Would go back in a heartbeat
Submitted: February 1, 2013
Stayed: January 2013
My husband and I and another couple have just returned from two weeks at this villa. It was perhaps the most beautiful, peaceful, relaxing place we have ever stayed. It was the perfect size for two couples – whether we wanted to be together or spend time in our own space. The architecture of the house gives you limitless opportunities to open the sliding glass doors and let the outside in, while the shaded patios have many spaces to just sit and look at the views or gather and chat. The intimate swimming pool offered a refreshing dip at the end of the day. The high quality finishes and handsome furnishings enhanced the pleasing and inviting spaces. The house is very well appointed – if you want to cook, just about everything you need is there. We alternated among cooking, eating out (at a couple of very good restaurants in Atenas), and having Heidi, the housekeeper, cook for us if we were coming back to the villa late. Her dinners were always delicious. Jaime, the gardener, came by several times a week to take care of the gardens and the pool, and one day picked a bag full of mandarin oranges for us from the trees just down the hill. Leticia, the property manager, was always helpful. We felt very well taken care of.
The house is at the top of a hill in a small gated community, about ten minutes from Atenas, but a world away from the bustle of the town. It is amazingly sited so that it is very private but allows you to see for miles to the mountains on two sides. It is perfectly situated for day trips (such as to the Toledo Coffee Plantation or Poaz and the La Paz Waterfall Gardens), and makes a good base if you want to travel further afield and spend a night or two somewhere else. If you are a bird lover, however, you might just want to stay at the villa and see what comes by – we saw keel-billed toucans, Montezuma oropendolas, a large flock of great crested flycatchers, brown jays, a family of noisy rufous-naped wrens and several different hummingbirds every day, and also a crested caracara, a grey-headed chachalaca, masked tityras, Hoffmann’s woodpecker, and numerous other birds we never did identify.
We enjoyed the many places we saw in Costa Rica, but being in this marvelous house for two weeks was the biggest treat of all. We could hardly tear ourselves away.
Recommended for:
Age 55+,
Sightseeing,
Families with Teenagers,
People with Disabilities,
Romantic Getaway
Owner's Response: We are so glad that you enjoyed your stay in Costa Rica and you loved our house as much as we hoped you would! Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Jaime just cut us a huge cluster bananas from one of our plants and we have it hanging on the beams awaiting a little further ripening.
We would love to have you back anytime you need a little paradise!
Helpful votes: 1/1
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
No