Great stay in Samara

Guest: BJ (Atlanta, Ga)
Date of Stay: 01/22/12 Review Submitted: 01/27/12

Great value for the accommodations!! Would highly recommend. Monkeys visited the trees adjacent to the house, as did iguanas. Beach was close, but no shade if that's what one is seeking. We drove three minutes around the corner to Carrillo Beach, where there were lots of palms offering shade, and vendors offered cool refreshments. Owners checked on us to make sure all was OK. The cell phone furnished was a great help. Clean and adequate. Be sure to bring your own bath soap -- we didn't know it wasn't furnished and had to buy, but that was OK. Beach equipment stored in laundry room, but we had no instructions it was there -- found it by accident. Books and DVDs that were in the house were a plus. Walk to Samara village via beach possible -- probably 15-20 minutes, but we drove. Found several restaurants owned by US ex-pats, amazingly most from the Atlanta area!!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers.

Good value and great location for those with transportation

Guest: Eastside (Joshua Tree, CA)
Date of Stay: 12/19/11 Review Submitted: 12/29/11

Pros: Great isolated location, easy beach access, wildlife abundant on the property, AC in both bedrooms, washing machine on site, housekeeping service, attentive and responsive management. Cons: plumbing issues, mold, very dark inside the house, no ceiling fans.

Recommended for:Sightseeing, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Casa dos Loros is Paradise

Guest: Suemac (Thunder Bay, Ontario)
Date of Stay: 12/27/10 Review Submitted: 04/03/11

Casa dos Loros was paradise. We loved spending hours relaxing on the back deck, reading our books, enjoying the view of the ocean, and listening to and watching the wildlife. The beach, a three-minute walk from the house, was incredible. It reminded us of the south Pacific and the sunsets, for which we went down to the beach on a daily basis, were spectacular. We especially enjoyed New Year’s Eve on the beach when we had a fire and watched all the numerous fireworks. We would not hesitate to rent Casa dos Loros again.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+.

Definite value

Guest: Fenster (Boston MA)
Date of Stay: 04/22/10 Review Submitted: 04/27/10

We are a family of five and the kids are getting old enough that trying to fit into one hotel room is getting near impossible. We settled in very comfortably to this place on Samara Beach. It is true that it is not "right on" the beach, but you are not separated by other houses or by a road. After you pass a nice motel at the intersection of the main road, it's basically this place and then the beach (there's another place behind some trees closer to the beach on the other side of the road but you can barely see it). You look out from the porch over some empty land separating you from the beach, with the water in view. The place is situated at the very southern end of Samara Beach. It would be quite a hike to walk all the way to the town center--I expect it is a good couple of miles. On the other hand, you on a private stretch of Samara and are essentially right around the corner (a two minute drive by car) from Carillo Beach, which is nicer in most respects than Samara, especially considering the ability to sit under the shaded coconut palms on Carillo on a hot day. The house is spotless and well appointed. There seemed to be more places for rent up in the hills, and they advertised that they were attractive considering their excellent views of the bay, that they had pools or that they were architectually interesting. That's probably all true, but I still think we made the right decision to rent this place. At least for us, there is no substitute for being near the water and if the house isn't architecturally stunning, it more than made up for it in terms of location, value and space.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Guest: Pam (-)
Date of Stay: 12/12/08 Review Submitted: 12/12/08

Thank you so much for opening up your house. We had a great vacation, very relaxing. Your home was perfect! I can't think of a single thing I would have had different. Thanks for sharing. By the way I have 3 other people who have asked for your web site to look into your house for their trip. I hope they call!! Pam

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Guest: Dylan (-)
Date of Stay: 07/21/08 Review Submitted: 07/21/08

Hey Lisandra! First off, HOLY COW! Samara was INCREDIBLE! All of Costa Rica was awesome, but particularly out final week spent at your place. So... we had just spent 2 weeks at the turtle volunteer program, which was pretty rugged living and an awesome experience. The trip from the volunteer program to Samara took the entire day, and by the end we were completely drained... and so happy to find Melissa waiting for us at the bus stop. She drove us to your place and we were immediately BLOWN AWAY! Electricity, water, a fridge - so many amenities we'd been without for a few weeks. Needless to say, we had an awesome time! THANK YOU so much for opening your home to us, we really appreciate it more than you can imagine! It was the best vacation of my life, one I'll surely never forget. Cheers, Dylan p.s. We left an iPod cable plugged into the stereo - so now you can hook up any mp3 player. Also left some converters (funny how 1/2 of the outlets in Costa Rica are German) and some books.

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Guest: Monica (-)
Date of Stay: 05/15/08 Review Submitted: 05/15/08

"Thanks for letting me visit Casa Dos Loros! All the animals in the back yard are amazing: howler monkeys, halloween crabs, frogs.... The beach is beautiful and the water is nice and warm. Perfect for hanging out all day playing in the water. The highlights? I may have wiped out a lot, but the surfing lessons were a blast. Our fishing trip was more of a success and resulted in a very tasty lunch. I think my only complaint was having to go home again so soon....."

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Guest: Daniel (-)
Date of Stay: 05/05/08 Review Submitted: 05/05/08

"I had a wonderful time in Casa Dos Loros, a very nice home close to what you can almost consider a private beach, I was the only one for miles ... it was great!! getting away from everything"

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Guest: Nora and Jacob (-)
Date of Stay: 01/25/08 Review Submitted: 01/25/08

"Thank you for allowing us to stay in your cute little house. We loved our visit to Samara (one week) and we are heading to Corcovado for another week. What we have loved about Samara was the great food. Someone told me or I read it that the food in Costa Rica was marginal, not true!!!, very good. Also, everyone in Samara was great ..." "Also the sunsets in Carrillo beach were awesome and we loved the visit to the Zoo in Carrillo. A must see if you like quaint places and animals. Also the visits from the howlers monkeys everyday in the backyard were great !!! "

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Guest: Brent and Nichole (-)
Date of Stay: 01/10/08 Review Submitted: 01/10/08

"Thank you for a wonderful stay in Samara. We have really enjoyed our visit to Costa Rica. It was the first time for both of us and we will definitely be back ..." "The people of Samara were very friendly. We enjoyed kayaking to the island and snorkeling. And we had all of the awesome food. We will recommend driving to Nosara for a day. It is a beautiful drive with gorgeous beaches along the way"

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