A GEM IN ATENAS! TROPICAL PARADISE AWAITING YOU.

We loved our stay at Quinta Collina Paula. It is a beautiful and airy home with extensive tropical gardens. Everything about the home is inviting and comfortable. We had all that we needed and more. The weather in August was perfect, the little town of Atenas is charming with several good restaurants and it is easy to get around the area. Property managers Piet and Yvonne were also wonderful and so helpful. We hope to visit again and we thank you!

This property is a little piece of paradis. It is secluded and perfect. It is indeed a gem. We staying 4 days and we were sad to leave. We saw toucans, iguanas, lizards and all kind of birds without leaving the property. Definitely a must. The house is beautiful, warm and welcoming. Thank you Tonia. Thank you to Pete the property for his beautiful personality, his smile his welcoming attitude and his resourcefulness. Yvon’s prepared menus are delicious and welcoming after a full day of travel.

We stayed for one week in April. The property was gorgeous and the listing was very representative of what actually looked like. We had some issues with ants the first night (after a big rain storm), but property managers very responsive and got better after that. Just have to use common sense with making sure all food put away and no crumbs. We saw all sorts of birds on the property (toucans, parakeets, beautiful yellow and blue birds). The hammocks were a family favorite for relaxing. The property managers were very helpful and we used them to get to/from the airport and their tour partner helped us book our car (which we picked up and dropped off near the house) and some tours. The weather was warm (but not super hot like in other areas) and generally rained in the afternoon/evening. Atenas is near a main road so made it fairly easy to go in the different directions we wanted to see. We did Zipline tour, Tortuga Island Cruise, Jaco Beach, Manuel Antonio (highly recommend), La Paz Waterfall gardens and on the way back from La Paz came across a Starbucks coffee farm which also had open concept store overlooking valley of coffee and waterfall (was beautiful). House included Wifi, but didn't work great for us (but we do have family of 4 with 2 kids who like to stream shows). Ideal house if you want private small town/local experience.

Great location up higher so a little cooler. House is fantastic and has everything you need. Hope to return another time.

My husband and I stayed 5 wonderful weeks at Colina Paula. The pictures on the website do it absolut justice. The weather was just perfect, only 2 minutes of rain, which brought out the noisiest chorus of Cicada’s I ever heard.

The hardest choices were which of the several beautiful seating areas to choose, which one offered the best chance of seeing birds at a particular time of day or the best breeze. We enjoyed the pool everyday, along with the Great Kiskadees, which liked to dive-bomb it for their daily belly bath. The house was spotless, beautifully decorated and generously equipped with paper goods, detergents, towels, wraps etc. and even a welcoming bottle of wine, so we did not have to purchase anything other than food (and more wine).

This was our first trip to Costa Rica, so we played it by ear regarding renting a car. Piet, the very amiable property manager, picked us up cheerfully from the airport at 4 am, due to a 5 hour delay. In the end, we decided against renting a car, as it was the nicest to just stay at the house. We used Piet’s driving service for a trip to La Paz Waterfalls (Poas was closed due to volcanic activity) and Manuel Antonio. Out of these 2 trips, La Paz was much more enjoyable and a must, but we found it worthwhile to also explore the Pacific Coast.

For shopping trips to Atenas and the nearby Toledo Coffee tour, we hired the very reasonable taxi service of grounds keeper Emilio’s relative Heriberto. One caveat for us seniors for relying on taxi service was the fact though, that the road to the house is very steep and somebody had to be by the road to open and close the gate, as the clicker did not work over that long distance. As there was no phone, Piet kindly lent us an old cellphone. The hoped for walk to Atenas proved not to be advisable. No sidewalks and somewhat hazardous. Sneaked into the neighbouring function facility with its even more spectacular grounds and views.

This house is perfect for 4 to 5 people. With just my husband and myself, I felt at times a bit isolated. He was happy as a clam about that though. We were surprised about everything in Costa Rica being behind locked fences, so not much opportunity for walks. I spent a lot of time exploring the fauna and flora on the reliable internet. (In case you will be wondering what those huge “nuts” are: They are “Stinky Toe” fruits. The noise on the roof elusive iguanas!)

... running out of characters! Missing having coffee outside!