CASA PAPAYA - OCEAN VIEW, PRIVATE POOL, A/C, WIFI, WALK TO BEACH, QUIET, RELAX!

My wife and I spent a wonderful 20 days at Casa Papaya with a memorable hillside view of Samara Bay. The 10-minute walk to the beach was convenient and satisfied our need for reasonable privacy...a walk that was both a healthy exercise and a chance to observe and interact with families of howler monkeys and the occasional iguana along the way. The casa was clean and well maintained during our stay with housekeeping scheduled every few days. The owners were helpful in providing information we needed from time to time. The casa is equipped with a kitchen, which we recommend for longer stays like ours, but seaside restaurants and sodas are accessible along the beach near the town center. We would recommend the casa to family and friends, and would stay there again on a return to Playa Samara.

This was the first time my husband and I brought our kids to Costa Rica, as well as my 79-year old grandpa. After visiting my husband's family for several days and staying with them, we were ready for our own space! While the drive was long and treacherous (unfortunately we drove in at night -- not recommended!!), it turned out to be worth it. We loved our little house! It has a small fridge, stove, coffee maker, toaster oven, blender, dishes, pots & pans, kitchen towels - basically everything you need. I loved that it had a washer & dryer, which is somewhat of a necessity with kids. The kids loved the little pool. There is also a bigger fridge outside by the pool, which was very handy for left-overs when we went out for dinner. We used the mosquito nets over the beds, which kept our bites to a minimum (there are bugs in the jungle -- apparently some people are unaware of this!!!). The house is definitely cozy; however, we had 6 people and we made it work. We let grandpa have the upstairs and I think he appreciated having his own space and own bathroom. The rest of us mainly used the outdoor shower, which is larger than the upstairs one and is located in the back where no one can see you. We also felt safe since the property has a gate that is always locked. I would definitely rent this place again. It is well-worth the money. The views were lovely and it was closer to town and the beach than I expected!

We rented Casa Papaya for the second half of our trip to Costa Rica but left after just a few hours. The house was filled with bugs and only got worse when the sun went down. The main doors to the house don’t actually seal at the floor or with each other. Several window screens weren’t secured, either, so as soon as we turned on the lights the whole place turned into an entomologist’s dream. Bugs were streaming in everywhere. There were huge spiders in the bathroom, cobwebs in the drawers and two lizards that jumped out of cupboards. Unfortunately we couldn’t close the windows as it was 85+ degrees, humid and the house has no air conditioning.

The bugs seem to be part of the experience as the two beds and futon each have bug netting. In the guest book, previous visitors recommended not walking in the house with bare feet at night due to the scorpions; one teenage guest wrote that he woke up in the morning with a scorpion on his chest.

Long story short, with my wife and three kids huddled together on the futon swatting bugs, melting in the heat and afraid to walk around the house, I handed the keys to the owners and drove back to Liberia that night to a place we’d stayed earlier. In all, we spent about four hours at Casa Papaya instead of our planned six days. Equally as disappointing was dealing with the owners afterwards, whom we found extremely insensitive and accusatory.

Fortunately, our vacation ended on a high note after finding a great villa in Playa Hermosa. There were plenty of bugs there, too, but we were able to keep most of them outside.

We are recommending Costa Rica to all our friends, but I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.