I stayed at Chango Villa with a group of 4 families, so we had both adults and teenagers in the house. The teens stayed on the ground floor, where they essentially had their own bedrooms, bathrooms and a kitchen, while the parents stayed on the second floor. The first floor had one bedroom, the master kitchen and a living room. We ate all of our meals outside on the covered patio in front of the pool. The experience was, in a word, exceptional.
We opted for the meal plan, and Teresa, our cook, did an outstanding job at accommodating the various special dietary needs of our group, including the need for some to eat gluten-free, others who could not eat onions, and some who were vegetarian. She navigated that challenge effortlessly, and the meals were all delicious.
Everything was spotless, inside and out. The mattress on the beds were firm (perfect for me, but some might not like a firm mattress), and the sheets were soft. I loved having the options of simply keeping the sliding doors of the bedroom open to let the sea breezes in, using a ceiling fan, or having the air conditioning on. Security is excellent. There is room for four cars to park next to the house. We used the flat roof for a birthday party, which was great. There is a house next door to Chango Villa that is very close to the property, but because of the foliage and clever tilework, you can barely see each other. Chango feels very private, even though you are aware of others being around you.
The infinity pool was also excellent. In the afternoon it is half shaded, which made a big difference for those of us who didn't want to bake in the sun too much. The pool water for our visit in mid-March was the perfect temperature- not too warm, not too cold. There are plenty of lounge chairs on the deck and on the beach in front of the house. The beach is fine-grained sand, but as soon as you go into the ocean, the bottom is pretty rough rocks, so water shoes are a must if you plan on snorkeling there.
The concierge, Jessica, was very helpful in helping us make arrangements for excursions, restaurants, etc., and Brian, the owner, came by to introduce himself at one point to see if everything was okay. It's clear that he really loves the property and tries to do right by everyone who rents it.
The only weak link for us was the fact that the WiFi system worked well everywhere except in the ground floor bedrooms, where the signal was not so good.
Would we stay at Chango Villa again? Yes, absolutely!