Manuel Antonio Vacation Rental condo

We've been coming to Manual Antonio for 15 years and seen a lot of changes. We've even stayed at the exclusive Makanda by the Sea (you must eat at Makanda, lunch is great and it's only a 7-10 minute walk down a quiet road). This place is a great find and a welcome addition to the area.

This building houses two one-story condos and one giant 3-story condo. We stayed in a one-story condo for 3 weeks. The place is brand new, full of high-quality fixtures like great plumbing and amazingly powerful fans in every room (even on the outside porch) and kitchen appliances, a good safe, lots of working plugs, pretty high-speed wifi, lots of wooden drawers and closets for storage, screens in lots of giant windows, a nice gas grill that we used a lot to have dinners on the outdoor wooden dining table overlooking Manuel Antonio park and the beach below.

The entire back of the condo is glass sliders with windows that open above them for ventilation. The sliders open out to a porch the full width of the unit with a jacuzzi (never used it), big deck, and quality wooden dining table with lots of chairs. The view off the deck is of the jungle below and then Manuel Antonio park and beach below that. It's a beautiful view of paradise.

The owner Laurent was always available to help us with cabs, local information, and friendly, real conversation. He's a wonderful man. The cleaning lady and maintenance man couldn't do enough for us but were very respectful of our privacy.

There was almost always a great breeze coming off of the ocean. The infinity pool is shared but never full since there's only 3 condos. It has views of Manual Antonio beach also. We're near the main road so you do hear some noise, but you also always hear birds and monkeys (both howler and cara blancas) in the nearby trees. And we're a 1-minute walk to the excellent Cafe Milagro and cabs, and a 5-minute walk to a well-stocked modern grocery store.

If you want to walk to the beach, it's a 15-minute walk down a winding dirt road through the jungle with only a few homes along it. You can even take a shortcut through a stunning jungle path complete with monkeys, hanging vines, and butterflies.

The kitchen is excellent, with a complete working stovetop and oven, a full-sized refrigerator, lots of plates, bowls, utensils, cutting board and all you need, including blender and toaster. The two bathrooms are very classy and modern.

This place is the best.

The condo was clean, modern, and outfitted nicely to comfortably fit up to 8 in a unit (as advertised). The view is outstanding, and the area relatively quiet even though you are on the main drag between Quepos and Manuel Antonio. Laurent (Lorenzo) is an excellent host and has much to share about his experience in the area. While there are restaurants (with amazing views) and markets within walking distance, I would save those for necessary opportunities. It is far more enjoyable, in my opinion, to go shopping and eating in Quepos. Even though it lacks the views, it is a slightly more "local" experience. Cab is less than $4 each way, so going with a group makes it work. And, plus, if you want views, then just cook at the condo (good kitchen and outdoor grill) and eat out on your private large outdoor balcony. We did not have a car, although it would have been nice. Still, we managed perfectly well without one for 6 nights. Cabs are quite frequent along the main road (10 second walk from the condo). The pool is shared, but still a very welcome feature after a long day on the beach. And the walk down to the beach is a slight trek, but otherwise a great workout (especially on the way back up). I would just invest in sandals sturdier than flip-flops. Overall an excellent experience to be recommended.

We rented this condo for 9 days with another couple. It was very good. The view is fantastic, and it was very relaxed. Only a couple of other units in the complex make it quiet, we literally had the pool to ourselves the entire time. Very close to restaurants, cafe's, and a small grocery store. The service was very good. I would recommend having a vehicle if you plan to go to the beach frequently as it is a bit of a trek (although so are almost all the accomodations in Manuel Antonio). I will definetly recommend it to anyone I know planning to go to Costa Rica!