Casa Bella Vista in Flamingo Beach

Listing description accurate, but incomplete

Mia M. ()
Review submitted: March 14, 2013   Date of arrival: February 2, 2013

We are 3 adults in their mid 60s, two of us in very good shape (just came back from a Mayan expedition off the beaten paths).We rented the house for 3 weeks in Feb 2013. This house was not for us.The house is beautiful, high quality furnishings, good taste, efficient air conditioning, but :walls in dining room and service wash room need a new paint, kitchen utensil need an update (sharper knives, citrus squeezer,placemates, or a table cloth - we bought one,etc).The house also lacks the good hostess manners. From our prior experience with vacation rentals, we expected a minimum courtesy welcome, with some coffee/ tea and sugar to fix our first coffee.We found none of these. Fortunately, we arrived early enough to go shopping.We were unpleasantly surprised that the house did not offer any complimentary beach stuff (ex. chairs), particularly because the beaches around us did not provide these. Saoia, the contact person that helped us rent the place, and greeted us on arrival was splendid; she went out of her way to assist us.Unfortunately,next day she disappeared with no trace.From the very first days we asked the manager(?) to find for us another house (his company manages probably a dozen of other rentals), we also asked him to arrange for an airport transportation. He was very slow in answering, so we gave up expecting any help from him.The view is breathtaking, and the dozens of birds made our day every morning.Pool was great, but it takes all the backyard. The house is on top of a hill, with very unfriendly surroundings, hard to walk or jog.The access to the house is difficult (about 6 km of upward winding ,very dusty, dirt road).We had a 4WD ,absolutely a must for those roads.With the exception of Playa Flamingo, all the other beaches were unkept, with no amenities.The only grocery store at North American standards was AutoMarket, at about 20 Km.Restaurants in the area were mediocre, and they tried to garnish our bills by about 20%.(One very good exception : the restaurant at Sugar Beach Hotel).To conclude :the description of the listing is accurate by what it says, but it does not say a lot of very important things : difficult access, far from everything, etc. I am surprised that none of the other renters were not bothered by any of the negatives.This vacation was our worst in a long time..

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Beautiful house with spectacular views.

Melissa (Houston, Texas)
Review submitted: August 26, 2012   Date of arrival: August 13, 2012

I stayed at Casa Bella Vista from Aug.13-19 2012. It was a group of three couples. It accommodated us very well. Saioa was very helpful with directions to beaches and restaurants. The house itself is very beautiul. I loved waking up to see a beautiful sunrise every morning. It is well maintained and updated.Sylvia and Antonio were great. They were so helpful and friendly. Antonio even taught us how to make ceviche our last night Antonio also helped us find beaches and markets to buy food.I definitely would recommend this house. The location is great and surrounding beaches are beautiful.

Recommended for: adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers, girls getaway, sight seeing

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Great Vacation Home and Excellent Service

Harp (Whitby, ON Canada)
Review submitted: August 1, 2012   Date of arrival: July 12, 2012

This was our first time visiting Costa Rica and we decided to rent a house with another family instead of going to a resort. Dealing with the property manager of Casa Bella Vista made planning our trip very easy. She was very helpful answering questions before we got to Costa Rica and then very friendly once we arrived. She gave us recommendations for places to visit, such as beaches, restaurants and sights to see. She helped put us in contact with a great tour company when we headed to Arenal. The house itself is beautiful, spacious and has the most incredible view from the balconies and there are several beautiful and secluded beaches within a 10-15 minute drive. We had 5 children of various ages with us and they loved the infinity pool and jacuzzi. The housekeepers, Antonio and Sylvia, were accessible, friendly and helpful to all of us. Antonio developed a great rapport with the children and made their trip very memorable. Would definitely stay here again.

Recommended for: adventure seekers, families with young children, families with teenagers, sight seeing, romantic getaway

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