9 Reviews of Property 177231 in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

My husband and I had the opportunity to go to Casa Elsa with some friends. It is truly an engaging and magical place.

Upon arriving at the house we entered into the splendor of Casa Elsa and the Costa Rican rainforest. We were welcomed by our tour guide with plenty of cheer and information of the local area. As soon as she left, I recall looking at my husband and friends. We were all giddy in disbelief of our good fortune. Imagine, popping open a bottle of Champagne and toasting with your friends, all while sitting beside the Infinity pool beside your kitchen! Since it was dark when we arrived, we did not even know that the best was yet to come.

I awoke early to the sounds of the rainforest. While still lying in my bed, I looked out the wall of my bedroom to see the jungle waiting. Yes I did say wall – an entire wall facing the jungle was a glass sliding door. This is camping luxury style! Inspired to check it all out, I made my way through Casa Elsa.

Wow. While the house sparkles in the evening, daylight is when it shines. The ocean face is completely open with 3 levels which range from the lower forest, to mid-forest, and finally to the top floor with a stunning view of the rainforest canopy and ocean. Casa Elsa makes one feel as they live in the forest all while sitting in the lap of luxury. The vast amount of wildlife just metres away was astonishing. Monkeys, sloths, birds, iguanas, and NO bugs! Nature’s entertainment was always on display to fascinate us all.

It was hard to actually leave the house, but the local beach was worth it. You can have both solitude and a bustling beach experience. The beach is not overly crowded and offers everything you might want – umbrellas and chairs, small restaurants along the beach, stands to buy trinkets, parasailing, kayaking, boogieboarding, etc….

Our trip was amazing and inspired. Casa Elsa was large enough to allow us the luxury of spending time with our friends around the pool, having group dinners prepared in house by a local chef (very reasonable), enjoying the scenery and rainforest, and also have some alone time. Casa Elsa is a little part of paradise. We speak of our trip often and all dream of our return. Magic lasts!

pictures do not do casa elsa justice - the house is absolutely beautiful.
you have to see it to believe it!
there were 8 of us staying for a week and the entire time all of us couldn't stop talking about this perfect place.
we still do and we were there a year ago!
the house is huge - privacy is not an issue.
all bedrooms have an ensuite and are superbly located downstairs from the main living areas.
each bedroom also has a private balcony!
you are blown away from the second you walk through the amazing, huge front door!
the view is out of this world!
you are literally living in luxury surrounded by jungle (lots of wildlife!) w/ a spectacular view of the ocean.
the kitchen is fully equipped w/ everything and anything you could possibly need/want - including a pool that overlooks the ocean!
the diningroom and livingroom are stunning.
the lay-out of the house is perfect.
the owner/designer thought of everything!
the house staff are great - there for you when you need something, but very discreet.
carlos and petronella made our stay even better.
okay, enough about the house - i could go on and on!
the location is ideal.
short walk to the beach and town.
the beach is beautiful and the town is great.
everybody is really friendly.
nice restaurants and bars, supermarket etc.
we went out a couple of times and had so much fun!
for 3 dinners we hired a chef, deseree (sp?) who did all the shopping, cooking and clean-up. she was great.
there are tons of local activities and attractions.
some of us took full advantage (came back w/ wonderful stories of their adventures) while others had a hard time leaving the house!
casa elsa really is heaven!
if you are planning a trip to this area, you must stay at casa elsa.
it will exceed all of your expectations!
we can't wait to go back!

After the flight south to San Jose, it was a short hop over to the Pacific coast, and as we climbed out of the little 12 seater onto the tarmac at Quepos airport, feeling the soft warm tropical breeze, a magnificently huge Blue Morpho butterfly drifted before my eyes. It was a spectacular welcome, that right away let us know that we’d arrived in a magical land, more akin to something out of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez story, than the world we’d left a few hours before. It was a short drive from the tiny airport, and by the time we arrived at Casa Elsa, I was already under the spell and in love with this place. And Casa Elsa did nothing to break that spell.

As the great door of the villa swung open, revealing as it did, a place of true enchantment where the cold northern rules of houses simply didn’t apply, I was able to walk right into this land and make it my home. It was a home I would come to share with monkeys, birds, plants, tropical trees and sweet aromas. Whether relaxing by the pool, just gazing out to sea, reading under a palm, or watching a lazy Geko as I made coffee, the beauty of the place was omnipresent.

On a practical note, I should mention that both staff Carlos and Petronella are wonderful, discreet, courteous and always helpful. Also that the beach and Manuel Antonio Park are both close by and truly spectacular.

If you are in need of a place to restore your soul, look no further than Casa Elsa.

This Place is Magical the open concept living brings the wild life to you.
The incredible sights and sounds from every space in the villa makes you never want to go any other place for a holiday. I hve been to many places but never to one as incredible as this!!!!!!

My wife and I stayed at Casa Elsa with three other couples. Everybody loved their en suite and everyone wants to go back.

The weather was out-of-this world. We did a few activities - fishing, canopy tour and the beach almost every afternoon. Pool in the morning.

We hired a cook for a few days which was really worth it - you're basically eating in the Jungle.

The monkeys came by every day. There was a Sloth with it's baby.

Casa Elsa itself is breath-taking. The view from the pool with walk up bar is out-of-this-world and it is in the kitchen!! It is spectacular, that's all I Can say.

Everybody we met was really nice. We went to town for dinner and some dancing and it was really fun, food was great. We even cooked ourselves a couple of times. The store is just up the street and it delivers for a couple of bucks - so you don't even have to carry your groceries. The kitchen has everything you need too.

Overall, the week was really easy; just a joy for all. We felt like Movie Stars staying at Casa Elsa. We still talk about the great times we had.

Thanks!

We had a fantastic trip to Casa Elsa in February. We took our son who was two at the time, and had some reservations regarding the open layout but it worked very well for all of us.
We were thrilled to see three different types of monkeys every day - there were congo monkeys, known as howlers, as well as squirrel or titi’s, and capuchin monkeys. They were daring but not intrusive, and were amazing to see and hear. Our son was thrilled by all the wildlife, especially the monkeys, but also lizards, frogs, sloths and butterflies. To our surprise there were no biting bugs, even at night.
The weather was sunny & hot every day. The days were long in Feb and the sun came up early. Fortunately the house was cool during the day & night. We had 5 minutes of rain on our last day, which was a nice reprieve.
We felt very safe the entire trip, and had no issues of any kind. I did have some concerns since this was our first out of country vacation with our young son, but even with our flight getting cancelled (extreme snow in southern Ontario) it all worked out perfectly.
The beach was stunning and much larger than we had expected. The sand was fine and nice to walk on.
Location is fantastic - the house is close to the beach, local shops and a National Park. We walked, took the bus and cabs to different areas, including the beach, cafés and restaurants. Nothing was more than a 10 minute ride away, and lots of places were within walking distance. Anything we needed or wanted was available, the shopping was excellent. We went grocery shopping several times and everything was super fresh and delicious. We also visited the two markets which were huge.
Petronella, the cleaning lady, was fantastic. She did a wonderful job and was extremely pleasant. She went about cleaning quietly and was unobtrusive.
Carlos was most helpful and answered any questions we had for him.
Our son LOVED the pool as did we. We spent lots of time swimming, cooling off, and relaxing in it. The view of the cost & ocean from the pool was nothing short of spectacular. We hope to visit again soon!

My wife, son and I had the pleasure of visiting Casa Elsa last year. I had only seen a few pictures.. and when we arrived at the white face, and huge wooden door of the villa - I wasn't sure what to expect. Opening that door put all of the pictures into perspective..

You are directly in the rainforest once you step inside! You can hear an abundance of animals, see the ocean and the blue sky. We had families of monkeys walking through or by daily. They keep their distance - but still managed to steal one of our tomatoes (capuchins are sneaky). We did see A few little cool lizards by the patio, and some amazing birds that you only see in the zoo were always nearby.

The house is stunning - and very clean and never too hot - due to a nice constant seabreeze. The bedrooms do close off with large glass doors for night, and are airconditioned and have private bathrooms with amazing rain shower heads. The main living areas are completely open - in concept - and to the rainforest. I have never seen anything like this in my life! I took close to 200 pics of just the architecture and the amazing floors. As for the house crew - Carlos kept everything running smooth, and Patronella kept everything spotless!

As for getting around - it was a piece of cake. A short walk to the beach, and the other direction, to the markets and restaurants. There is also a very nice cigar shop in Quepos that had fresh hand rolled costa rican tobacco. A total must if you are a cigar smoker! We took both the local taxis and local bus service. Both were great, and very safe!

The beaches here are sparkling clean - like Cuba. The water was warm and calm while we were there. Although - we spent alot of time in the amazing infinity pool in Casa Elsa which overlooked the forest and the ocean.

I would definately recommend this property to anyone who wants to visit Costa Rica and avoid hotels. The house is absolutely amazing. I didn't even want to leave it most days. I would love to visit again - but would only want to stay here.. now that I've been spoiled :)