Tropical-style family villa near Tamarindo

Our family of six adults had a wonderful stay at Casa Almendra. It is definitely a private oasis with beautiful landscaping. Although the property is very private, there are people who come by the house daily without notice. These people are the pool cleaner, the gardeners, housekeeper, property manager, etc. The large pool was enjoyed by all. The layout of the property was nicely designed. You definitely need a car, as the house is too far from Tamarindo to use a golf cart, and out of range for the tour companies to pick you up.

This is a wonderful location to be. It’s very quiet and peaceful. Tamarindo with some really nice restaurants is not to far, but a car is really necessary. Very good diving spots (catalinas, bat island) are also in a moderate distance. Tibo, the concierge is outstanding friendly and helpful. All in all a great place to stay for a vacation. An a lot of wonderful animals in the garden. It’s almost perfect. We enjoyed it so much.

Other than a couple of small issues, it was a beautiful place and was a great retreat while in the Tamarindo area. First off, I want to call out Caroline, the on location property manager. She is amazing and very very helpful. She went above and beyond prior to our arrival in lining up a chef to prepare our first 2 meals. It was perfect to get there, drop off the bags and sit by the pool while a 3 course meal is prepared for you. I highly recommend that. Here are the couple of negatives. First... the listing does not clearly state that you do not have access to certain rooms. I know that it was just the two of us, but each bedroom/bathroom pod has certain aspects that would have been great to access during the stay. The largest room with the largest bed is not directly off of the pool, so the best view is from the smallest room. That bathroom is also accessed directly from the pool deck. It would be awesome to have access to that restroom while swimming to take a shower. Also, the garden pod has a really nice outdoor shower. We expected to have access to all, but only certain rooms were opened for us. I asked that if only 2 rooms would be open, I'd rather have the garden room and the master bedroom, so we lacked the ability to access the room next to the pool. It was just strange and may have influenced our decision, if we knew. Next, the dishwasher was broken. We had to leave the door partially open or it would run non-stop. We let the property manager know this, so hopefully it will be fixed. Also, the living and dining are open-air, so there are geckos that poop all over the sofas at night. I think that there needs to be a covers for these at night so that they are not stained and need to be avoided during the stay. Finally, since there are a ton of keys for this place, it is hard to lug them around. It would be great to upgrade some locks or get things keyed together. These, as a whole, are small time, but can improve the enjoyment of the stay. Everything else was amazing!!! It was nice to have a place so interesting to come back to, hang out in, and enjoy the pools, etc. I did really like the place. Small note... the palapa with the dining and living is no longer thatched like the photos. The roof has been replaced with shingles. It is more practical, but less tropical. Thank you Caroline!!!

The house is in a good location for us as we have friends who live in the Santa Cruz area. It has a few beaches near that you can drive to and Tamarindo is not far to drive. It is very nice and well kept and if any issues the property manager has always been a pleasure to deal with.