Casa Coki - Modern Villa Pool Steps From the Beach

Good location. Close to the beach! Good privacy! Friendly staff. Overall it’s a good accommodation but it has absolut hostel vibes.

No cleaning during the stay. Daily visit from the raccoon, which needed to be cleaned up in the mornings. That’s why a cleaning service every 2 days wouldn’t harm. Some towels should have retired long ago. Any request need to be completely detailed in order for it to happen.

Nice accommodation at the edge of Puerto Viejo. It’s a scene out of survival island or desafio: a comfortable cabin with two bedrooms rooms, an outside kitchen, a few steps from a nice pool, and all the modern creature comforts, but in what appears to be in the middle of a tropical jungle. The location is just outside the north entrance to Puerto Viejo when driving from Limon, within walking distance to the beach, restaurants, and about a 15 minute walk to the center of town, the MEPE bus station, and the two rental car places. The place is safe with a large remotely-controlled barrier sliding door to enter and parking space. The stay was real nice but the only drawback was the attitude of the receptionist.

The person with whom we checked-in did not tell us breakfast was included. The night before we checked out, another receptionist called me to the front desk to tell me, rudely, about the breakfast. Apparently we were supposed to tell the front desk what time we wanted breakfast and someone would have prepared it at that time. The reservation on booking.com did not mention this, at least from what I could see. Anyway, I reacted a bit cynically at learning about the breakfast, since it was the night before check out. I asked why we had not been told about this before and she said because she was not working the previous two days. Her tone was quite condescending.

Nature around & nice and kind people

Pool area was nice and the pool was clean & refreshing. First morning's breakfast was offered as a welcome present - a nice gesture. Playa Negra is just 100 metres from the property gate, so really close (but with big waves, so for confident swimmers only). Puerto Viejo town is about 20-25 minute walk away.

1) Casa Coki is in a swampy, shady part of the property, so it comes with a gazillion mosquitoes. We had to burn Raid anti-bug spirals, lemongrass candles, use electric mozzie killer + spray ourselves with DEET any time we wanted to be out on the terrace / open air kitchen area, and still we were getting bitten so much. It was really hard to enjoy the open air kitchen area (and be mindful that the two bedrooms don't connect indoors, so the open air kitchen area is the only place where people sleeping in different rooms can spend time together). Property's shared pool area had much less mozzies, but this is not where you'll spend your time. In the house the mosquito issue was really a madness. There was a swarm of them waiting for you to step out of your room. We were also sleeping in our bug nets. Still came away with so many bites. 2) It was a bit hard to even find the place. No information was given in advance how to find the "reception", only about the "reception" opening hours. And the street gate sports a totally different name, you'll find nothing of Casa Coki. So you get to the street indicated and then you're just looking up and down in vain. Once you find a number to call, be prepared to speak Spanish. English was not understood. 3) Kitchenware provided was in a horrible state - pots and pans were so scratched they were unusable. The skillet had about half the teflon left, smoothie maker was horribly filthy, glasses not clean etc. 4) If you're staying more than one night, there is no room cleaning, so be prepared to smell your used toilet paper in the bathroom from day 2 onwards or find a way to empty the bin somewhere yourself. The house itself also smells of mould whenever you close the windows-doors for more than a few hours. All in all not a bad stay, but not a dream one either, and not really worth the price.