Private Villas and Hot Springs: Rainforest Wellness

Written by Albert Ghitis | Dec 7, 2025

For most of modern hotel history, luxury was measured in scale. The largest lobby, the grandest ballroom, the biggest pool. That logic has shifted. High-end travelers now value space, seclusion, and control: their own entrance, their own outdoor area, and water they do not share with strangers.

A Forbes article framed it bluntly: privacy is “the new luxury” of travel. Industry analysis points in the same direction. A 2024 report from McKinsey on today’s luxury traveler found that high-net-worth guests are more likely to travel to disconnect, seek calm, and enjoy privacy and exclusivity, often choosing larger suites and villas over standard rooms and preferring nature-rich, less crowded destinations McKinsey luxury traveler report

Private pools sit at the center of this trend. They remove the social calculation that comes with a shared pool: where to sit, who is watching, how noisy it is, whether you feel on display in a swimsuit. In a villa or tent with a plunge pool, the space belongs entirely to the guest. Privacy becomes a spatial and psychological condition, not just an architectural detail.

In a nature-based resort, the effect is amplified. Stepping into your own pool with rainforest or volcano views, with no one else in sight, combines seclusion, setting, and sensory experience in a single moment. It is not simply “a nicer pool.” It is a different category of stay.

Our three properties show how privacy, water, and landscape converge into a distinct style of nature-based wellness

From Roman Baths to Rainforest Springs

Long before homes and fences, early hunter-gatherers lived as mobile bands beneath open skies. Privacy then came from distance instead of doors. As groups grew, families camped farther apart, creating personal space without walls, a pattern echoed in anthropological work on hunter-gatherer settlement patterns

With Neolithic farming, everything changed. Permanent villages, storage, and land ownership pushed people closer together. Bricks, thatch, and early fences started to mark thresholds between public and private life. Courtyards and enclosed rooms appeared, and shared rituals such as communal bathing began to carry new social meaning.

In the twenty-first century, the pendulum has swung again. In a world of constant notifications and crowded shared spaces, the most sought-after luxury in travel has become privacy. For many travelers, the ideal stay is no longer a grand lobby or a busy resort pool. It is a villa with its own plunge pool, surrounded by nature, where you step from bed into warm water without seeing another guest. At our Costa Rican properties private villas and tents are paired with plunge pools fed by natural volcanic hot springs.

The story of hot-spring villas in Costa Rica sits inside a much older history of people seeking warm, mineral-rich water for health and ritual.

In Roman Britain, the city now called Bath grew around a natural hot spring that discharges roughly a million liters of water per day at about 46 to 47 °C. The Romans built a major bathing complex there in the first century, combining temple, pools, and social spaces around the spring. Aquae Sulis remains one of the clearest examples of how architecture and geothermal water fused into a civic and religious center.

Across the Roman world, large thermae in cities like Rome and Caracalla, and smaller neighborhood balnea, were organized as sequences of rooms with different temperatures: frigidarium (cool), tepidarium (warm), and caldarium (hot). Visitors moved gradually through heat and cold, pairing bathing with exercise, massage, conversation, and rest. Hypocaust heating systems circulated hot air beneath floors and through walls to keep rooms and pools at the desired temperature.

Thermal bathing moved in and out of fashion over the centuries. Early modern Europe saw spa towns such as Baden-Baden, Vichy, and Bath become destinations for the wealthy, mixing medical “cure seasons” with social life, promenades, and elaborate bathhouses. By the nineteenth century, “taking the waters” at a spa was both a health prescription and a status symbol.

The Science

Systematic reviews of balneotherapy for musculoskeletal pain suggest that repeated immersion in warm, mineral-rich baths can reduce pain and improve function in conditions such as osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain, although protocols and mineral compositions vary.
Reviews of balneotherapy mechanisms highlight three broad levers: heat (improved circulation and muscle relaxation), hydrostatic pressure (joint support and venous return), and mineral content (possible local or systemic effects depending on composition), although the role of specific minerals remains under study.

Japan’s Onsen Culture and Iceland’s Blue Lagoon

The global picture of thermal waters today is shaped as much by Asia and the North Atlantic as by Roman Europe. Two of the clearest contemporary examples are Japan’s onsen culture and Iceland’s Blue Lagoon.

In Japan, onsen, or hot springs, are deeply embedded in domestic travel and daily life. Traditional ryokan inns often center their design around communal or private baths fed by geothermal sources, with an emphasis on quiet, ritual, and respect for surroundings. The Japanese Hot Springs Law defines onsen by mineral content and temperature, and many resorts classify their waters by chemical profile, with cultural narratives around which springs are thought to soothe particular ailments .

In Iceland, the Blue Lagoon represents a different model. Set in a lava field on the Reykjanes Peninsula, it is filled with geothermal seawater rich in silica, which gives the lagoon its milky blue color. Originally formed from water discharged from a nearby power plant, it evolved into a wellness and tourism destination after visitors reported improved symptoms of skin conditions such as psoriasis.

Costa Rica’s Private Villas with Plunge Pools

Active geothermal systems beneath Arenal Volcano heat underground water, which emerges as hot springs used by various resorts for soaking pools and villa plunge pools. Surrounding rainforest, wildlife, and mountain views create a very different atmosphere from European spa towns or Japanese inns.

Nayara Springs is an adults-only property built around a small collection of villas. Each Spring Villa includes a private plunge pool fed by natural hot springs, sourced from the volcanic aquifer beneath Arenal. Architecturally, the villas use high ceilings, dark woods, and indoor-outdoor bathrooms to blur the line between interior and garden while preserving full privacy from neighboring guests. The pool is a focal point, visible from the bed and living area, easily accessed, and clearly separate from any shared water features.

Next door, Nayara Tented Camp takes cues from luxury tented safaris while using Arenal’s steep slopes and hot springs as its foundation. Elevated tents sit along ridgelines and hillsides, with wide decks that include private plunge pools supplied by geothermal water. Many tents face Arenal Volcano, so guests see a long view over the canopy with their pool in the foreground.

What the Science Says

The appeal of a private plunge pool in the rainforest or facing a volcano is intuitive. Warm water, fresh air, and greenery feel good. Research from several fields helps explain why.

According to a McKinsey study, affluent travelers are two to three times more likely than mass travelers to say that one of their main reasons for traveling is to disconnect from digital devices and everyday pressures, aligning privacy with emotional rest as much as physical seclusion.
Villa-focused industry reports describe private villas as offering “a level of privacy that even the finest five-star hotels cannot compete with,” with private pools, gardens, and separate entrances cited as key differentiators.
Luxury Daily connects the rise in villa demand directly to a desire for fewer shared spaces, higher control over social contact, and the ability to gather with loved ones in seclusion.

One 2025 trial in Turkey found that warm salt-water and warm fresh-water baths for hands and feet, three times per week for six weeks, led to significant improvements in pain, fatigue, and sleep quality in people with rheumatoid arthritis compared with a control group, with the salt-water group showing the strongest gains in functional capacity.
Reviews of hydrotherapy emphasize the combined effect of heat, hydrostatic pressure, and buoyancy, which together promote muscle relaxation, support joints, aid venous return, and reduce perceived effort.
Work in environmental and hospitality psychology suggests that perceived control over one’s environment, including the ability to withdraw from others and control visibility, plays a significant role in how restorative a space feels. Private rooms with views of nature are consistently rated as more restorative than shared or windowless spaces, even when floor area is similar.
Studies on hotel privacy and guest trust show that when guests feel their physical and informational privacy are respected, satisfaction and loyalty intentions rise. Perceived crowding and lack of privacy can increase stress and reduce perceived quality, even when other service elements are strong.

The Water Remembers

From roaming tribes to resort villas, the story of bathing mirrors the human journey from communal life to individualized comfort. Yet even in private plunge pools, the spirit of those ancient hot springs survives: we still seek warmth, relaxation, and maybe a little magic from the earth beneath our feet.

Taken together, the picture is consistent. Warm water can ease pain and promote relaxation. Green and blue environments support psychological restoration. Private, controllable spaces increase the sense of safety needed for deep rest. A villa with its own plunge pool in a rainforest or volcanic setting is, in effect, a small, purpose-built environment where all three elements intersect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are hot-spring plunge pools medical treatments?

Hot-spring and warm-water pools are best understood as supportive wellness experiences, not stand-alone medical treatments. Clinical reviews on balneotherapy show benefits for pain and quality of life when used alongside standard care, but protocols, mineral compositions, and durations vary. Guests with specific conditions should follow medical advice, especially regarding water temperature, time in the pool, and cardiovascular limits.

How long should a typical soak last?

Many spa and balneotherapy guidelines suggest moderate sessions of around 10 to 20 minutes in comfortably warm water, with breaks to cool down and rehydrate, especially in hotter pools. The right duration depends on health status, temperature, and personal tolerance. People with cardiovascular or blood pressure issues should be cautious and consult a clinician.

Do private pools use more water or energy than shared ones?

Private plunge pools hold less water than large shared pools, but they are more numerous. Their environmental impact depends on design choices: water treatment systems, insulation, heating methods, and refill practices. Some resorts reduce impact by using gravity-fed hot springs, efficient circulation, solar energy, and careful pool sizing. Frameworks and certifications focused on sustainable tourism provide guidance on how properties manage this balance.

Is there evidence that nature views matter if you are already in warm water?

Studies on hospital recovery and restorative environments suggest that views of nature can reduce stress and improve outcomes even when people are relatively inactive, such as post-surgery patients. Experiments with both virtual and real nature views show consistent gains in mood and perceived restoration compared with urban or no-view conditions. Combining warm-water immersion with such views would, based on current evidence, be expected to support relaxation and perceived well-being, even though specific research on this exact combination is still limited.

How does privacy factor into wellness beyond comfort or preference?

Privacy affects how free people feel to let their guard down. Environmental psychology studies indicate that when individuals feel they are not being watched or evaluated, they are more willing to rest, reflect, and engage in self-care. In hotels, designs that minimize unwanted social exposure and give guests control over interaction tend to be rated as more relaxing and restorative, even when other amenities are similar. In this sense, private villas and plunge pools act as structural support for psychological recovery, not only as amenities.