26 Reviews of Property 177937 in Samara, Costa Rica

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.

We spent 5 nights at Casa Papaya and it was truly amazing. The house has everything you could possibly need to have a very relaxing vacation. The views were spectacular especially from the master BR private balcony. Every morning we would sit outside watching the birds and listening to the monkeys. We cooked the majority of our meals as the kitchen was well stocked with pots, pans, etc. The Pali grocery store in town had a good variety. Steve had a great tip for fresh fish very close by at the pescaderia and we grilled fish twice during our stay. We bought fresh fruit from the vendor outside the Pali as well. We ate very well and enjoyed many, many ice cold Imperial's laying in the hammock by the pool. We took Steve's suggestion to try Playa Carillo which was an absolutely gorgeous, practically deserted beach about 5 km south of Samara. We ended up spending at least 3 hours there everyday. The rest of the time we just hung out at the pool. It was very easy to slip into a routine of relaxing. We did have a rental car and that was convenient, but one day I walked to the main part of Samara along the beach and it took around 20 minutes. We did not do much in the way of activities but my husband and daughter rented an ATV for a few hours and did some exploring and really enjoyed that. And we took the sunset hike with Samara Trails that lasted 3 hours. It was very informative and we saw lots of birds and animals and of course a beautiful sunset. Our trip was great and we will definitely plan on returning someday for a longer stay! Thank-you so much Lavae and Steve!

We stayed in Casa Papaya with one other couple for one week of our three week stay. I found it to be just as described. The views are exactly as shown and the house is updated and well maintained as shown. The pool was a great place to relax in the late afternoon and into the evening. We saw howler monkeys on our way to the beach pretty much everyday and once on the property. Beautiful birds were everywhere. The arrival basket was a really nice touch and would have been even more appreciated if it had been our first stop in Costa Rica as it was some basic necessities for a light breakfast - perfect if you were getting in later in the evening and did not want to do grocery shopping that night. The housekeeper, who came mid week, was great. She even organized all of our snacks in the cabinet and made us an aluminum foil rose! Lavae was especially easy to work with in booking, and her and Steve were very gracious to us while we were there. Steve even glued the sole of my shoe back on for me after I asked them if they knew where I could find shoe glue! They have thought of so many things to add to the houses that really were "luxuries" to be able to use for the week but you would never have been able to pack - items such as beach mats, boogie boards, filtered water, lunch coolers, and ice packs.

The only negatives (and I wouldn't even say it is a problem per se) is that the first floor bedroom is very small, not much bigger than the bed, which I didn't really get from the pictures. Given that we were two couples sharing the cost, it was difficult to figure out which couple got the tiny little bedroom and which couple got the huge one upstairs with the balcony. We ended up switching halfway through the week when the housekeeper came and it worked just fine. The other is that the beach is not that easy to get to if you want to spend a whole day there and you tend to take a lot of stuff with you. It is probably only ten minutes to walk to, but if you take mats, a packed lunch, towels, water bottles, a book, boogie boards, etc. the walk back up the hill becomes quite daunting. The benefit, however, is that you are in a much nicer area (a lot of the houses right on the beach looked kind of run down) and you have the beautiful views.

Although it's been since 2008, I just wanted to drop a note to you and let you know how fondly we remember our stay at Casa La Papaya.

I noticed that you've updated the bedding and linens and appreciate that so much. The place looks great and it is clear that you continue to care for your property with the same love and care that we noticed when visiting.

We have recommended your place on two travel websites. We hope this helps you continue to serve travelers who would greatly benefit from the experience you provide.

We hope to see you again, hopefully sooner than later!

With warm regards,

Happy travelers

A great place to stay and pretty much as described on the web site except that "walk to beach" was well more than 10 minutes for us and far more on the uphill return. A little crowded for 4 adults and 2 children but comfortable otherwise.

Dear Lavae and Steve,

Just a quick note to let you know how much we enjoyed our recent stay at the Casa el Mango. We had a fantastic time there for the week, and we were sad to leave. The view was beautiful, the house clean and well taken care of. We enjoyed the swimming pool, all the wildlife we saw (and we saw lots!), and were just generally happy. All worked out great, directions were excellent, no problems anywhere.

Thanks again for sharing your beautiful place with us!

Best,

Regina