Casa Tierra Viva

Guest: Grapes (USA)
Date of Stay: 07/23/11 Review Submitted: 09/03/11

Casa Tierra Viva was the name of the property when we rented in July of 2011. Pros: great location, right on the beach, lovely pool, the housekeeper was very friendly and helpful, property kept in very good condition. Jorge, the gentleman who does the pickup and drop off was great, very friendly and helpful (excellent surf instructor). Cons: we stayed 8 days and the one washing/cleaning day was on day 3 and not flexible. It would have been helpful if it were later in the week or if we were able to choose the day. There is a dog on the property which was not stated in the advertisement. He was friendly enough, but we had young children with us and had to be very mindful of where the dog was at all times. Also the dog would wonder into the house, follow us around town, on the beach, etc. This was annoying. The kitchen sink leaked profusely and we needed to use the towels to mop it up which created a towel shortage. The kitchen needs some attention in terms of maintenance. The trap in the faucet was full of pebbles. We cleaned it out and the water flow improved substantially. Sheets were very worn, beaded and rough. The restriction to keep the a/c off when not in the room or face a penalty fee was brutal given the heat. The kitchen living room area was not air conditioned and the window in the kitchen did not open so there was no cross breeze. Cooking was very unpleasant given the stuffiness. The locks for the front and back gates were difficult to use. No reference for a cook. We found one on our own and this was a must for us. This service should definitely be added. Boards for kids were advertised, but not available when we arrived. I emailed the owner and did not receive a response. Overall for the price was resonable given what we received.

Owner response:Nicole. I am sorry to hear that you had any negative experiences at Green Iguana. It appears that you did not rent the house through us, JacoVIP, and made your reservation through someone else before we took over the house exclusively from the owner. Had you rented the house through us (it's not your fault that you didn't ), we would have been easily reached to address any issues you had, and done what we could to correct them. I appreciate the concerns in your review and thank you for your feedback and again my apologies that your stay was not perfect. I assure you your next one, if booked with JacoVIP, will be a far better experience. We offer our guests the best vacation experiences and those that are lucky enough to find us have the highest quality vacations here in Costa Rica. Please know as well that we take care of everything for you from airport transfers, discounted tours/excursions, private chef service if requested, and are here for you 24/7 to make sure everything goes perfectly during your stay.

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, families with young children.

Donna (Texas)

Guest: Donna (Bedford, Texas)
Date of Stay: 07/09/11 Review Submitted: 07/19/11

We just got home from a stay at Casa Tierra Viva. There were six of us, 4 adults and two teenage girls, and we had a great time. The house and gardens are beautiful, and the pool is nice and clean. In fact the pool boy made several trips during the week cleaning and caring for the pool. I'm convinced there are just some people who can't be pleased no matter what. I loved Casa Tierra Viva and would stay there again, it's close to everything and right on the beach. There is a sweet old dog named Hank, that watched over us like he had known us forever. The housekeeper is very sweet and helpful and will do your laundry if you ask. We never felt unsafe while we were there and had no problem with theft. I can honestly say, I already miss being there.

Recommended for:Tourists without a car, families with teenagers.

A wonderful week

Guest: Lizann (DC area)
Date of Stay: 12/21/10 Review Submitted: 12/31/10

We have just returned from a wonderful week spent at Casa Tierra Viva. It could not have been more perfect. The houses are beautiful and perfectly maintained. The gardens are absolutely gorgeous. There are huge porches that provide shade and great places for our large family to gather for dinner each night. The sparkling clean pool has graduated ramps perfect for small children and deeper centers perfect for the 20 year olds. The gate opens from the pool onto the beach with great surfing. The adventures available from the house included ATVs, canopy tours, fishing, bungee jumping, and more. The owner and the caretaker got us headed in the right direction for everything we wanted to do. The caretaker was at the house at least two times a day and kept the place spotless. She also helped us with everything from ordering water to telling us when we could get the best fruit at the markets. Everyone associated with the house did everything they could to make our stay the best it could possibly be. We would highly recommend this house to anyone traveling to Jaco and can't wait to return ourselves.

Owner response:Lizann Thank you for your review. The house has changed names and is now called the Green Iguana Beach House. We have made a lot of improvements over the last 6 months including the addition of a 5th bedroom. Jaco VIP has taken over the management of the house and they have done a great jb at making quite a few needed improvements. Our guests have had terrific vacation here and the Jaco VIP staff really takes care of our guests. Thank again.

Recommended for:Age 55+, adventure seekers, sightseeing, tourists without a car, people with disabilities, romantic getaway, families with teenagers, families with young children.

very pleased with rental

Guest: HappyRunner (BC Canada)
Date of Stay: 12/27/07 Review Submitted: 04/06/08

Our 2 familes - total of 9 people stayed at this house over the Christmas hoildays in '07-'08. Our 5 kids (ages 16-20) stayed in the main house and the 4 adults lived in the pool house. We ate our breakfast and lunch in the house (on the porch and by the pool) and we ate our at night in the numerous restaurants in Jaco. The palm trees and the covered porches provide both sun and shade. Overall our experience was excellent. We were met at the airport by a shuttle (pre-arranged by owner) and driven to the door of the Beachhouse. Steve met us there (despite it being 01:00 AM) and made us feel very welcome. We did not rent a car and could easily walk to grocery stores and restaurants/shops. The house was beautiful and the location is as described - on the beach in the middle of Jaco. The gardens on the yard make it feel like an oasis. The cooking facilities are OK - the gas stove was mildly tempermental and the hot water was somewhat sporadic. There are 2 women who appear daily and clean both the outside and inside. They were both pleasant and thorough. This is not the Hyatt - the couches are a little warn and there are traces of the building aging. The bothrooms are OK. Overall, I thought it was charming. We were provided with 2 safes for our money and passports (which we used) but I never felt unsafe while staying in Costa Rica and specifically in this house. I would not recommend either this house or Costa Rica in general to my germaphobic aunt. But for someone who wants a great holiday punctuated by surfing on the beach by your back yard, warm water, lounging by your private pool under palm trees - this is a great place to stay

Recommended for:Families with teenagers.

Easter Week in Jaco

Guest: Cousin (Darby, Mt, USA)
Date of Stay: 03/01/08 Review Submitted: 03/28/08

Knowing that we were going to a third world country we did not have any surprises. The home is close to the grocery store, resturants, shopping and tour information. ATM and banks are very close. The beach is out the back door and it was a wonderfult place to people watch and enjoy the surf. A car was not needed. Many of the area tours are close and transporation was included. Taxi service is easily available. The home met our needs and was clean and served our two weeks of enjoying the country and people..

Recommended for:Age 55+, adventure seekers, sightseeing.

Casa Tierra Viva

Guest: Studebaker49 (Elko,Nevada, USA)
Date of Stay: 02/01/08 Review Submitted: 03/10/08

Still winding down from last months stay at Casa Tierra Viva. Very nice location right on the beach. We spent every evening watching the sun set. During the day we lounged in the chairs under the shade of the pool house. The staff that came by to clean and maintain the garden and the pool was very friendly. The tropical forest like setting, with the beach out front and the main street just a block away, made our stay very relaxing as we didn't need a rental car or worry about getting directions. We both hated to leave, heading back to snow country. Plan on returning back next winter.

Recommended for:Age 55+, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, families with teenagers.

Casa Tierra Viva

Guest: Ddotdnaeus (Luxemburg)
Date of Stay: 01/01/08 Review Submitted: 02/24/08

This is a house on the beach that was all over the internet as the perfect place to stay. It had beautiful pictures and it looked really nice until we got there. What the pictures don't show are the inside of the house, it only showed the beautiful outside and a bedroom and kitchen from a distance. First, there isn't a washer and dryer you can use like he states on his website...he has them both, but he prefered you don't use them. He doesn't have a telephone so you can't get any information besides from his tour buddy Serge. His wiring is so bad in the house that when you turn the water on, the lights dim. There are outlets and wires hanging everywhere and a fire hazard just waiting to happen. Its dark inside. The light fixtures are few and far and I can see why... its ugly inside. The paint is falling off the walls, the kitchen cubboards are gross and I wouldn't eat off anything inside them and there is only hotwater in one shower with no shower curtain.The other shower is warm. No hot water in the sinks (even the kitchen!)The floors are so dirty, you can't walk barefoot. The bathrooms smell like urine and the other shower curtain is full of mold! We actually bought cleaners ourselves and cleaned the stall. I wouldn't go barefoot in there either. The sink is falling off the wall and the toilet water running in the bathroom kept waking me up at night. In the rooms by the pool, there are no handles to open the doors so its a challenge to get them open and there are no locks on them. This leads to my biggest gripe of all....no security! When you arrive you can see great measures were taken to avoid break ins. Barbed wire, bigger gates, and there is actually broken glass bottles imbedded in concrete on top of a concrete wall and we saw someone sleeping on the beach at our gate. We didn't sleep at night because we were scared. It just felt wrong. When I finally got ahold of Steve, the owner(no phone!) we confronted him with these problems and he said "Welcome to Costa Rica!" then he told us there hasn't been a break in since October!! So we told him we couldn't stay. He was persistant on not refunding any money until my husband wasn't going to let him walk away until he did. The conversation with him got long, loud, and heated. Fortunately, he gave in and refunded 1/2 our money. We ended up paying for this dump and it was disappointing to lose that money but we had to move for the ease of mind. I wish I could post pictures to show how dirty it really was.

Owner response:In reponce to this review. This guest arrived at my beach house very upset, for what reason I dont know. The next day he told me that he was unhappy with the beach house and I refunded him his money. I can see from his mean spirited review that he is still upset. This is just one guys opinion with few things blown way out of porportion and the rest lies. Every interior wall on the property had new paint except for 2 bathrooms when this guest arrived. One of the bathrooms did have a 4 by 8 inche patch of paint peeling but now both bathrooms are also painted. My ketchin cubboards are wood with a red stain, bamboo doors with a white cerramic tile counter top, there is nothing gross about it.Every pot and pan in that cubboard was cleaned along with every square inch of the house the same day as this guest arrived. I personaly supervised 2 cleaning ladys for 6 hours and the house was clean. I do not let my guest use the washing machine, they often wash only one item and sometimes forget to shake the sand out first. I ask my guest to give my caretaker their laundry and she does it. This guest was told that but chose not to hear. At night the lights do dim from time to time but agian they do that all over town. This is a third world country To any future renters I guarantee you a clean house, a clean pool, comfortable beds with a great location right on the beach. Pura Vida Steve owner

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