Great place to stay away from the hustle of La Fortuna
Great spot to land and really get away from the majority of tourists. Local restaurants are cheaper, people are happier and it is not that far to all things Arenal. The house was great and property manager responded quickly when we had questions. Only thing is there is just one gate code, doors take a bit to get used to lock and unlock and house is 4th one on the left. But those are just minor things.
I can't say enough great things about this place! Absolutely beautiful place. Beautiful surroundings! No complaints at all. We only had 4 amazing days here but wish we could have had more. We didn't cook but the kitchen was fully stocked with any cookware you might need. I do hope we can come back to this wonderful place and stay much longer! I reached out to Pablo a few times and he always responded within a couple minutes. Thanks for sharing your place with us!
The house is so cute and cozy! It has everything that you may need for your stay. From the kitchen to the different rooms, everything is set. It is private and the lake was indeed in front. It was clean and the communication with the owner was very easy. If peace and quiet is what you are looking for, that is absolutely your place. We got rainy days which made it hard to enjoy the lake. It was also far from activities so anywhere we wanted to go took us at least an hour and a half.
The property is good floor plan and located with the view of the lake. There are two excellent restaurants about a three minute drive. The nearby town of Tilaran Is everything you would need. It is still rainy season which encourages you to get out early and be back by mid afternoon to enjoy the tropical rain. We would certainly consider using this location again
Beautiful bungalow home in gated community with view
We saw many beautiful birds while on the property. The gated community of villas is quite charming and tranquil with a view of the lake. The rental property is beautiful and and host is super easy to communicate with. We are very pleased with our decision to book. There were a few stray cats our daughter enjoyed tending to. We drove to the hot springs and on the way stopped for breakfast at a wonderful restaurant and store with an overlook. The small local town had several restaurants and a small quick mart. The drive in the mountains was so peaceful and Iâd definitely go back again! Thank you for hosting us
We rented this house for our visit to the Tenorio and La Fortuna areas. There were 4 of us (2 couples) so we had plenty of room to spread out and enjoy some alone time at night.
We did day trips from the house to Volcan Tenorio and Volcan Arenal and we would return to home to sleep. Returning "home" made it a much more enjoyable and relaxing trip than if we had stayed at a hotel. We would have loved staying one more night to just relax but unfortunately we had to return to San Jose to catch our flight back home.
Pablo was GREAT and super responsive to our questions, and he checked on us to make sure we were able to arrive to the property and that everything was OK.
Thank you so much for having a house like this available, it made our trip much more memorable because of it!
Tip: There is a huge tree close to the lake and we saw toucans fly out of there as well as long tails that we assumed were either monkeys or coatis; amazing!
I rented this property because of the hot tub, I have a bad back and the hot tub has always been a relief for long travel times. The hot tub didn't work, contacted the host and he said he was going to contact the maintenance person to come check it out then never got a reply back from him even after several other attempts to contact him asked for a discount and again no reply, the pool area was dirty. The refrigerator wasn't working, had to wait for maintenance person to come taking away our day of vacation and exploring. The pictures are problem from when the property was first advertised like back in the 1900's. They ask to remove your shows but the wood floors had, like termite damage to it, I had to wear my flip flops afraid of stepping into damaged flooring. I was disappointed. I think VRBO needs to address these issues, its like false advertising.
We stayed at this property for 8 nights. We found the place spacious and comfortable for 4 adults. We enjoyed the location with its proximity to Towns without being in the middle of it all.
A BBQ and some comfortable outdoor furniture would make the beautiful outdoor space even more enjoyable
Our family loved our stay at Casa Largo. From coffee on the deck to cooking our own meals, everything was perfect. We especially loved the little casita which gave us just that much more privacy during our stay. Weâd definitely stay here again.
The property was in need of some minor repairs (lightbulbs, no coffee carafe, confusing light switches, no outside lights in the front) - we got the impression the owner was doing the minimum to keep the property updated. The area was very quiet but remote to the activities we ended up doing. Access to the lake was a mystery. More information on this would have been very helpful. The driving instructions were overly complicated - 3 or 4 sentences with defined distances would make this property much easier to find.
This is a lovely property in a quaint neighborhood. Loved that this had a second master suite. The deck is a lovely a place for morning coffee over looking lake arsenal & watching the birds. Kitchen & living room is very nice & spacious.
The 2 things that we had difficulty with was that this house is quite far away from Any activities or tours. We didnât realize that it is over an hours drive to la fortuna when we booked the house while we donât regret staying here wish we would have realized the drive time. Secondly the TV was not working & there is really nothing to do if you donât bring games or a book etc. which really was not a big deal to us except for the first night when we arrived later not wanting to go out but too early for bed. Did not have the opportunity to use the pool or club house however looked nice Overall a really nice stay.
The pictures accurately describe this property and the view is very nice. I've used VRBO for over 20 years and, while I can't put my finger on it, this place fell short of VRBO standards. (This is the first time I've not provided an excellent rating.) The directions to get there were terrible so make sure you look for the bus stop, not the Yacht Club sign!
Also, had we not met a man who lived in the development I'm not sure how long we would have waited to get in the gate.
You should know that there is no air conditioning in the common areas and it got really hot during the day. (No air conditioning is common in Costa Rica but this place is really warm.) When we arrived there was a huge piece missing from the wood floor.and it is apparent that they have termite damage. (We arrived a day late so I'm not sure why this didn't get fixed in advance!) The casita shows a TV in pics but it isn't hooked up! The bathroom had, at one time, a soap/ shampoo dispenser but it fell off and the backing stayed! Also, air conditioning froze up and TV quit working in main part of the house. Finally, the property manager offered to help us with any excursions yet referred us to a boat owner who didn't speak english..needless to say , that wasn't an option. I think that with a little attention, this place could have been great. However, first impressions being what they are, I can't rate it any higher.
Needs work to make this a comfortable place to stay
Everything about the property felt run-down. The couches (which we had read reviews about) were really more uncomfortable than we could even imagine. The location is in a somewhat rundown gated community. The gate itself is the nicest part. The pool is not heated, by a separate building, and not well maintained. The Brisas del Lago restaurant that was recommended was probably the best part of our stay. We left our reservation a day early because there was really nothing enjoyable about being at the house.
The property was as pictured and described on the Home Away site. The house is located in what appears to be a very secure, gated community near Tilaran and we felt safe during our stay there. You would definitely want to have a private car or a driver available to get around, as it is too far from town to walk. Everything in the house was clean and in excellent repair, and we really benefitted from having a washer and dryer available. From the porch we had wonderful lake views; we heard the howler monkeys and saw many birds and gorgeous sunsets. The best thing about our stay was the fact that the property manager, Pablo Aguilar Gamboa, served as our personal tour guide and driver throughout our stay. He made sure that we ate delicious food at the best restaurants, spotted wildlife with the most knowledgeable guides, got to see local parks and gardens that aren't listed in Trip Advisor, and arranged for the best tours and activities. He knew how much time it took to get to our destinations, and to do our planned activities, the best time of day (and even the best day) to schedule the activities, and he even helped us with grocery and pharmacy shopping. With Pablo's help we managed to do everything on our "bucket list" and more, without the stress and hassle of managing a rental car and navigating and driving in unfamiliar terrain. Pablo could not have been more gracious or helpful, and he made the difference between an ordinary vacation and a truly extraordinary one. All in all we highly recommend the entire experience.
Awesome location. With cultural experience of rural Costa rica
Had a wonderful time. Pablo was very helpful. Would have been even better in cushions would have been more comfortable and outside lounge chairs provided. We felt very safe and our interactions with the locals were very positive despite the fact that we were not fluent in spanish. House was very clean.
This property has excellent bones and is in a great location. It has the potential to be a five star, however it requires some loving care and attention. The front deck is large and provides a beautiful view of the lake. The furniture in the main room is very uncomfortable, there are holes in the wall and the unit above the stove is not working. The walls in the casita are in poor shape and the tv should either be connected or removed off the floor.
Although improvements appear to be underway, the swimming pool area is in need of attention. The refurbished new gate looks great!
The owner has prepared a binder filled with suggestions for exploration of the area which is very helpful. Pablo made a special trip to ensure that we were comfortably settled and we appreciated his effort.
To reiterate, with just a little attention this property should be a five star!