Maze LodgeTwo tourists on a hillside
We came as tourists and saw the land for the first time. We flew home to Denmark knowing exactly what we wanted to do with our lives: hand in our notice and start Maze Lodge.
About us · a hotel since 2024
We came for a trip. We stayed for the jungle.
We are two adventurers passionate about exploring the world. Our journey led us to Costa Rica in 2022, where the Osa Peninsula captivated us completely — so we took a chance on our dream and bought a piece of land filled with wonder.
Pursuing our dreams
This is more than a hotel. It's our heart.
Together we created Maze Lodge — a place that transports us and our guests back to the same sense of awe we felt on our first arrival. We run it with love and are deeply rooted in the local community of Puerto Jiménez and the Osa. We can recommend the restaurants we actually eat at and plan your tours with the local guides who know the area best.
We named it Maze Lodge because we know how easy it is to feel trapped in the maze of everyday life — the never-ending cycle of work, chores and responsibilities. Out here the maze is made of trees, and it has a way of showing you the way out.
The lodge is built with sustainability in mind — natural materials, solar power, our own well, four small buildings placed inside the existing forest so that the animals keep passing through exactly as they did before us. A hotel since 2024, Maze Lodge is a celebration of nature, sustainability and community — still early in its journey. Welcome to experience it with us.
How it happenedApril 2022 September 2022 December 2022 March 2023 Spring 2023 March – December 2023 January 2024 April 2024 May 2024 July 2024 December 2024 February 2025 May 2025
Since then
We didn’t clear the jungle. We built in the gap it left us.
We always meant this to be an eco hotel, which mostly meant deciding what not to touch. This plot already had an open shoulder up on the hill, and a clean natural line where the jungle begins. We built inside those two things and moved almost nothing.
2022
We bought it
After a great deal of due diligence and a great many Spanish documents translated line by line, we bought the land that is now Maze Lodge. There was nothing on it — maize, a banana plantation and jungle.
A builder, in a bar
Alexander met a constructor over a beer. By the end of the evening it was settled: there should obviously be a hotel on that land, and he wanted to help build it.
We start with Toucan
After a good deal of thought, Alexander, Frida and Gabriel began building. Toucan Lodge first.
The terrace came out twice the size
We couldn’t speak Spanish yet, and it showed. The terrace was built the same size as the house; it was meant to be half that. It is now one of the things guests love most about the place.
Three cabins at once, and no money
We decided it was a marvellous idea to spend everything on three cabins rather than finish one. We ran out of money more than once, flew back to Denmark to earn more, and returned to keep building. Before we left we hired Zayro. He lived in Toucan Lodge with no furniture, very little water and even less electricity, and he held the place together while we were away. He is our guest manager today.
One thing at a time
We had saved enough to come back, and this time we finished one cabin instead of starting three. Zayro was still there, and said only that he had rather enjoyed being without internet and bathing in the river, the way people used to.
Toucan Lodge is finished
Our first finished cabin — and the start of work on the others, which were nowhere near done.
The pool defeats us
We started digging and ran out of both money and any real idea of how to build a pool properly in a jungle. We paused it in August.
Lars and Mikkel join
Investors came on board — Lars and Mikkel from Resights, young people like us who wanted a part of the madness.
Our first guests
Toucan Lodge and Morpho Lodge opened. After two and a half years, Maze Lodge had guests.
Turtle Lodge, nearly
After years of money trouble, building in a jungle we were determined not to damage, and making a life in another country, Turtle Lodge was almost done.
Three cabins and a pool
Finished. Every person who started this project is still here.
Running it, and getting better at it
We learn something every day. None of this would have happened without the people who helped us along the way, and we have not forgotten a single one of them.
What we believe
Travel is a privilege. So is the jungle.
We work with local conservation organisations to protect the rainforest around us. We use eco-friendly products, keep the lodges small, keep the road rough and keep the lights low. Read our philosophy →
2022we arrived on the Osa
2024Maze Lodge opened
4small lodges, built into the forest
Book direct
Come and see what we fell for.
Four private lodges, from $110 a night, hosted by the people who built them.
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Free cancellation up to 7 days beforeTours booked for you with local guidesWe answer within 24 hoursSolar power & our own well water