the line between built form and nature.

Here, architecture and landscape merge into one living organism, where the jungle and the building coexist in quiet harmony, and nature becomes both the setting and the soul of the design.