The good stuff: Beach front (across dirt road/ path) with hot sand at low tides(kids love to run and play in the shallow water and wet sand) and decent surf waves (snorkeling or diving 15 to 30 min drive - no shortage of options) or fishing from the beach (better luck on a boat), short drive to restaurants/bakery/ groceries/ fruit stands (many towns within 15 minutes), comfy hammock and hammock chair on the porch, quiet location, local families enjoying the beach (children for you children to play with), brand new tiled charcoal BBQ (Thanks Pamela & Claudette), a good neighbor Dan and his dog Donna (great information on where everything is and to book fishing trips on a Panga with - Dan, not Donna), outside shower and hose with great pressure to rinse the volcanic sand from you and your stuff (or fill water guns for water fights!), friendly locals (the bakery up the highway at the gas station is a MUST), jungle tours a short drive away (Claudette can set you up fast),washing machine (small but effective - hang clothes to dry - more on that later), kitchen equipment works (fridge is cold, stove is hot) for making breakfast and light meals, ice cream man make almost daily visits... Costa Rica is awesome - relax and enjoy it.

Now, the not-so-good stuff: Shower water pressure is very poor (I even bought a new shower head because the other was plugged so bad - it must be the water supply lines to and from the water heater), the toilet and kitchen sink drain slowwww (clogged lines and full septic tank are the culprits - call Roto-Rooter soon), your fresh laundry has to be hung outside to dry (takes long in the high humidity, the clothesline is an old wire and needs to be raised or your clothes lay on the grass and we had someone steal some expensive clothes & beachwear when we had to leave it out overnight because it was still wet - not the accommodations' fault), cockroaches in the bathroom (need lots of sticky strips - not a surprise because it IS the tropics, bugs are common, didn't bother us - we just smash 'em and throw them out), the mattresses are lumpy and a bit hard (we're used to that in the tropics but a foam topper would help), the air conditioners are noisy (but they work well so turn them on before you go to bed and turn them down to sleep), the yard light is too bright (helped the thieves, not the renters who are trying to sleep - use motion detector LEDs), blankets and towels could use replacing, the living room 'furniture' should be tossed.