Quepos/Manuel Antonio Home, 3 miles to best beach! 1 block to Bus. 5 Minutes to beach!
Front & Front Side of House. Main door on left, garage door on right,
neighbor's garage entrance at far right.
Secure, indoor parking for up to 2 cars. Garage and main entrance doors as seen from living area.
Entrance to Laundry Room (left) and Garden (right)
Aerial View of indoor parking, living and dining areas.
Living Room
Living Room
Stairwell to 2nd floor
Towels in
upstairs hallway for Bath #2
Bathroom #2
(Full bath on 2nd floor for master and
2nd bedroom)
Bathroom #1 (Full bath on 1st floor next to kitchen,
dining and living area)
Owner's Comments, advice and disclaimers about this house:
This is a beautiful house and space,
in my opinion!
However, there are some things that
are not acceptable for some people.
Many people understand if they pay less, they won't get
the Taj Mahal. Still, I find some
people expect a $2,000 per week house when paying under $1,000.
Therefore, to make sure I meet the expectations of my guests, I provide a
lot of detail for this house. We hope that
by reading this, we filter through "down to Earth" guests able to
envision our house exactly as it is.
Do you want a big house with
over 2500 Sq. Ft less than 3
miles away from the best beach in Costa Rica and not pay a lot?
Do
you want to be
able to walk out of the house, 1 block away to a bus that arrives every 10 minutes
and takes 5 minutes to get to that beach?
Well, you got it!
But first, I will describe the downside of what you get with our house.
Without these issues we would charge $3,000 per week.
Although, these issues are non-issues for most people.
But we do need to be sure, so here we go...
Anyone who is over 70 or not in good physical shape should read this carefully to make sure they will be happy vacationing here :) Each bedroom is on the second floor, and some people have problems with steps or do not like second floor bedrooms. If this describes you or your guests, please consider carefully if you will be happiest here!
LOCAL-STYLED HOUSE. REAL COSTA RICAN LIVINGThe house is located near the border of a national park zone in Costa Rica. It is a large, open-air styled place. This means that you are exposed to the outside, mostly via screens, but with some areas more open. Some people love that! Some don't. To be happy here, you should like nature!! For example, birds, monkeys, cats - and, yes, insects. While there are few mosquitoes because of the balance of nature here, they still exist, and you may see a few tiny ants on the kitchen counter, or other insects from time to time or even a large toad in the garden that managed to hop into the main part of the house. If seeing a fruit fly gives you a heart attack, please look elsewhere! Although, do not expect to find a house as large as mine in Manuel Antonio for less than $3,000 a week! (As much as $8,000!) This is a local house in a local neighborhood at the border of Manuel Antonio and Quepos. It is at the base of the Manuel Antonio Road. The house is designed nicely, with lots of character and with ALL NEW furniture. But, yes, it is still a Costa-Rican styled house! While the house offers great privacy, the neighborhood is all attached-houses as you can see in the first photo on this page. This house is one of only two on the entire street that have two stories, giving a moderately nice view from the bedrooms, with the tiniest of ocean views. Do NOT expect to see the ocean (although you can see it a tiny, tiny bit :) ) and the colors at sunset are nice. But again, it is a local neighborhood, so the rooftops and all the infrastructure you would expect in a local neighborhood prevail.
STEPS
ALL BEDROOMS ARE UPSTAIRS! The
steps are fine for most people (See the pictures of the steps). But
there are those of you that are out of shape or just do not like steps.
All steps have from 9 to 11 inch rises.
A typical rise in the US is 8 inches.
Not noticeable to most people, some elderly folk may find the extra 2 to 3 inches uncomfortable.
Most people traverse these steps with ease!
The 3rd bedroom is behind the garden.
It is a separate structure with the bedroom and 3rd bathroom.
It has a nice garden view with the palm tree leaves coming in through the
window as you can see in the photos.
Of course you can close the window,
but you likely will not need to. It is very nice to see and hear the
birds in the morning at the window. This "cabina"
has steps to get up to it at the back of the small garden.
There are 7 steps, and they are each about 12 inches.
Again, not a problem for most people.
but not recommended for anyone not in decent shape.
It has been fine for a local family with kids using it for over 5
years. However, this is a disclaimer. Rent this place only if these details
are of no concern to you and you are willing to take
full responsibility for yourself and your guests while moving through this
environment.
OPEN CEILING and cabling
This is an open, loft-styled house.
As you can see in the pictures, the
ceiling has all beams exposed and the new electrical work (blue tubing) is also
exposed. All bedrooms are
completely sealed with normal sheet rocked ceilings.
Some think the exposed trendy New York/SoHo-loft warehouse look is cool! Some don't.
Please look carefully at the pictures to make sure you like this
steel-beamed ceiling design. Like 90% of the homes in Costa Rica, a small part of where the walls meet the
roof line (as you can see in the pictures of the front entrance) a tiny, tiny bit of the outside
may be visible. This is an open air home, so this is not an issue for most people.
There were some small unfinished areas in the pictures, most of which are now complete. As you may see in an old picture near the front entrance main door, and behind the large sofa in the living area, was a very small 6-inch wide border that needed to be finished. To make the new house open, the walls of the old house were taken down. Where the walls used to be was this 6 inch border. This is now completely finished with beautiful art-deco styled, concrete knee-walls forming an L behind the couch set. This gives privacy by partially enclosing the living area and dilineates the garage from the living space. Pictures showing this new, just finished feature are now up! A tiny area at the base of the walls near the toilet in two of the 3 bathrooms is not yet with ceramic tile.
POTS PANS, UTENSILS, TOILET PAPER, TOWELS, light bulbs and SHEETS
The house is stocked! However, if
you are the type to request a refund because there are only 6 plates, bowls and
coffee cups, but you have 8 people,
please consider a different place to rent!
There are literally 100 restaurants,
50 shops and 10 supermarkets, a 4 minute walk away to buy extra stuff that you may want to
customize your trip, like paper plates, extra napkins, and cups, etc....
LIGHT BULBS: The house has close to 20 light fixtures and bulbs.
If a bulb is out, do not panic!
If there are extras in the house great.
If not, do not call me!
Replace it by going to the store. If
you are the type to panic with perhaps 1 or 2 bulbs out, (rather than go to the
store and buy a replacement 50W bulb for fifty cents) please consider a
different place.
SHEETS All 4 full-sized beds have sheets and 2 pillows each.
A light blanket is folded on each bed.
Generally speaking, in the warm
coastal regions of Costa Rica in the
houses without air conditioning, you won't need
a blanket. However, sometimes it does get a little cool at night.
Hence, there are now light blankets on the beds as well.
PAPER TOWELS and TOILET PAPER Some
people expect an unlimited supply!
We don't. The maid supplies each
bathroom with one roll of toilet paper and the kitchen has one roll of paper
towels. If you use them,
please be courteous and replace them by buying more in town.
Do not expect to be granted more than one roll of each.
If you do not have time to replace what you use, we understand, but the
clean fee is based on leaving the place how you found it.
The maid (neighbor to the left) will give you the key upon your arrival .
If you pay her, and she has the time, she will clean during your stay at
$20 per day. Speaking a little
Spanish helps. But you can always
call me if you need help communicating with her.
FURNITURE and KEEPING THE HOUSE CLEAN
The place, left in your care,
is secured with your security deposit of $500 but you agree that your liability
is the cost necessary to restore the house to the condition you receive it in,
plus damages associated with lost rental revenue in the case that we need more
than one day to restore the place to the condition you receive it in.
Costa Rica, Coastal region. Yup, it gets hot and humid during the day. The house has 5 fans and ceiling fans in the living room to keep a nice breeze. The house is not air conditioned - but one bedroom is. You won't need A/C with the fans to keep you comfortable. It is very humid in the tropics although the house gets nicely cool and dry at night. If staying cool with ceiling fans, taking cool showers, going to the beach, sitting in the garden, sitting near a floor fan (and drinking lots of healthy coconut water :) ) is not acceptable to you, think about paying more for a house with A/C in every room...
While humid, it is generally less hot in Costa Rica than Florida.
I have read and understand the warnings. This house meets my expectations considering everything I have read and
the pictures I have seen.
_______________________________________
Guest