Villa Santaluz - Magnificent Ocean View Villa

The Villa is as you see in photo's, it is kept in immaculate shape by the staff and owner. Spacious bedrooms with very comfortable beds & bedding and their own private bathrooms a great bonus. We concur with previous reviews, the staff (4) are wonderful, keep the place very clean and laundry done daily. The pool at the villa was a must, it was cool & refreshing. Ana and Carlos live onsite, separate from guests, both available when needed but never in the way, lovely people. Mike goes above and beyond any VRBO owner I have ever dealt with, answered questions we had in a timely manner & also helped us book our activities and restaurants, Citron & Gingers come to mind, very good. Claudia and staff cooked up breakfast daily, nice way for us to come together and start our day, we ate outside, no bugs. We booked 8 dinners a few to many as our group like to bbq ourselves (which we only did once) and go out for dinners. We used the driver (Luis) which was a good idea, only downfall is you are pretty isolated on the hilltop and it is really hot 95-100 everyday, the walk down the road to town & back is challenging in the heat, not to many of us were up for it, so you really are dependent on the driver to get you around. We did 3 adventures, a private sail boat ride, a private river cruise (road a little rough to get to), both were fun, we also went to Canon De La Vieja, which the kids and some adults enjoyed but if you are not interested in doing all the activities you might want to sit this one out, if you don't you will find yourself sitting around with not much to do in the heat. We also had Rosa & her team come to the villa one day and give us all a spa day, it was excellent. Mike booked all of the above for us. We had Luis take us to Tamarindo (about an hour away) a couple of times so we could do a little shopping, lunch and then a swim in the ocean and back to the villa, ladies had dinner ready for us. We went into the ocean several times, at Hermosa and Tamarindo, both places had sandy bottoms with no rocks or weeds, the waves were a lot of fun. Costa Rica is beautiful as is the Villa, we could hear the monkey's howling (don't confuse them with dogs barking) from the villa. We had a nice mix of activities and down time to relax, the Costa Rican people are very friendly and most speak some english and try to make you happy, we also felt very safe where we stayed and when we were out and about. Thanks to all the staff & Mike!

Fantastic!!!! Can't say enough about the pleasant and accommodating owner (throughout the ENTIRE planning process of arranging 15 people from all over the country), the incredible staff, the villa itself 5-star, and the view!! I'm a world traveler with the philosophy to never see the same place twice-- until I stayed at Villa Santaluz. I cannot wait to go back!!

We selected Villa Santaluz as our destination resort to celebrate my birthday. We took our adult children, grand children and friends. The house was perfect for a large group. The pool area had fantastic view, each bedroom was like staying in your own personal suite, the full time staff was extremely helpful providing hotel like services and the owner was very helpful in seeing that our entire stay was a fantastic experience. We used a driving service as recommended by the owner and this was an excellent decision. Mike, the owner, helped us to arrange several excursions and his local knowledge was invaluable. The extra amenities that came with the rental of the fitness and beach club were a real bonus. We had under 10 children and they loved every minute of the stay. If you are looking for a great vacation spot that will handle a large group you won't be disappointed with Villa Santaluz.

We stayed at Villa Santaluz with 3 other couples and we had a wonderful time. Carlos and Anna were fantastic and Claudia(the chef) was great. We at all our dinners at the house and most breakfast meals as well. The rooms were spectacular and the pool was sparkling clean EVERY day and a great temperature. We also used their recommended driver, Raphael, and we had him for the whole week to take us to and from town as well as to and from all of our excursions. I would highly recommend using Raphael as it can be difficult to get around and the rules of driving are different than in the US (there are NO rules!). The house was always clean and Mike, the owner, was very helpful in answering all of our questions that we had and helped us with anything we needed. We went zip lining at Canon, and also went on the river cruise. Would highly recommend them both. A fantastic vacation rental for anyone but if you have a large group it is the best!!