My partner and I travel all over the world and Steve's place is by far one of the nicest, most well appointed we've ever stayed in. The house is private & has some beautiful views. It has bright, airy, spacious rooms & an open kitchen with every utensil & appliance you could possibly need & more. He supplies bottled water, some condiments for cooking, teas, toiletries, a laundry line in the sunroom - even a bit of equipment for a workout & dishwasher detergent! Yes, there's actually a dishwasher, as well as a dryer (& dryer sheets!), first aid items, antibacterial gel, cleaning products, movies, books, office supplies - & a printer! I could go on.... Very unusual for a rental. We had good internet signal during our stay.
Steve's an avid birdwatcher as well, so if that appeals to you, this is the place to see many species! The house sits up high, so we loved waking up every morning to large evergreen treetops surrounding the many bedroom windows, with birds flitting around in the branches.
We were also impressived by how much helpful information Steve provides for things concerning the house, such as where to put the trash, how to work the washing machine & dishwasher, how to work the TV/cable, etc. He has thought of everything, including detailed info about where to buy groceries, local restaurants, places to visit, & daytrip itineraries. He also provides a personal tour to help familiarize guests with the area. Never have we stayed at a place where the owner provides so many amenities, & he himself is willing to provide a tour plus so much tourism information all written up for easy reference.
Steve is very responsive, but he also provides contact info for a neighbor who speaks English & for his on-site caretaker, Carlos. Carlos doesn't speak English, but with Google translate, we did fine. He's very nice & extremely helpful.
We requested a pin location to be sent to us & didn't have any difficultly finding te house. We were driving a 4x4 but don't feel it's necessary to have to get to his house. It's just far enough outside San Jose to be away from the city craziness, but not too far to drive into the city. (Note - If you plan on driving to the volcano or taking any unpaved mountain roads, you should definitely have a 4x4).
Overall, we had a great stay and highly recommend this place!