In summary, the house was not perfect, but the quiet sandy beach, staff service and overall quietness of the area made our trip one of the best beach vacations. We were 10 people, kids/adults. Let's start with the bad:
1. What the pictures don`t show is the wear and tear.
2. The house is large and has a lot of outdoor living spaces out into the elements! It’s worn out, over-used, a lot metal is rusted.
3. Kitchen needs some TLC (broken cabinet doors, leaking DW and fridge)
4. Bathrooms: 4 out of the 5 BRs had issues (broken doors, blocked drain).
5. Land is large, lot of unkempt areas and pile of garbage lying around, not inside the house, but around the grounds. Not a showstopper.
6. Rental might be a bit expensive for what you get.
7. And of course, ants and crawling bugs, but it is a tropical forest after all!
Now the good:
1. The owner, Maximo, seems very nice, is very responsive and answered all our questions.
2. Access to the beach was just amazing. 100 feet off the main gate. Easy flat access, very private and nobody around when we were on the beach.
3. Beach: Beautiful 5-km white sand beach, with perfect waves for swimming or surfing with at very few people around (40-50 people on the whole 5-km long beach!)
4. The house keepers, Simon and Saray, were absolutely amazing. They live on the grounds in a separate house and are around day and night. They responded to our requests in a timely fashion, fixing what was broken, providing additional towels when needed, even setting up a beach tent for us on the beach, helping to carry some of the chairs to the beach, and even helping pack up the car when we left. They made a huge difference. There were always notifying us if they had to leave for different reasons. You forget about the bad with them!
5. We got one meal prepared by Saray, very tasty! It was enough for 2 suppers and 2 lunches, and some.
6. They kept the common grounds and pool clean in the morning but didn’t go into the bedrooms unless requested by us.
7. There are a few small stores and restaurants less than a few hundred meters away, very affordable.
8. From the house, you can reach Tamarindo in about 15 minutes by foot and a dinghy across the crocodile infested Tamarindo Estuary (for $1-2/person). Dinghies run from about 8AM to 5PM…or drive to Tamarindo, in 30-40 minutes! No bridge across the estuary.
9. Tamarindo is a beautiful town full of grocery stores, restaurants, shops, hotels, and nightlife.