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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Bedrooms | 5 |
| Bathrooms | 4 |
| Sleeps | 16 |
| House | |
| Suitability |
|---|
| Smoking Allowed |
| Suitable for Elderly |
| FlipKey traveler rating |
| 21 reviews |
| Stayed here? Write a review. |
Get the real scoop!
All reviews are written by verified travelers
Details
| Rental type | House |
| Minimum Stay | 4 nights |
| Living space | 4000 square feet |
| Bedrooms |
5 Total
Show Details ►
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| Bathrooms |
4 Total
Show Details ►
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| Sleeps | 16 |
| Suitability |
Pet friendlyAsk Smoking allowedYes Suitable for childrenAsk Suitable for the elderlyYes Wheelchair accessibleAsk |
| Theme | Adventure, Luxury, Wilderness, Away from it all, Beach, Tropical |
Description from the owner
40% OFF and includes dinner chef every day right at your house (food costs additional) Jungle. Osa Peninsula Near beach, perfect summer vacation. POOL News Flash! Mom and Baby Jaguar spotted AGAIN for the third time in 10 days- RIGHT IN OUR DRIVEWAY in plain sight! Get 40% off
You can rent this house as a 4 or 5 bedroom depending on how many are in your group. Sleeps 6-16. For smaller groups or families it can be rented with 3 bedrooms between Sept-mid November for up to 8 guests. If you have a larger group, we can host up to 35 with our other homes on the reserve. In total there are 3 homes on thousands of undeveloped, pristine ra...Read more
Amenities
Location
Vacation Home Rental 40% OFF/Beach/Pool/ CHEF
Puerto Jimenez, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
What's Nearby:
Additional Location Information
Your Vacation Rental is located in the middle of The Osa Peninsula and only 2 km. away from Corcovado National Park. Only minutes to secluded, deserted beaches you can walk for miles and barely see another person. We have 3-4 km. of secluded hiking trails in the rainforest, and only 3 homes share 120 +private acres of jungle and wildlife. We are located 10 min. north of Puerto Jimenez on newly paved roads and 400' up above sea level where its cooler. Most people don't realize Osa Peninsula beaches can be hot and buggy, not to mention public, so we recommend visiting beaches in the morning and staying cool up in the rainforest with the monkeys. Monkeys, Toucans, Parrots and Exotic birds pass by our home each day. We are the only vacation property available offering many conveniences not available with most other rental homes such as ice (most rental homes on the Osa require you to go haul your own ice form town 45 min-2 hours each way), unlimited electricity for charging batteries, cameras, and having fans all night.
Location Type Away from it all, Beach, Tropical
Rates
Rates shown in $ USD (change)
Get 40% off your total stay See Details »
| Date | Weeknight | Weekend Night | Weekly | Monthly | Minimum Stay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate Summary | $188 | $188 | $750 - $1,800 | $0 | 4 nights |
| May. 1 2013 - Aug. 31 2013 Costa Rica 3 bedrooms summer vacation for up to 8 INCLUDES daily dinner CHEF/ limited availability t |
- | - | $1,800 | - | 7 nights |
| May. 1 2013 - Jun. 14 2013 Short Stay for up to 8 guests with 3 bedrooms (additional guests and 4th or 5th bedroom can be added |
- | - | $950 | - | 5 nights |
| May. 1 2013 - Aug. 31 2013 Summer Vacation Special for up to 8, 3 bedrooms, daily dinner CHEF INCLUDED, limited availability wh |
- | - | $750 | - | 4 nights |
| All Other Dates | $188 | $188 | - | - | 4 nights |
| Can't find rates for your travel dates? Contact the owner | |||||
Rental fees
- Damage deposit - $400 / stay - Security Deposit
Additional notes from owner
Chef special does NOT include food costs and food must be paid in advance. Daily dinner is served in your vacation home complete with dessert! Local cuisine and lots of meal options including vegetarian and some special diets such as lactose free. No additional charge for special diets if the entire party has the same menu- additional charges may apply for multiple menus to accommodate special diets. The 4 or 5 day rentals are good for up to 8 unless otherwise stated. Additional guests can be added for additional daily rate for the full term of the stay (not only one or 2 days are available- must be all of the 4 or 5 or 7 day stay). Until reserved and paid, specials may be subject to change. There is no cancellation period for the 4 or 5 day specials or any discounted rates. It is meant as a filler between gaps in time for weekly rentals & does not qualify for the same cancellation period regardless of how far in advance it is reserved. Short stays have very limited availability. All specials are confirmed and guaranteed with advance payment.
Payment is due in full to qualify for specials. Some specials have expiration dates-please note the expiration dates & book before that date to qualify. Get your sunscreen, beach towels & flip flops out & head to Costa Rica to the Osa Peninsula & Lapa's Home Vacation Rental! The monkeys will leave the light on for ya!
There are no cancellations with any refund if cancellation is made with less than 120 days prior to arrival. Cancellations with more than 120 days are refunded in full minus $250 administration fee and deducted any travel or other arrangements were prepaid for you or for chef services.There are no cancellation refunds for any last minute or special rate reservations. Please note cancellation policy is as follows, for non holiday weeks with cancellation made more than 120 days in advance, there is full refund, minus $250 administration fee. For holiday weeks there is no cancellation unless we can fill your week. We turn others down for holidays once we are reserved. If we can reserve another guest for your week, we will issue a full refund, minus $250 administration fee. Dates can be changed to a time more convenient if you need to make changes and there is no administration fee for making changes of dates as long as we can rent your original week. We do our best to work with our guests and understand that life can change plans unexpectedly.
All guests are required to pay a security/tour deposit prior to arrival. This varies between $250 to $400 depending on the size of your group. It is refunded after departure and is based on any tours you took with our guides which are deducted form the deposit. .
For large group reservations, there is no refund for cancellation at any time unless we can fill your week(s).
Availability
AvailableUnavailable Last updated: April 29, 2013 ◀▶
What Past Guests Are Saying
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Don't miss this!
Butte, Montana, USAThe Fabulous Osa at Lapa's Home
Left on 04/18/2013 for a stay in February 2013
Wow, you have to see it to believe it. A web-site doesn't begin to touch what you will really experience. Watch Scarlett macaws and spiders monkeys as you have your morning coffee.
-Fantastic hosts that will customize your trip as you wish with Local Knowledge that you can't get from books or agents.
-An option of accommodations to fit your style and group size, they provide VIP treatment for budget travelers (me) to luxury service.
-I loved the seclusion of my own private paradise and felt total immersion with the Osa while I was there.
-They did all the homework for my last minute add on trip to Corcovado NP, and made it happen for me! Without their insight, I wouldn't have taken the collectivo, walked 2 miles down a remote beach, stayed at a luxury tent camp and hiked into the park. Blondie and Michael are incredible hosts, and I am excited about my next visit with new adventures. -
Osa Peninsula
Carrillos Alto de Poas, Alajuela Costa RicaBest vacation ever!!!
Left on 03/29/2013 for a stay in February 2013
Peace and tranquility, finally a true vacation and adventure. Not only were we greeted by our hosts, but also a troup of squirrel monkeys! Hey, we're in the jungle now! Our house was everything and more than we had imagined: Solace for sore eyes, an art gallery; everywere composition and beauty with the environment. You don`t have to leave the grounds to experience the jungle. Just sit and enjoy: Scarlet Mcaws soaring above your head or playing in the trees by your house, Tucans do their fly by every day, Howler monkeys wake you in the morning as you watch the mist roll in off the Golfo Dulce and disperse as the sun rises higher in the blue sky.
Even though there are 3 homes on the property, you never see, hear or encounter the other guests (unless you want to). The caretakers are available 24/7 if needed (bi-lingual) and one could be your personal chef (cinnamon rolls to drool over). Thanks!
What I'm trying to say is that it was the best vacation in my life. Went home rested, peace of mind, and a lot of new friends.
-
Maria Warneke
La Garita Alejuela, Costa RicaGreat Beautiful Wedding at an Exquistive Location
Left on 03/12/2013 for a stay in February 2013
My husband and I stayed at Lapa's Home as part of a wedding celebration! The house was just perfect. We arrived and had adventure right away. We arrived just after there had been a pretty good rain and there was a tree down in the driveway! We climbed over it and walked in! Blondie and Mike sent the caretaker to remove the tree right away and drove our car in for us. We absolutely loved the adventure and that the house is right at the cusp of the rainforest and close to the beach. We loved the open air design of the house and appreciated the screened bedrooms. We were surprised by the lack of insects and delighted by what visitors we did have. Daily visits by frogs hopping around, butterflies flying right through the house and my favorite were the hummingbirds which fly right into the house to feed from the beautiful exotic tropical flower arrangements. We had a few visitors of gladiator frogs which are adorable frogs with suction cup like hands and feet. We had daily visits with a few different kinds of monkeys while we sat at the pool deck sipping frosty umbrella drinks! We had such adventure hiking with their guides to a beautiful waterfall, went kayaking in the mangroves and hung around this beautiful reserve taking in all the sounds of the rainforest. The soothing views of the ocean topped off this amazing place. The house is a creative architectural style and art and so fitting. Open air living, even for a week is not for you if you are phobic of wildlife. But this is why our family chose this place for their wedding. It has the perfect combination of easy access to going everywhere, complete privacy, beautiful landscaped gardens and wild pristine rain forest. And we loved the house and location. It was also nice having caretakers we could go to if we had questions but basically it felt comforting to know we were not alone in the wilderness, but we felt as if we were!
Response from Blondie & Michael Cranford - 03/13/2013
Owner
We'd love to have you back anytime! Maybe another tree will come down after another beautiful rain and you can dance in the moonlight of a clear crystal, star filled sky while raindrops shimmer on the leaves!
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ALM
Flagstaff, AZA Chance to Commune with Nature
Left on 03/12/2013 for a stay in January 2013
My husband and I stayed at Lapa's Home in January with our two teenage sons, and I can say without doubt that I've never stayed in a house so interesting and creative, nor one that allows such close contact with nature. The living room, dining area, and kitchen are open air, and it was not uncommon for a giant butterfly to flutter through as we were hanging out on the couch. Each day, we watched monkeys swing through the canopy just feet away from us, and we spent a whole morning watching a mama sloth moving like molasses through a tree right beside the living room, her baby clamped like a starfish to her belly. Masses of macaws, toucans, and scores of other birds flew around (and occasionally through!) the house each day.
This open air living is not for everyone, but if you want to experience the wildlife of the Osa, this is the place. The experience is edgy in the very best way--you're not looking at the jungle through double-paned glass in a climate-controlled hotel room, you're living right in it. During cicada season (which is when we were there), that means dealing with the nearby racket of cicadas and occasionally having them dive bomb you at night when they're drawn to the house lights. For me, that kind of experience is a plus--making the tropical experience real and not some kind of Disney fabrication.
We loved the little swimming pool, accessed by its toad-proof stepping stones. We loved the many artistic touches throughout the house created by Michael and Blondie, who were helpful and friendly and gave wonderful tips on where to go and what to do. Our stay there was truly memorable and we have recommended it to our adventurous friends! -
RJ C
Paonia, ColoradoA wildlife paradise
Left on 02/12/2013 for a stay in November 2012
Our group came to this incredible place at the end of the rainy season, and we were absolutely amazed. The house and pool, the jungle, the views of the golfo dulce, the birds and monkeys...for us this was a once in a lifetime experience which did not disappoint. It was like camping out in a luxurious, open air, three story home in the midst of an animal preserve. The owners and care taking family were wonderful. We appreciated all of the tour arrangements made for us by Blondie, and everyone made our visit to this remote and special place very easy. One highlight was a day trip to a cocoa farm where we learned all facets of organic chocolate farming, ending with a chocolate feast. Another day was spent dolphin watching while touring and snorkeling in the Golfo Dulce.
Anyone who visits should not forget the sunscreen or the bug spray; however, most anything you would need is available in Puerto Jimenez, a 15 minute drive or bus ride, away. -
M B
Portland OregonHope This Helps
Left on 01/16/2013 for a stay in December 2012
The owners of this house have said some interesting things about the three families who wrote bad reviews, and for you the reader this is almost certainly a "he said, she said". I am the spouse of one of the original reviewers, we have two pre-teen children. Finger pointing and such is useless and silly, I agree with the reviews from our other members in totality, and am furious that the owners of this house have taken great pains to smudge our character and truthfulness. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, here are several I took while enduring a stay at the Lapas house...reading between the lines will not be necessary.
Response from Blondie & Michael Cranford - 02/06/2013
Owner
We have responded to the same guests in 3 other reviews left by them, all below this one. In those, we addressed their issues. In these photos they show a photo of a screen with a 1.5 inch straight tear, in a room they did not use nor pay for, which has been repaired. Photos of light without bulb is a professional drafters light which we remove the bulb from because other guests didn't want the bright light. It is above a drafting desk! Photos of plastic chairs? Not sure about that- it gets hot in the tropics! We don't advise anyone to use plastic chairs in the hot sun anywhere, nor are they placed in the hot sun. Taking photos of the backside of screen panels (which they took out and turned backwards to photograph) is showing out of context. The screen panels sit inside a frame which has molding at the edges so they sit tightly in the frame. Photos of leaves in pool- they refused to let our caretaker remove them. If you have ever seen the movie "Pacific Heights" you know what we were dealing with! Nothing was going to make these guests happy! They did state that they would make us wish we had given them a refund by trying to spread negativity. Hopefully you can see by our other guests positive experiences, that we are fair and honest people! We have far more reviews on another site if you'd like that link- ask me and I will send it.
Opportunistic travelers and manipulative people are very hard to please and generally don’t make it as far as the Osa. We and our staff try our best to make sure every visitor has the best experience possible. With this family, this was just not possible. We hope you can read all the responses we have made to each of their reviews and that this is specific enough a response to what was brought up . I guess when some people are not happy in general, it gets spread to every corner of the globe. We find it sad that when visiting a foreign country, with the most humble of local residents, tours and business owners in a pristine and pure part of the world, that these folks found it necessary to spread their discomfort of being out of their comfort zone and out of the box, to everyone they met and spoke with and still doing so once they returned to their home country. It is doubtful we will have this experience again. I am certain that you will find your experience with us to be one of the best in your life! Everyone else has!
Pura Vida as it said here in Costa Rica- which translates to "Pure Life"! See you in paradise!
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smarq7
Tiverton, Rhode IslandDO NOT STAY AT THIS HOUSE
Left on 01/02/2013 for a stay in December 2012
We were a well traveled group of 10, who are used to remote, spartan locations. We paid top dollar to rent this house during the holidays and were SORELY disappointed. Upon arrival, mike and Blondie showed us around the house. They had just completed the top 2 bedrooms and were quite proud of the results. I must admit the top floors were nice, though not kid friendly (winding staircase had loose steps and top bedroom had no railing whatsoever - completely open to fall to the roof of the level below). There was also a significant wasp nest on the top floor, and the wasps entered the upstairs bathrooms and stung two in our party in the first two days we were there.
What was MOST disturbing was the condition of the lower floors. The two lower level bedrooms were completely uninhabitable - moldy mattresses that clean sheets could not disguise. We were going to house 4 of the 10 in our party in these lower rooms; instead had to bunk them in upper bedrooms with other guests, which was completely inconvenient and certainly not what we planned for our vacation.
The dishwasher was nonfunctional, stove had only two functional burners and very difficult to control heat, all dishes and pots/pans dirty, and pantry that was so mildewed that you could not walk in it without gagging. All of the kitchen towels that were left to use for dish washing smelled horrible and could not be used.
When we discussed with mike, he asked to rectify the situation by replacing sheets and towels. This did nothing to fix the significant problems with the house. Mike refused to do anything further, suggesting the place was 'immaculate' and we were at fault. He made no effort to reimburse us for any of the monies paid for an unlivable situation.
Four in our party moved out after two days, the the rest of us moved out 4 days in to our weeklong stay. We lost thousands of dollars on this rental experience.
WE WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW THAT WE FEEL LIKE WE WERE GRAVELY MISINFORMED ABOUT THE CONDITION OF THE HOUSE AND WERE GROSSLY OVERCHARGED. There are significant other housing choices in the area for much less money than is charged for this house. We believe mike and Blondie to be dishonest. GO ELSEWHERE FOR HOUSING. the Osa is a wonderful place to visit, just be sure y are not duped like we were! Please feel free to contact me for more information. S.Marquis. Smarq7@aol.com.Response from Blondie & Michael Cranford - 01/16/2013
Owner
Below this review are 2 others from the same guests where we do make a rather lengthy response. We feel that writing another lengthy response is redundant. We leave it to our prospective guests to read between the lines and contact us for further information. So after you read this rather quick response, please read the next 2 responses to the following reviews left by the same guests. This should help you understand the impossibility we were presented with in trying to make these travel weary guests happy!
In no way, shape or form did we mislead any guests about what we offer or provide. We are offended that these guests would state that. We are certainly not in any way dishonest? We provide more information than almost anyone else and spend considerable amounts of time before reservations to make sure you are getting the best vacation. We provide courtesy travel services free which every other guest we have had in 13 years have appreciated. (Car reservations, airline reservations, excursions, hotel options for San Jose, suggestions for where else you might enjoy in Costa Rica). We don't just rent you a vacation home and leave you on your own. We have live in, on site staff to help you with whatever is needed. They will stop whatever they are doing to offer assistance.
Yes, the master adult bedroom at the very top level has minimal railings. You will find unobstructed ocean views to the north and east! Mike is a home designer and this home is a showpiece for his work. Regularly, when there are no vacationers at the home, clients come from all over the world, to see different, out of the box, ways to build sustainably and exotically! We have never had a guest complain about the cool design! It is not a child's room and we do leave it up to our prospective guests to choose an accommodation according to needs. The families leaving this review and the 2 fillowing this one, had 4 young teens, not tots and the couple in the room with minimal rails, had no children! So we are not sure why these guests see this as a negative! The other bedrooms in the house are perfectly suitable for young families, the top 2 are not! We expect most guests will see that. These guests did not have babies or children under 11.
We do cover all the things mentioned in this review in the 2 owners responses below this so please read them. We are kind and generous people who love sharing this exotic, location where rainforest meets sea. We have heard from other vacation rental home owners that occasionally they have had guests who are so far out of their comfort zone that they refuse to be comfortable in anything other than what they consider safe, such as resorts where everything is predictable. What we offer is one of the most unique, spacious and special vacation homes on the OSA Peninsula.
Please read the responses we make to the 2 reviews below this and I believe you will see we were in a non win situation no matter what we did. Thanks for taking the time. We send guests every imaginable piece of information which might help their travel planning and it is up to guests to read and be prepared. We cannot force guests to read. These guests had a reservation for over a year. We know life is busy but we cannot be held responsible for disappointments when guests reserve a vacation home and expect a full service resort. Other than 2, the OSA has luckily escaped this kind of resort development.
PS we do not have a dishwasher, never state that we do and so are unsure why a dishwasher was even mentioned. You can hire a live dishwasher if you want to but we do not have one! -
Hart H
Bellingham, WashingtonRead This Review Before Renting Lapa's Home on Osa Peninsula
Left on 12/30/2012 for a stay in December 2012
The owners of this rental misled us in many ways – adding a great deal of expense and trouble to an otherwise wonderful vacation. You can find much better options at other homes and/or hotels in the area.
In short, the Lapas House was terrible. And when we tried to discuss some of the problems with the owners, Mike and Blondie, they told us that we were being overly sensitive and shouldn’t have come to the jungle. In fact, several people in our group have traveled extensively in third world countries and we just spend a fabulous week at a jungle lodge on the other side of the Gulfo Dulce. It wasn’t our first time to a remote area or to a jungle. Moreover, we talked to several tour guides and hotel managers in Puerto Jimenez to see what we should expect with a rental in the area before talking to Mike and Blondie about our concerns. We learned that we weren’t getting close to what we had paid for.
Mike and Blondie did wash some of the linens for us on the second day to try to help with the mold/mildew smell. Unfortunately, the problem wasn’t just the linens. The problem was the lack of cleanliness in general and functional problems with the house. For example, the two bedrooms on the lower level suffer from constant dampness. The smell hits you as you approach the rooms. The gate outside the bedrooms has a broken piece of plastic at the bottom to keep out the frogs. The plastic is filthy and the gate is covered in dirt and dog fur. The controls on the kitchen stove don’t function properly, the oven door requires wooden pegs to stay shut and the oven only works on one temperature. We had to wash all plates, pots and pans before using them (with cold water as there was no hot water at the kitchen sink). We also found animal nests in the hot pads in the kitchen, along with a damp – mildew smelling towel for drying the dishes. The bathrooms on the main and lower floors were very dirty, with a grungy film in the tub/showers. Hardly the stuff of a “luxury rental” as they describe it on their website.
The pool sort of summed up the entire experience. It was tiny (even smaller than it appeared in the photos on the website and not really usable). Upon arrival, Blondie said it was “spotless”. We were able to take sticks and write our names in the algae on the bottom.
The conditions were so bad we actually left and paid for lodging elsewhere – on top of having paid for the Lapas House. The move added greatly to our expenses, but was necessary if we wanted to have fond memories of Costa Rica.
My wife and I actually have a vacation home that we sometimes rent. I would be more than embarrassed if a guest brought the sort of complaints to us that we tried to bring to Mike and Blondie. They, however, just kept repeating that the house was immaculate and the best we could hope for in the area. Mike finally said that no one had ever offered the complaints we were making and he didn’t want to talk to me anymore. I knew he was lying. A few days earlier we had talked to a manager at one of the hotels near Puerto Jimenez. The manager said he had a friend stay at the Lapas House just a couple of weeks prior to our being there. That person also said the downstairs bedrooms were “unbearable.” In addition, other people in town offered a knowing chuckle when we described the conditions.
Our experiences with Mike and Blondie made us wonder about their honesty in general. For example, Mike and Blondie asked us shortly before our trip to help them bring wrapped presents from the U.S. to Costa Rica. We were going to be at their house over Christmas – so the request almost made sense. They said they would mail the presents to us and pay for any extra baggage fees. But the request didn’t really make sense, or wasn’t above board. What they were asking wasn’t going to save much money. More important, they knew full well we cannot legally bring unknown items onto a plane or over the border.
Blondie also emailed us with a comment about one of our excursions while we were in Costa Rica. She said she remembered that one of us had said we’d be traveling with a smart phone… so she had tried to contact us via phone. That was an odd comment given that a) she knows that phones from the U.S. do not work in Costa Rica, and b) she offered to rent us a phone at the start of our trip (for more than it cost to buy a phone in Costa Rica). My point here is that the problems extend beyond their inaccurate description of the Lapas House.
Blondie all but demanded we make reservations through her for all outings – prior to our arrival. Once on the Osa Peninsula, we found that none of the guides, other home owners, hotel managers, etc. recommend making all reservations in advance. Maybe not surprising, we also found that we could often get better prices than we were getting through Blondie.
Finally, we also followed Blondie’s recommendation for a hotel in San Jose. The hotel was horribly inconvenient (requiring considerable cab fares to and from airports) and located in a loud industrial area with our room backing up to a freeway and off-ramp. The vehicle noises and trucks braking for the off ramp kept us up all night.
The Osa Peninsula and Gulfo Dulce were spectacular. We met wonderful people and saw amazing wildlife. We just wish we hadn’t rented the Lapas House or worked at all with Mike and Blondie. We hope we can spare you the difficulties and expense we experienced.Response from Blondie & Michael Cranford - 02/06/2013
Owner
We understand this is long response but we feel that it is necessary in light of the review of Hart H. We also understand the importance and how these reviews affect your consideration for staying with us so we hope you will take the time to read our response to Hart H and his review. Opportunistic travelers and manipulative people are very hard to please and generally don’t make it as far as the Osa. We and our staff try our best to make sure every visitor has the best experience possible. With Hart H and his family, this was just not possible. We hope you can read between the lines and that this is specific enough a response to what was brought up in this review. I guess when some people are not happy in general, it gets spread to every corner of the globe. We find it sad that when visiting a foreign country, with the most humble of local residents, tours and business owners in a pristine and pure part of the world, that these folks found it necessary to spread their discomfort of being out of their comfort zone and out of the box, to everyone they met and spoke with and still doing so once they returned to their home country. It is doubtful we will have this experience again. I am certain that you will find your experience with us to be one of the best in your life! Everyone else has!
We debated writing a short response but in light of the attack, decided it best to clarify and address the complaints of Hart H and hope you read between the lines for the rest. Trip Advisor (FlipKey) says this about following up a negative review with a response: “ Travelers often respond favorably to listings with an occasional negative review as it can lend credibility to the overall ranking. Fact is, some people will complain and we encourage managers to use the FlipKey 'Respond' feature to provide context for negative reviews.”. This is the suggestion of this very site which houses our vacation rental listing- So here goes!
The group were 3 families traveling together with one couple who had no children and wanted more privacy from the others. They reserved 4 of the possible 5 bedrooms. The couple without children were very concerned about having private space away from the rest of the family especially since they had 2 weeks together, one already spent together. . Immediately upon check in, the 4 girls (who were to share a room by request of the parents prior to arrival), ran through the house ahead of the parents and adults and chose the ocean view rooms with private bath on the top level of the house, which was set up for the parents ( by their request prior to arrival). The girls were not happy when the parents told them that they were to share the room which these complaints stemmed from. We understand that future guests can read between the lines of reviews. Especially where we have done everything humanly possible to make Hart H happy. From the minute of check in, we realized that nothing was going to make these guests happy as they arrived travel weary after a week with family (haven’t we all had that at some point!) Though we don’t like defending ourselves, we feel it is necessary to give you an idea of what we were dealing with from these guests. Please take the time to read our response and if you feel more comfortable speaking with us, feel free to call. We are not the monsters we have been made out to be at all. The Lapa’s Home is one of the most spectacular on the Osa Peninsula and has been enjoyed by many guests for many years. We would appreciate if you read through the entire review, to read through our response and contact us via email info@costaricaosahome.com or phone USA 508-714-0622 (year round) or in Costa Rica at 8372-3529 (Dec-May). There are 2 other reviews you will see by these same guests and we respond to each of them.
We feel that explaining bad behaviour of a guest might help you understand what we were dealing with and possibly even encourage you to stay with us and experience one of the most elegant and special homes on the Osa Peninsula. Feel free to write and ask us for any of the contact info if you want to verify anything at all in our response. Every prospective guest gets the exact same information. Our websites are open for your perusal. We are totally transparent and treat each of our guests as those who have worked very hard to have a vacation. We are honest and caring people who love where we live and offer you one of the most spectacular homes on the Osa. We gave Hart H rooms they did not rent, provided hotel type service with daily changing of sheets, cleaning when they demanded, on & on. They were abusive to us but more importantly to our Costa Rican (Tico) caretaker and his wife. This is an eco friendly location and we clearly tell our guests before reservations are made, there is one mid week change of linens and that if they want more, it can be arrange it with our cleaning staff. We strive to work with good conservation efforts and this includes reducing the frequency of sheets being changed during your stay to one unless requested and using fragrance free and chemical free cleaning. Many people visiting have never seen solid dish soap nor kitchens which do not use hot water as is common everywhere in Costa Rica and most tropical countries. If you have travelled anywhere tropical, you may have seen that. We just don’t use hot water nor is it plumbed for hot water for washing dishes or doing laundry. And no matter where you go on the Osa Peninsula no one does. Solid dish soap is formulated for cold water. Hart H seemed to think this meant that nothing was clean! No matter how many times we did laundry, cleaned floors, washed dishes etc right in front of them, they felt it was not clean. We did not mislead Hart H in any way. They had misconceptions that because dish soap here is solid and kitchen faucets are cold, that equals cleanliness. They complained about the little resident frogs, geckos, the few insects we do have, they complained about linens being moldy, they complained about roads, they complained about everything and then said we misled them!. When we were right in front of them and asked them to show us (as friendly as we could after the FOURTH day of washing linens, floors, etc) they would say that “well right now it is fine”. And then the next day, it would start all over again. Seriously we have an email from them addressing this if you want to see a copy. It didn’t matter what we did, they were not happy nor were they going to be happy. If we could write a review of these guests for others to read before they rented to them, they would not be able to stay anywhere. Reviews are not all they are cracked up to be as most happy guests leave with their happy and good memories and don’t write reviews. It is easier for an unhappy guest to vent whether or not it is our fault. They were writing this review while one of them was getting a massage in the house (read below for more on that) and conferring with each other reading other reviews of different properties. The massage therapist could not believe that while sitting in a beautiful place this was all they could do. At holidays no less!
We find it hard to believe that Hart H has traveled extensively in Latin America, as each person seemed to be allergic to the sight of bugs and insects. Most guests like the Geckos, Jesus Christ Lizards that hang by the pool and visitors from cute masked tree frogs, to the monkeys that steal bananas from our trees….. It's not uncommon to share the kitchen counter with a curious gecko awaiting dessert! This is why people come to the Osa!! It is amazing in all its’ splendor and is up close and personal. The fact that things are done differently here such as not using hot water and having solid dish soap, fragrance free soap, etc does not mean things are not clean!
We CLEARLY describe this home is an “open air” jungle home located where the ocean meets the sea. We CLEARLY show our pool, rooms and even videos on our web site and the listing site such as this one. No photos are enhanced or changed to make anything look bigger or smaller. Watch the videos and see the listing to see for yourself. Our pool is adequate size for this home and is not a lap pool. It is not for rough housing or throwing people off your shoulders. You cannot do cannonballs in the pool- we designed it that way on purpose! Our photos show 3 girls on pool floats with room for a few more lounging. It is NOT a pool for diving. We have had MANY guests from all over the world and multiple families travelling together and have never had anyone complain about the pool size or cleanliness. It is a single home and not a resort hosting lots of people- just your family. Most rental homes do not offer pools at all so this is a BIG plus! It is a fun pool for relaxing and cooling off & dunking, floating even a kiss or tow on a romantic night. It is between 4-5 feet deep. Maybe that clarifies the pool a little better if the photos and video don’t. Our caretaker manages the chlorine & PH level daily and our pool was 100% acceptable upon check in and check out. The pool is spring fed and was spotless upon their arrival. If you have ever seen a spring fed pool, you are aware that the water is not an artificial blue. Rather is the color of clear spring water. We could not seem to explain this enough to their liking. Most people LOVE the all natural cleaning products, organic homemade soaps and lack of harsh chemicals. It is Costa Rica and the “No Artificial Ingredients” as the ad campaign touts! The Osa really is no artificial ingredients except the rare tourist who should have booked at one of those internationally branded all inclusive, homogenized, cookie cutter touristy resort hotels!
Hart H has had reservations for a YEAR and had every single description we have to offer, reviews from past guests, we send every bit of info you will need but cannot force guests to read it. The few places which offer hot water in a kitchen sink (or for that matter most bath room sinks as well) are the all inclusive, gringo style, homogenized resorts, with cable TV and where all tours are kept in house and people never see outside the gates of the touristy places. FYI- on the Osa, you will not find a kitchen with a hot water spout. Not a rental home or a restaurant or lodge. It is not something many cold weather dwellers are not aware of. If this is important to you, you might want to consider another country as almost all of Costa Rica has cold water kitchen and bathroom spouts. Frequently, establishments also do not have hot water showers here on the Osa as it is hot & humid (we do have hot water in the showers). We hope this clarifies their concerns of cleanliness.
Words of wisdom - don't rent an open air home if you don't like a few insects (and there are surprisingly few insects). People with bug phobias should not visit the Osa Peninsula. We are home to more insects, reptiles, mammals, birds than all of North America and Canada combined. Good chance you will go home with a few bug pictures. You have more biting bugs in your backyard in summer if you are from countries which have 4 seasons, you have FAR more biting bugs then you will see here in your lifetime!! Our literature clearly explains bedrooms are the only rooms screened in and we highly recommend keeping lights low at night, cooking before dark and keeping fans in use in the event bugs become a bit pesty (such as when it is raining cats and dogs). Yes, we have a frog door, logically, we ask guest to keep it closed at night...common sense! It works just fine and we have no idea what plastic they are speaking of as this is a metal sliding pocket door! Showering with a tree frog or dart frog is a common experience for guests from time to time. Most think it is a riot! And it is. Note- the frog door closed will help keep them out if you don’t like this.
All new bedding, pillows, mattress covers (completely enclosed allergy proof for every bed and pillow). These were the first guests to use any of this. Yet, they complained and when we directly asked them to show us which pillows or bedding were not to their satisfaction so we could remedy it (remember each had been freshly replaced for this season and these were the first guests to use them), they said that “well right now, they are all fine”. Even with reservations for over a year, with at least 75 email back & forth, full info on our web site, in all literature we send, these people still arrived expecting the Hilton or an all inclusive, gated, homogenized, experience. What we do offer is a wonderful rainforest retreat, with nice ocean views, superior comfort (if you have ever been to the Osa you understand that there are almost NO luxury rental homes here) and a friendly and helpful staff to assist when asked.
Example of abuse to our caretaker: When they informed our caretaker the gas grille tank was not flowing on their first night (common here in Costa Rica), he retrieved a new one in 2 minutes and came back offering to put it on the grille. He was rudely waved away and they refused to let him put it on. No kidding. When they informed us of this inconvenience the next day , after he was off for the religious holiday celebration, they did not tell us he had returned in minutes with a new one but were indignant that their dinner was spoiled and the inconvenience of a 2 hour delay. They demanded a refund. When he returned the next day, he informed us that he did indeed bring the new tank within minutes and was shocked they said otherwise. These were the kind of incidences we had to deal with from them on a daily basis. They abused our humble and generous caretakers by rudely refusing to allow him to simply put on a new tank & pushed him away and made him take the fresh tank as well. Seriously? Was this necessary? It was a simple remedy. Solved in less than 3 minutes had they allowed it.
Occasionally we get a guest experiencing something or other they were not expecting. Some people from cold climates need a day or two to acclimate, some people have allergies from high humidity or being in a different area. But never have we had guests who were so rude, treated our caretakers like slaves (as well as ourselves) and then went to town bad mouthing us everywhere. We have been here for 20 years in February, have an excellent reputation and so those in town knew better. We had a few of them call us to inform us that they were glad we had these types of guests rather than them. The last guests Hart H referred to in his review saying they reported to him “the rooms were unbearable”, was shocked Hart H would quote his words in this manner! He stays here from time to time as a vacation from his own place. He runs a resort and knows that from time to time, there are guests that no matter what you do to bend over backwards to make them happy, there is nothing which will. What they tried to pass off as a report from a past guest, is totally untrue. it did not happen. We did not ask for our local fellow businesses to call us over holidays to ask if we were OK, knowing we were dealing with unreasonable guests.
One of the things we describe in our literature on our web site (including this listing site and all others we are on), is that when you stay here, you are getting complete privacy. Unlike at many hotels, lodges and rental homes where there are other guests & employees are coming and going all day, we inform our guests that if they need anything at all, to inform our caretaker immediately. It is a rental home and we respect the privacy of our guests and guests really appreciate that. These guests never once said anything about our pool while they were here, other than to complain their girls could not play in it. We had blow up floats, pool toys but they could not play? We have a pool skimmer to sweep out leaves (it is the rainforest and leaves fall from time to time!). Upon check in, we told them that if they did not want to skim the leaves, to inform our caretaker ( who is a 2 minute walk away) and that he would discreetly come over when they were gone and remove leaves, vacuum and clean the pool. Until this review, they had not mentioned a word about the pool. To us or our caretaker. Period.
It is true that our oven needs a pin (which is right there) to stay tightly closed. If you have ever travelled to a third world country (and if not, maybe you can imagine) you will know that things here are not easily replaced. The oven door has a slight wobble which is secured with the pin (which we never use but provide for guests in the event that this bothers them). It does not interfere with baking, etc. It is also true that the oven bakes on 350 degrees F. We had a power surge (also VERY common here) which left the oven set at 350.We have never had a complaint about this until now. The oven can be adjusted and broil also operates as well. The cook top works perfectly as it is brand new. Some people have a hard time adapting to places which have experiences different from what they are used to. The knobs turn different from what you may be used to- there is a small diagram explaining how they work. They work-it is brand new- end of story!
We are coming off the rainy season which means that the ground is saturated. The house is not moldy or mildew. When our last guest left today we asked if they noticed or smelled mold ( this guest is a city dweller so would notice this he said). The reply was that “not at all” and that it smells like the fresh rainforest. When I go to the USA now, I see fabric softener which touts the scent of the rainforest! So we are not sure why they would complain about the same scent used to freshen & soften clothes in their home country. If this guest was being reasonable they would have also mentioned that one of these bedrooms they were complaining about also has AC and it is really hard to have mold in a room which dehydrates everything. Instead, against what we advised, they kept both the door and window closed and locked and the AC off. Of course, this in any humid climate, will create a musty scent being closed with no air. We advised that if they were not going to use the room, to keep the window open. They did not. To further try to make them happy, we gave them the 5th private master bedroom, which they did not reserve nor pay for. Of course there was no mention of this in their review. They never used the room they were complaining about because we generously offered this 5th rooftop bedroom with private bath to try to make them happy when we realized that the girls complaining were going to create a problem for the parents.. We did this moments after check in since they were already complaining about things such as having to close a frog door (sliding pocket door) which keeps the frogs out at night. They complained that we left out a broom which I guess they didn’t want to see. (note- we leave out a broom in case you break a glass or want to sweep leaves off the pool deck or whatever else you might want to use a broom for). They complained that they should have been told that “there is some degree of housekeeping necessary on their part”. Seriously, if you want to see this- they wrote me while they were here and I will be happy to send it to you upon request. Of course there is some degree of housekeeping necessary. When you eat, you wash dishes. They complained about this. The only thing “filthy” about their stay, was the attitude of these guest, the way they pushed around the locals and their treating of us. I do not say that lightly or easily but they had a total disregard for the caring, humble and spotless people we employ. They had zero respect for where they were, the environment in which they chose to stay and mostly, their attitude towards the people whose country they were visiting. Writing a scathing review does not change this. Please feel free to write or call us. We think most of you can read between the lines. The comments about the hotel they chose to stay at in San Jose, has nothing to do with us. We provided a list of tours on the Osa, places to stay near the airport (note- if you choose to stay at an airport hotel, you will hear both ground and air traffic but have the convenience of getting your flight quickly and easily with a $12 taxi ride or $15 van ride which can accommodate 12 people- is this an unreasonable rate for a taxi van?? And what does that have to do with us??). In the reservation confirmation sent when reservations are first made (in this case over a year ago) the exact info for airports (there are 2 and info is right there if they had read it), distances & taxi times are listed. We cannot force guests to read it. Besides that, this is courtesy info. A guest is responsible to know a little bit about where they are going. Writing scathing reviews of tours, other hotels, conversations they say they had with locals, has nothing to do with us and should not be posted. Moreover, we hope that you can see that we have nothing to do with this and supplied all the web addresses for them to do their own research. We don’t “strong arm or practically demand” that they reserve anything with anyone including us!
We completely discount their reports about tours and excursions being charged extra. We do this as a courtesy service for our guests and do not charge a single penny extra . In fact, we are not paid for arranging these tour. The tour operators are paid directly. If you want to verify this please contact the tour operators directly- they are excellent tours and awesome people. We cannot give you the names of these tours on this review site but you can email us and ask for the info we send our guests and then contact the tours directly. You will see, there is zero mark up. . In one of our Costa Rica guide books a previous guest had left a free bookmark from years ago which had an old rate in small print showing the rate from 5 years ago which was a $5 difference. With this they accused us of marking up tours. We sent them and any guest tour info, direct email, web sites, etc so those who want can arrange their own tours. Or I offer it as a courtesy. No reason to attack a courtesy, free service for which I am not getting paid! There are tour offices in town who do mark up tours, sometimes double. We have never and never will do that nor do we add a single additional charge. Like we said- we do it as a service to our guests and except for these guests, everyone loves that!
I think you may be seeing what we were dealing with here. It is too bad there is not a “TripAdvisor” or review forum for lodge owners to report their experiences with guests . We had calls from a some of the tours reporting that they refused to pay and tried to negotiate for lower rates AFTER they took the tour. All tour rates are sent them before they arrive, along with direct contact info to book themselves if they want. Had these guests read ANY of the info sent them, they would have known that. They didn’t show up for pre-arranged tours which really hurts the local business owners because with a group of 10 of them, they had no others booked to compensate. We have a lovely massage therapist who offers her services here at the house. There were 2 of this group scheduled for massages who skipped out on her. Luckily one of the group must have felt some guilt as he did have a massage but paid her for 2. This was after she hung around waiting for 2 hours on Christmas Eve. These guests had a total disrespect for small business in a remote area where every tourist dollar is extremely important. Our massage therapist is helping pay for her husbands’ education for certification as a music teacher at the local school and she needed that money for their bus fare to San Jose for holidays with their family. Had one of these guests not felt a pang of guilt and taken the massage for the 2 who rudely skipped out on her, she would not have been able to go home for the holidays. What guests may not realize is the complete effort made , the care and love that those we deal with for tours, massages, restaurants, etc do which help make our guests experience one they will remember in a positive light for their entire lives. But this can only happen if guests contribute to that as well.
We did ask these guests prior to arrival if they would be willing to tote Christmas gifts for the local kids as when we returned in October we were out of room in our bags (because we were loaded with Egyptian cotton sheets, a new stove top replacement for our Jenn Air grille, household items we cannot get here, etc) . We certainly did not ask them to bring “wrapped gifts” as no airline would accept gifts in wrapping. We clearly explained that these were childrens gifts (Matchbox cars, Barbie dolls, learning material, crayons, colored pencils, toys) and anyone who brings us anything is free to open and check. Frequently our guests ask us if there is anything we would like knowing that this is a remote area with no shopping at all available. Well travelled guests know that things are hard to come by in these remote parts & we appreciate this so much. We appreciate the kindness. There was nothing at all suspicious about our asking this. Many guests are willing to bring us a few things and we have never had such a response. In fact, the reply of Hart H when initially I asked, was nice saying that since they were” not coming directly here they could not, but otherwise would have been happy to”. Why he would suddenly be saying this is a mystery to us but hopefully you can read between the lines. And if you feel you have room in your bags and want to offer to bring us a few things, we hope you won’t be put off by this review! We really are nice people trying to make sure your family has an adventure of a lifetime in one of the most pristine places on Earth in one of the very few vacation homes of this caliber on the Osa. Our guest Hart H did not mention any of the other places he felt were superior because there really are not any which he saw during his campaign against us when he went to town! We know this because we had plenty of phone calls from the business owners contacted by Hart H in their survey to justify why they were so unhappy. No one locally could understand. We find it really hard to believe that Hart H is well travelled in third world countries unless it is to those gated, homogenized, all inclusive properties which totally prevent any mixing in the country they are actually visiting.
As for an early check out, we were only aware of one couple who left for time to themselves at the beach before the entire group left. We were not notified of an early check out until this review. We are surprised by this info as we would expect any guest to inform us if they depart early. They knew how to find us for complaints but not to tell us they left early?? Really?? We have been told by other lodge and rental home owners that there are times a negative review by guests is simply a way to blame someone else for their dissatisfaction with choices they made. Not by anything done by the establishment.
In summary, we offered those in their family complaining the most accommodations at our other vacation home on the property which was available. They refused. It is a home more conventional and completely closed in with walls, doors and windows. They refused to even look at it! Yes, we do have a guard dog who was introduced to them at check in. She is friendly to our guests and generally will stay with the youngest or oldest each day & walk with you! She is a sweet dog and if one is allergic to dogs we will have her kept at our caretakers’ house. Occasionally we get a guest who apologetically lets us know they have pet allergies. Since we have no carpets and she is not allowed past the studio, bedrooms or living level, there are no concerns with allergies unless you are ultra sensitive in which case, you will also feel a reaction when the monkeys come by since they are so close. Asking our guests to bring a Christmas present or two for our caretakers and local kids was not an unreasonable request. It has nothing to do with saving money and we have no idea what that comment was about nor about travelling with a smart phone. We don’t care if guests travel with a phone. We do rent a cell phone for $30 a week if someone wants the convenience as there are no landline phones here. This is not at all unreasonable if one doesn’t have their own phone ( and yes most US, Canada and world cell phones do work here if you have the right plan & we tell you that in the info sent if you read it). Those comments were completely baffling as whether or not they travel with a smart phone or any other kind of phone is not relevant to us. The bathrooms are clean- you’ll see that for yourselves- the color tiles have ripples which they took for “dirt” (however, there were a few pieces of sand in the shower which filter through the hanging plant in the bathroom window)
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Argbargle
PortlandSave your vacation, Avoid this Rental!
Left on 12/27/2012 for a stay in December 2012
We rented the Lapas house for a week after staying at a bare bones jungle lodge on the Osa. We read the reviews, and Rebecca was initially very helpful with travel arrangements, although, some of her suggestions seemed a little odd (hotel in San Jose far from town or airport tucked away in an industrial area and the same price per night as much better situated hotels). We were a group of ten, and initially Michael and Rebecca (Blondie) were quite gracious, offering us a newly finished fifth bedroom at no extra charge. We have 4 children, and were planning to let them stay in either of the two downstairs bedrooms while the adults used the three upstairs bedrooms.
On the first pass the house was VERY unkempt, dirty surfaces everywhere, and details that made us nervous like a spiral staircase with the bottom step, loose and moving, poor handrails up, and a number of loose floor boards which creaked and sagged. This was nothing, however, compared to the downstairs bedrooms, which reeked of mildew and mold, such that we would not allow our children to stay there. In truth, I would be concerned about anyone staying there. The upstairs bedrooms were better with the newest being quite nice, with new bedding and an amazing view. The other upstairs bedroom, however was not so nice. The bed consisted of two sheets of open cell foam, placed on top of each other, with a clear ridge where the beds came together. The sheets and bedding were moist, and smelled horribly of mildew, and in fact triggered me to wheezing, such that the first night it was impossible to get any sleep. Two single beds were futons placed on a slatted frame, with the futons sagging into the area between the slats, perhaps usable for children, but very uncomfortable for an adult. The bedroom on the main floor was no better, with the bedding reeking of mildew and likely mold.
In the living room, there were chairs and a couch with cushions on them that held a colony of biting red ants such that our family quickly refrained from sitting on them, opting instead for a number of plastic chairs set around the table.
The kitchen was a disaster, with every utensil having a gritty film on it, as did the pots and pans. We found a larger bugs nest in between two dish towels, and an additional stack of towels in the pantry smelled so rank we felt forced to go into town and buy paper towels, and dish soap, and we did not use anything in the kitchen before washing it first. The range featured only two working elements out of four, and the oven only had one temperature. We had no hot water the first night, in any part of the house, and short lived hot water for the two additional days we were able to stick it out in the house.
The pool was tiny, and filled with green water, and had a greenish growth around the bottom in which I could and did write my name in the scum. There was no railing around the pool deck, and it was tiny, it would have been very easy for any of us or our children to fall a good distance, had we allowed them to use it, which we did not. At no time during our stay was the pool filter turned on, and although Rebecca assured us the pool was filled by an artesian well, and very clean for that, it was very dirty. In addition, the wood surrounding the deck was coming apart in many places, and looked like it would give way if stepped on.
Finally in every area of the house the screens were broken, coming away from the wall, or non existent. There was not one area of the house that provided a refuge from bugs and each night, we were forced to turn off our lights immediately upon getting into bed lest we be swarmed by bugs, even so, we all collected dozens of bites in some difficult places.
When we approached the owner with our concerns after the first night, he was initially very responsive, asking how he could make it right. He did clean the bedding while we were out to dinner, and it was improved, but by no means what we would have considered decent. One family left after the first day to book a hotel near town, and my family left after three days. We were not offered a refund for our remaining five days, and in fact after the initial complaint we were treated like pariahs who "did not understand what it meant to live in the jungle", clearly the message was that we should have expected everything I have written about above. We did just spend the better part of a week at a jungle Eco-lodge, and I work with the government doing disaster relief, and have spent much of my life in austere environments under immediate post disaster conditions, but would not pay for the privilege, nor bring my children. This was not even close to the 500$ a night experience we paid for and were promised.
Given everything above, I would not recommend this rental to a family. We were looking forward to a great experience, but left with an awful, awful experience. Given the desultory way we were treated after our first complaint, we expect the owners to rebut this review, and I say have at it. This is only the second negative review I have ever written, and I wrote it out of a strong desire to have your family avoid the colossal mistake my family made. We left after three nights, and were not offered a refund, nor an apology. We stopped in prior to the last night we were supposed to have been there, to find the owners, having already stripped the beds, even though we had paid for the rental for the entire time.
The Osa is spectacular, and everyone we met and worked with outside of the owners of the house were wonderful. We would definitely recommend a trip to the Osa, you will make memories for a lifetime, just be sure you do a fair amount of research.Response from Blondie & Michael Cranford - 01/16/2013
Owner
We would appreciate readers to finish our response to the end as we will directly address the complaints of this guest as we did while they were with us. They have written 3 reviews of their stay with us and we have addressed each separately. We trust that prospective guests can read between the lines and see that we did not deserve this kind of attack. This family of 10 arrived around noon with 2 couples each who had children and one without children. Upon arrival the 4 children of these guests (ages between 11-15 or thereabouts), ran through the house, ahead of us and parents as we checked them in. They had arrived to us from an all inclusive lodge not on the OSA, as the reviewer has stated, but the other side of the Gulf. Within minutes of arriving and scouting the home, the 4 girls announced that they had chosen the “Beach Room”, which had been set up for a couple, as per their request. As the reviewer stated, the girls were to share one of the bedrooms which has 5 twin beds, and the 3 couples would each have one of the remaining 3 bedrooms. When told they would not have the “beach room”, we noticed the girls were not at all happy. We understand there are dynamics which occur when families who do not live together, go on vacation together and it was apparent that the girls were immediately not happy with their parents decision for sleeping arrangements. Before arrival the couple without children stated that they were concerned about not having space and private area and requested they have the “Beach Room” which is one of 2 bedrooms on the top level “tree house style” And separate from the rest of the house. They rented only 4 of the 5 bedrooms.
The first pass through the house, was done with all the adult guests to familiarize them with things and verify it was satisfactory to them. We spent considerable time with these guests answering questions, and making sure they were settled and satisfied before we left them. We spent approximately 45 minutes walking through the home with all of the adults. There was nothing “unkempt” at all and when asked before we left them to get settled, all adults stated that they were satisfied and happy with accommodations. If at first pass the house was unkempt according to these guests, they said nothing to us and in fact, until I read this review, they never said a word to us about this. More importantly, we have live in, ON SITE CLEANING STAFF and caretaker who were never notified about any of what has been written in this review. We had no notice of any dissatisfaction whatsoever until more than 36 hours after they were in the house, on a Friday night, just after we let our staff leave for their religious holiday celebration. When they did ask us to meet with them they never once mentioned anything about dissatisfaction regarding a dirty or "unkempt" home. Upon check in, we informed these guests that if there was anything extra needed, to let us know early the next morning after check in as later that day it would be only us, the owners on site for 2 days. What we didn’t know was that their first evening when preparing dinner for the outdoor grille, the guests could not get the gas to flow for using the grille. They called the caretaker who responded within minutes and he brought them a different tank in less than 2 minutes. When he returned with the tank, these guests waved him away. The next evening, they reported to us that they had been greatly inconvenienced and had to wait for a few hours while they moved their dinner cooking to the stove rather than the grille. We were completely surprised by this since the caretaker replaced the tank in less than 2 minutes (Costa Rica is notorious for these tanks not to work even when full, such as this was). Their reaction to,our caretaker when he brought them a tank was to wave him away and refuse to allow him to connect a new tank. Yet to us, they demanded a refund for 2 of the guests who decided they were going to leave for a resort. They treated the caretaker and us like we should cater to their every whim from washing dinner dishes to making beds. We can take it if guests want to complain and are rude to us. But treating the people whose country you are visiting with disrespect and as slaves, is another story. We ourselves tried to assuage these guests by stripping beds EVERY SINGLE DAY and replacing towels since this was their complaint but also as a courtesy we added sweeping, mopping floors and basic housekeeping. We walked through the house room by room and asked the spokesman for the group to let us know what they were unhappy with. EVERY SINGLE TIME, the remark was that "we'll right now everything is fine".
After these guests spent 3/4 day, the first night and then ¾ of the following day, we were called for a “chat”. During this chat one of the men said that they should have been informed that there was some degre of housekeeping needed on their part. We were confused what he meant and when asked to clarify he asked why there was a broom left for each level of the home. We explained that with a home rental and self catering occasionally guests may need to sweep a spill or might want a broom. It seems that they were upset at the sight of a broom. He thought that the sheets were moldy and wanted all beds changed. Since our caretakers were off for the night, we complied and changed every bed and all towels in the house. For 3 of the 4 bedrooms these guests were the first to use linens and every single pillow was brand new and never been used, and most of the linens were brand new and they were the first guests to use them as well. We changed all anyway to try to please them. At the time of year they visited, rainy season was just ending and the scent they complained about was the rainforest scent and is definitely not mold. The entire house had been cleaned, including all walls, furniture, shelves, closets etc were all scrubbed for the holiday season and the kick off for the high season. Every dish, silverware, knives, serving ware, pot and pan had been washed. The rainforest has a fresh and wonderful scent. When I go to to the USA now I see fabric softener in the scent of the rainforest. It was very confusing to us why guests would complain about the fresh scent of the rainforest when it is a scent many use to freshen their clothes. When we followed up the next day to see if they were satisfied, we actually went to the house in person and asked directly to show us what had the smell they complained about. The answer we got was “well right now it is fine”. We changed their linens every day during their visit trying to make them happy. There was never a mention from them regarding any dissatisfaction about “unkempt or dirty “ surfaces, We never have had guests such as these. No matter what we offered to make them happy, it was not enough. We cleaned for them every day trying to make them happy. We gave them the 5th bedroom which they opted not to reserve, trying to make them happy. There were comments made about having to do their own dishes, no one to serve them, make drinks, on and on and on. With all the info sent to them during the year+ they had a reservation, never once did they state they preferred a resort experience. We are not a resort, do not purport to be. We offer additional daily cleaning for a nominal fee (clearly stated on the listing sites as well as all the info provided to guests both before arrival and also in the guest info book). There is one mid week complete change of linens, towels and basic housecleaning. We ask guests if they want more of anything to inform our ON SITE CLEANING STAFF and caretaker. Other than informing our caretaker about the gas tank, not once did they approach or inform us or the staff that they needed anything. The complaint we had was they thought that sheets and beds were moldy. Yet, when in person we asked for them to show us specifically, the reply was that at the time all was fine.
Every single bed in the house has a protective completely mite proof, allergy proof enclosed cover encasing every bed and pillow completely. As a higher end vacation home, we feel this is important As the beds remain completely mite proof and hypo allergenic. We do also advise guests in the list of suggested “what to bring” items that if they are affected by seasonal allergies, to bring remedies with them. With the drastic change of climate for many coming from very cold, dry climates, to the rainforest, some people suffer an onslaught of the same symptoms they have seasonally where they live. The house is not moldy and there is no mildew and when asked directly, in person to please show us where they were disatisfied, the response we were given was always "well right now everything is fine”. In spite of this, we still came in every single day and changed linens, towels and cleaned for them (we clearly provide info before a reservation is made that there is one mid week change and if additional services are wanted it needs to be prearranged and there is a nominal fee). These guests opted for the one mid week change. Every dish, all,pans, serve ware, glasses etc were hand washed before their arrival. With no notice about dissatisfaction or informing us what they were dissatisfied about, they demanded a refund and clearly stated that if not, there would be a smear campaign and basically blackmailed that guests can have the final word if they are not given what they want by piling up negative reviews. Like I said, for 6 days, we changed all beds and towels and cleaned for them each and every day. The bed this reviewer states has a “clear ridge where the mattresses come together” is a king size bed and there is no ridge. It is a regular king mattress, not 2 twins pushed together. It is also a hypoallergenic foam bed.
We do not solicit past guests for reviews but after this review I will and will ask them to be specific about beds so please read another review from a different guest. We hope that prospective guests can read between the lines.
Our website and numerous videos clearly show our pool. This is a family home and not a resort and has a pool size adequate for playing/ splashing and enjoying a cool dip or an afternoon float! No photos or videos were enhanced to make the pool look bigger and in fact, we made efforts to show various shots including one with 3 girls on floats/inflatables so guestas can visualize the pool in context. No, you cannot do cannonballs, dive or throw people off your shoulders in this pool. It is a nice luxury to have a pool at a vacation rental home on the OSA as almost none offer a pool. We did nothing to mislead. These guests had a reservation for over a year and had lots of time to visit the website, watch the videos we provide before reservations are made. And lots of time to ask questions. The pool pump is turned on and pool is cleaned while guests are out so as to not disturb you on vacation. Some people dislike a pool pump at night or when they are trying to video wildlife do not like to hear the hum of a pool pump. So we maintain the pool when guests are off on excursions and tours. They were told that on check in so it is a surprise to hear about it in their review. We asked them at check in if they wanted to skim any leaves which might fall in (which is minimal as trees are trimmed above the pool to minimize leaves) or if they preferred our caretaker to do it daily. They opted not to have the caretaker. They clearly stated that the did not want the caretaker to skim leaves or any debris (which is really minimal at this time of year).
As for where these guests stayed before or after their arival to us, we are not responsible for the hotel they choose. When asked for suggestions for where to stay, as a courtesy, we offer a few where either we or other guests have stayed. The info guests are sent clearly tells them to choose a hotel carefully because there are 2 airports and one airline is a long travel and is not convenient. We do not force anyone to stay and the place they chose to stay has their own website. It has nothing to do with us and holding us responsible writing a negative review of another place is an indicator of how unreasonable these guests were. We are assuming that readers can read between the lines. If you request, I can send you the exact information we provided these guests before their reservation was made and a number of times throughout the year. If you ask, I can also provide you with all information sent to these guests which is exactly the same as what you get when you make a reservation.
As a courtesy and free of charge, I will make reservation for guests for tours, excursions and other local services such as car rentals and local flights. These guests made their own flight reservations and were provided the info about the 2 airports the small commuter flights use. It is unreasonable to hold us responsible for their choice to use the airline furthest away from the international airport and then whack us in a review! They made the choice. until I read this review, I had no idea what airline they chose nor where they stayed in San Jose. This is just a pattern of how they wanted to blame us for their ill planning and tiring of travel companions. at the lodge they came to us from and where they went when they left us, they had separate quarters.
These guests requested the massage therapist make an in-home massage appointment and it was reserved for 2 who wanted massages. The therapist arrived ½ hour in advance and then waited for over 2 hours more in the event that perhaps there was a misunderstanding of time, when the guests did not return. When finally the guests returned to the house,one of them felt guilty for her trip and wait and took the place of the 2 who did not show up for the massage. (Who never did show up and later we were told they had departed early). During the massage these guests plotted their story for this review and the masage therapist was so disturbed by what she heard that she said she felt compelled to tell us to expect these reviews. We are not surprised.
As for biting ants- yes- they are called army ants. They appear, make the rounds and leave. We cannot predict when ( though we have never heard of them at night and think they are not nocturnal) and there is not a single place in the rainforest where these marvels of nature do not visit. Unfortunately, the ants chose to visit upon guests of ill humor with zero interest. And zero patience for the very wildlife which most people come to the OSA Peninsula to experience. Most people watch these amazing creatures in wonder. If they were on the sofa, a reasonable person would move and watch them. They are amazing. It is not a "colony of ants" but army ants who move through with their battalion and leave, usually rapidly. Their visits are short and sweet. These guests, rather than roll with the experience, ran for a can of insect killer (which we do not keep on site nor use to kill the rainforest life). We understand people traveling to the OSA are out of the box, unless they too live in a jungle. But these guests were far outside of their comfort level. They were far better candidates for an all inclusive or a resort (which is where they ended up going as they informed us through their reviews- they never told us they vacated and abandoned the house). They may be well traveled but some well travelled people insulate themselves from experiencing where they are by not venturing past the gates of all inclusive lodging and stick with only hotel tours, hotel restaurants, etc. Why travel yet refuse to mingle with local people when given a chance. These guests refused to deal with our caretaker who is there to help with whatever they need. They never once, other than to replace a gas tank for the outdoor grille, asked for any assistance to address any of what they have written here in this review. When they finally did contact us ( we were right on site) it was to demand without giving us an opportunity to try to appease them. We gave them a room they did not pay for, cleaned daily, offered alternate accommodations we had on the reserve. They refused to even take a look at the accommodations. We offered this thinking that because they were bug phobic, it might be a welcome relief to be inside a completely walled home with traditional walls, doors and windows.
The dish soap here is solid dish soap. Because the dish soap is not what they are used to,they assumed that every dish is dirty. The dish towels were brand new and had never been used. We had just purchased them from San Jose days before their arrival, along with sheets, towels, pillows and various other things. l. The stove is a brand new insert (both sides). It is a US model Jenn Aire which also has a grille insert. All burners work. The controls are not what these guests expected. There is a diagram for each knob which shows exactly how to operate the stove. Again, it is less than 2 months old and is new. Also the oven heats to between 100-350 and again from 500 for broiling. The oven works- period. We offer chef services and professional chefs prepare 5 star meals for guests using this very stove and oven.
The king bed in the "Beach Room" has a complete king mattress and there are no ridges. There is absolutely no way for them to have suggested this because it is a complete king mattress and not 2 twins pushed together. These guests were the first to ever sleep in this room. The 2 twin beds are also new. Had they informed us that they had problems with the wooden slats being too far apart, we would have quickly and easily slid in a few more (we have a boatload of extras). But they said not a word and until reading this review, we had no idea they were not happy with the beds (the beds were used by their young tween and teen kids, not by heavy adults). A simple and polite request would have been all needed to make them happy. But they did not. The beds are twin beds and are not futons. We feel that these guests were totally unreasonable by not telling us they were unhappy with these twin beds and then writing a negative review. It was a very quick and very simple solution. We did find that there was one small section at the foot of each bed where another slat would fit. It left a gap about 4" at the foot of the bed. Unless you stepped on the bed, it was not noticeable which is why when our staff assembled the beds, it was missed. It seems unreasonable to crucify us for something they never told us about!
The handrail is mounted into a concrete wall and we cannot find any area loose. The bottom steps (cool tree trunk carved step) is mounted from the bottom to a concrete floor. Not sure what else to say about that.
The top "treehouse style" rooms above the roof of the rest of the house are brand new and they were the first guests to use. They rented only one of them but because they complained so bitterly and demanded a refund because their girls did not want to share a room away from parents, we gave them the 5th bedroom without charge. The floors are wooden floors and yes, there is movement in the wood but this is normal. Because they had no toddler or children under 6 or 7 we did not see any need to insult them by asking to watch their tween and teen aged children if they came to this level of the house. When we have inquiries from guests with young children, we do disclose that this top level is definitely not child friendly. The other levels are and we have had many guests with children of toddler age. The room has a rail almost entirely surrounding it and the small area which does not, is covered with a desk! Really? If these guests wanted OSHA (occupational safety and hazard administration) approved accommodations, they were definitely not in the right place! With teenage children, I would think this would not be a concern for them. However, if it were a concern I would think addressing it with the girls (between 11-15 or so) would be the appropriate response. Not blaming us for their discomfort. We have had guests every day since these departed and not one mention of feeling unsafe. We have asked for feedback from guests regarding issues these guests mentioned in this review the other 2 they left, and all say they are not only happy, but thrilled with their stay and the state of the house.
These guests likely did find a little mud hut which an insect makes. There are little non stinging bee type flying guys who make little mud huts. They literally do it in an hour or less. So if they found one of these, it was not because it was there for a long time. It was made that day. We had just washed all potholders and returned the day of their arrival. These little flyers are quite amazing and are interesting to watch. They also like to do this in the bindings of our books! So you might find one from time to time. It doesn't mean things were not cleaned. These guests seemed to have bug phobias for every single insect and animal. It is an "OPEN AIR DESIGN" as clearly shown and described not only on this site which hosts our listing, but our website and all info sent. We share the house with these adorable cool little frogs called masked tree frogs and gladiator frogs. Also geckos and Jesus Christ lizards (they literally walk on water). We have monkeys which come within an arms length of the house. Wildlife and nature IS the reason why people come here. For some people, when out of their comfort level and out of the box, they find great discomfort and every little thing bothers them. Evidently these guests suffered from this.
The pool deck is concrete so there is almost no maintenance nor tripping hazards unless you count the floats or pool toys. No there is no rail around it- watch the videos on our website and also on this site. When we have guests coming with kids we remove the table and chairs and instead put the ultra heavy Adirondack chairs and allow the parents to decide. Parents with toddler age kids do not leave kids unattended anyway. We did not build our vacation home for babies or young kids. The pool is separated from the home and children need a parents hand going across the step to get there. That was about as much child proofing as we wanted. Obviously these guests thought their 11-15 year old children needed more supervision and that is not our responsibility. Nor would we ever insult a parent by suggesting they monitor their kids in the home or at the pool.
Every bedroom is screened in and has new screening. The room they are speaking of has door panels which if the door is slammed hard, will loosen and simply need to be pushed in. Of course the rest of the home is absent of screening and yes it is non existent. It is an OPEN AIR HOME DESIGN. We do suggest to guests to leave the bedroom doors closed once it starts getting dark. When we are in our vacation home, we read every night in bed and are never bothered by bugs.
Ever. Period. We CLEARLY suggest to guests to close doors once the sun goes down and not to have the bright lights on while the doors are open. THis is just common sense. We cannot force guests to follow our advice.
We understand there can be personality clashes and we try very hard to remain neutral no matter what. These guests demanded we change sheets every day which we did with a smile, we did basic housekeeping every single day as well. But no matter what we did, we could not remedy that they chose a vacation home and not a resort where they did not have to cook or wash their own dishes, where drinks are ordered and rooms which are standard hotel rooms. These guests stated from our first meeting that they wanted a resort. We believe they were travel weary after having spent a week prior to arriving to us, with family they do not live with. One couple was ultra concerned about having private space far removed from the couples with children. In a number of correspondences there was mention that one couple preferred to be away from the rest. We believe that upon arrival, they were already stressed from a week (at an all inclusive lodge) with family. We understand that family dynamics can be complicated. We feel that this weariness was beyond the breaking point and demanding a refund so they could move to a resort style accommodation was the action they took.
We generally do not solicit our last guests for reviews but will definitely do so now. If you are still not sure that this reviewer "bent the truth" in their favor by leaving a nasty review, please read reviews left by others. We are kind and generous and do whatever we can for our guests to have a vacation of a lifetime. We do it equally for all guests. -
jimbabama
Seclusion in Paradise
Left on 06/22/2012 for a stay in June 2012
My husband and teenage kids stayed at the Lapa's home for 3 nights. This was the first stop to starting our vacation. We were looking for a private place that gave us the opportunity to relax and be summerged with nature. This is absolutely the place to be.
The private secluded road to this place is an adventure by itself, which is about 1/2 mile from the main road. You enter the jungle in a narrow dirt road climbing up into the property. When we arrived there, the grounds, the home and the view were breathtaking. Manicured grounds surrounded the front of the property and a jungle bordered the rest. We were welcomed by Wilberg, the inn keeper who was very friendly. We arrived late in the afternoon, and to our surprise. it was the time that the monkeys came out to feed. We saw at least 10 monkey's on our first day there including a mama with her baby in her back.
The view of this home is outstanding! You can see the ocean from afar. I made a point to get up during sunrise at about 5 to 5:30 am. Toucans, lapas, and many other birds, flew by and made their calling, the whole jungle seemed to be awakening...an amazing experience. Lots of butterlies (blue especially) and hummingbirds.
The house was as it is showed on the picture. I actually think that the pictures don't do justice to its beauty. It is an open plan, which means that you dont have walls keeping insects from visiting the premises and the heat and cool breezes surround you in the main gathering areas. There are fans and screened rooms to keep the bugs out, and 1 room with air conditioning. The pool was a great plus!
There are 3 bedrooms with plenty of beds. The carpentry, woodworking using local trees is amazing. The imagination that these owners used to make this home is outstanding. The art in the home is their own creation and very beautiful.
We had a surprised visitor (a german sheppard dog) which is Mike & Blondie's dog. Sombra is as sweet as can be and she guarded the house and kept us company at night. We felt more secured knowing that she woud bark if anything strange approached the home.
We went in the rainy season which gave us the chance to see awesome thunderstorms. At night it was so pitch black after turning the lights off that I felt I was sleeping in the jungle while listening to all of the animals!
The proprerty is closed to Puerto Jimenez. We shopped for groceries, and cooked dinner and breakfast at the home. We also walked the trials that are in the property and it was like a miniature Corcovado. The beaches and rivers are closed by and there are plenty of restaurants and adventures for the whole family.
You have choices as to where to stay and we stayed at some beautiful resorts with all the comforts that you can think off afterwards in Costa Rica, but this home tops it all as far as lexperiencing living with nature and having your own little solutide for at least a few days!
Make sure you bring what Blondie suggests in her list of items. Bug repellent, flashlights, good hicking shoes, etc...but most important, video cameras to capture all of the beauty!
Mike and Blondie are great supporters of the people of Puerto Jimenez and do great things for conversation, the children and adults in town in providing jobs and teaching the children painting and art with the funds from their rentals. That in itself makes me want to come back again, and again. Thank you Blondie and Mike for this wonderful experience. -
Cannon's
Golden, COBest Ever
Left on 05/25/2012 for a stay in March 2012
We had the best experience ever and Blondie was so helpful in arranging all we wanted to do. We say every animal we hoped to and enjoyed the rain forest in every way. If we make it back to Costa Rica this is where we will come back to. The open air of the house was wonderful along with the views and breezes from the ocean!
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mm
crLaid Back Vacation Getaway for Close Friends
Left on 03/02/2012 for a stay in February 2012
The house was beautiful and comfortable, so comfortable that we never wanted to leave! It was perfect for our large group (of 8) and we could have had two more too. The upstairs open air living room and adjoining kitchen was our favorite room by far. We spent most of our time in this area making family style meals, smoothies, drinks-chatting, watching movies and playing games (and even getting on the internet). This house is very private, and tucked away. It is designed to be very open with views in every room, and being smack dab in the middle of the jungle we got to see a ton of wildlife without every really leaving the house. The only drawbacks: it's far away from the beach/road/town (which can also be a plus), and the pool definitely looked bigger in the pictures than it was in real life.
Response from Blondie & Michael Cranford - 03/03/2012
Owner
We hope to see you all back next year for trailblazing! It was nice to have you all. FUTURE GUESTS PLEASE NOTE: these guests were here with no transportation. We are only 8 miles from town and the only rental home with this quick a drive to get there on a newly paved road. We are 1 km from the main road on a very well kept road which does NOT need 4WD. Beaches are less than 10 minutes by car. It is a perfect place for larger groups or families. We do disclose that we are minutes to beaches by car! If you are coming without transportation be aware of this. We are located where the rain forest meets the sea at the edge of the jungle, but surrounded by it on 3 sides. Perfect for wildlife viewing & also perfect for close proximity to the beach, town & main road by vehicle.
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Susanne76
Kansas CityA very unique and fun vacation
Left on 08/14/2011 for a stay in April 2011
My friends and I had the pleasure of staying in the Tree House built and managed by Blondie and Michael. What an experience! Everything for our comfort was there. From the outside shower looking into the jungle, to the coffee maker and blender and don't forget the 6 burner stove and huge fridge. And to our amazement and joy we were visited by the hummingbirds, macaws, 3 types of monkeys and some really interesting bugs. Away from the quaint little village of Puerto Jimenez, we enjoyed quiet nights punctuated by animal night noises that we learned were sloths, birds and bugs. Now I am not a huge fan of camping but this was just right. Flush toilets, drinking water out of the tap, 24 hour electricity and a very reasonable amount of minor inconveniences that made you feel like you were camping! We enjoyed every moment and would highly recommend this to anyone who is able to climb steps and wants to see the rain forest up close. Thank you Blondie and Michael for an very enjoyable stay.
Response from Blondie & Michael Cranford - 08/25/2011
Owner
We are glad you enjoyed your vacation. We'd love to have you back anytime!
Readers please NOTE: this review was mistakenly posted for the Lapa's Home which is the listing you are looking at. It is actually for our other vacation home Property ID 165950 ! The Lapa's Home is on the opposite side of the 120 acre wildlife reserve thus protecting your privacy so there are no other guests walking by to interrupt you. Completely private pool so there are no other guests! You'll never even know if there are guests on the other side of the reserve!
If you are interested in staying at a Modern Swiss Family Robinson, Disney inspired, authentic eco tree house fifty feet in a tree, see Property ID 165950. This is the ONLY tree house on the Osa Peninsula! -
JRM
PhiladelphiaAn amazing Costa Rica experience that will be too hard to top!
Left on 08/06/2011 for a stay in July 2011
My family and I stayed in both the "main house" and "tree house," as there was quite a large group of us there to celebrate a family wedding! While I stayed in the tree house, I spent a great deal of time at the main house (primarily on a float in the pool!). The two or three minute walk between the two houses was gorgeous - trees, fruit, gorgeous flowers and wildlife (birds, reptiles, etc.). The path was well maintained and extremely easy to navigate (though I would recommend bringing a flashlight for after dark hours).
The property in which both houses are set on is absolutely amazing - there are various walking paths on the property, a ton of open space for whatever (we used it for a wedding and reception), and, best of all...you are literally in the rainforest!!!
The house has plenty of beds, two full bathrooms, a dining area, living area (both up and downstairs) and, best of all, pool! There is a beautiful view of the mountains.
We had a three-toed sloth occupying a tree that we all enjoyed looking out daily. The two seating areas were great for such a large group.
The architecture of the house was amazing - for being a house in the middle of the rain forest, it seems to just fit right in! Of course, we all enjoyed a down day at the houses between the pool, wildlife, scenery and trails.
The weather was beautiful! It rained a bit here and there, but it never lasted very long. We did multiple activities (including climbing and free-falling from a tree, all while attached to a harness, climbing a waterfall, spending a day on a boat and seeing hundreds of dolphins, kayaking in a ten-person kayak, and ziplining) which were all easily accessible via car and very scenic!
I would highly recommend this place to anyone and everyone, whether it be a family, couple, friends, or combination of the three!
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kathleen
colorado springsrainforest wedding
Left on 08/03/2011 for a stay in June 2011
june weddings will never be quite the same.we arrived in puerto jimenez and were met at the airport by the owners of the most amazing eco house i have ever seen.we left the small town behind us,traveled a short time into the rainforest.the air immediately changed and became heavier but not too hot as we passed the massive beautiful trees and vines and flowers and arrived at the house that is such a part of the jungle.it is a beautiful 3 bedroom house, the bedrooms and bathrooms are rooms as we know them with doors and privacy, but the other rooms,kitchen,living room,family areas have no walls,it's almost like living outside but with floors and a roof and comfort and beauty.the pool is clean and inviting and fresh.the house is eco-friendly and we recycled everything possible.our host&hostess; becka and mike prepared our meals with mango and pineapple and lime grown right there on the farm.they not only scheduled our flight, they made all the reservations for our adventures as well.besides trekking through the forest with the leaf cutter ants we went ziplining (7stations) visited a chocolate farm with the best chocolate i have ever eaten, and my favorite... we went out on the fjord and swam with the dolphins.these are not trained dolphins, these are wild,free dolphins with the flying fish all around and birds echoing above and everywhere the sounds of the forest, the macaws,parrots,toucans.the monkeys that would come to the house to swipe a banana and a sloth that hung from a tree...right there!
absolutely awesome, inspiring, i must go back and this time i will take the grandkids with me because they need to see this paradise...but next time we will stay in the treehouse that mike and becca designed and built and that is an entirely different experience in itself. completely eco you don't see it until you are up on it and then it towers above wrapped around this magnificent tree.but it is not attached to the tree!look for the review written by the treehouse guests.Response from Blondie & Michael Cranford - 08/04/2011
Owner
HOLA Kathleen- we swam with the dolphins again the week after you left & a dolphin had a sign with your name on it! it was a JOY to have you- bring back the grandkids. They'll love the monkeys! PURA VIDA!
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KirstenK
RenoTwo Weeks in Paradise
Left on 03/28/2011 for a stay in March 2011
My husband, our 4 year old twins, my parents and nephew and I spend two weeks at Lapa House and it was pure magic. Blondie was a dream to work with - her advice was excellent and she arranged all of our activities for us, which made my life much easier.
The house was large and very comfortable and the pool was used every day by the kids (and sometimes an iguana). The only rooms that are enclosed are the bedrooms so one needs to really be comfortable in the outdoors to enjoy it. For us, it was perfect. Waking up with the sun and the sounds of the birds and frogs was fantastic. It has a beautiful view of Golfo Dulce as well, and was definitely cooler that it was at the waterfront. We also enjoyed eating pineapples and bananas from the property while watching the monkeys travel past the house.
Everyone was sad to leave Lapa House and the Osa and, if we make it back there, we'll be back at the house.
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Kim
Salisbury, MDIncredible Real Rainforest adventure with Children!
Left on 03/18/2011 for a stay in February 2011
First and foremost, this is not a resort--thankfully so! This is the real thing. A real rainforest adventure with the comforts of a home and the indescribable beauty and solitude of the real rainforest! All of this at a reasonable price and less than 4 hours total flying time from Miami. The host and caretakers are wonderful and accommodating! The hosts are wonderful, honest people who scheduled our tours which were not only spectacular (i.e. zip line, chocolate farm), but personalized. You won't find a cattle chute filled with tourists here. It was safe for the children and we were able to "unplug" and enjoy real relaxation and some adventure. We did not even need to leave the property to see all of the flora and fauna we wanted (morpho butterflies, sloths, howler monkeys, scarlet macaws, chestnut-billed toucans, etc.)! Do not even think about going to one of the resorts!
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tiffwilhelm
Chico, CAFantastic Panoramas and Living Space in the Rain Forest
Left on 08/13/2010 for a stay in July 2010
Wow! This place was amazing. It's all open air with an incredible panorama that cannot be captured in photos. My husband, myself, three kids and in-laws stayed here for a week and a half in July. We were treated to squirrel and capuchin monkeys crashing through the forest along side the house daily. My ten year old sun got up early to photograph the incredible sunrises and wild life. We had one incredible day where we had the toucan show, followed by the monkey show, followed by an incredible lightening show. After dark we put on our sunglasses and sat in the open air living room to watch the amazing show. Kids splashed in the pool all day and lazed in the hammocks. We took many hikes and came home to relax with drinks and gaze over the view of the Golfo Dulce. We were provided with fresh bananas, pineapples and papayas by the amazing care takers. The water running lizards would dart across the pool and my kids caught frogs and toads. There was plenty of room for the seven of us. It was quite relaxing. The location can't be beat. On our last days there we saw a sloth in the garden and some howler monkeys down the road. I highly recommend this place to anyone.
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Ryan 1K
BoulderWonderful Honeymoon
Left on 07/31/2010 for a stay in July 2010
The Osa was awesome, ad Blondie made it even better. Their house was amazing and pristine, a great treat while in the rain forest. Blondie even acted as our travel agent and help book a lot of activities while we were there. Make sure to do the osa zip line in la palma, the chocolate tour, the boat tour and the psycho tours tree climb/waterfall repel!
We drove to Matapalo on friday to have drinks and dinner at the Farmers market with Scrappy from psycho tours. That was sooo much fun! We met rasta Steve (who went to school in Boulder where we live) and bought organic produce to take back to the house! The meal there was amazing as well.
Wilbur and his family were very accommodating as well; he is the caretaker. Anything you need, they did for you, we felt like rock stars!
We will have to book another trip down here and stay in the treehouse.
Again Blondie, thanks so much for everything you did. Our tours were awesome and i do not know what we would have done without your assistance.
Take care and safe travels back to your beautiful home in Osa
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Happy Families Traveling Together!
Colorado Springs, COAWESOME! RELAXING! Remote yet CLOSE to ALL. OCEAN VIEWS!
Left on 07/19/2010 for a stay in June 2010
We travelled with 2 families on vacation to Southern Costa Rica & was attracted by the versatility of the rental home description as well as the wonderful location and ocean views. It was perfect for us.We considered staying at all inclusive eco lodges but this was a nice alternative to eco lodges or resorts. We met others who were staying at eco lodges at the other side of the Osa Peninsula who had to drive on a rough unpaved road, crossing rivers with no bridges & it took them almost half a day just to go get to town (there is only one on the Osa for groceries, gas station, bank,etc). We had just as much, if not more, wildlife & more privacy than they did at lodges. We had monkeys almost every day, LOTS of beautiful birds- the Scarlet Macaw- the bright red, blue & yellow bird, were only a few feet away in the almond tree just an arms length from the living room. The caretakers took us for a wonderful hike to the waterfall (great for adults & kids older than 12 or so). And the guide fee was only $50 for the whole group for the day! The rental home on the Osa Peninsula is at the border of Corcovado. We all loved that the beach was so close. We were glad to be staying off the beach though- just a warning- it is MUCH hotter at the beach than you think- the cool ocean breezes are elevated so stay somewhere a bit off the beach or you won’t sleep- also the places at the beach & on the south side of Puerto Jimenez have only alternative energy- the people we met (mentioned above) said that they lost power after a few hours in the evening & they sweltered with no fans. We had no problems with insects at all. We really loved this place & have already reserved it for an upcoming family Costa Rica family reunion/wedding. For that we reserved the rest of the homes all located privately on about 120 acres. Our newlyweds will then stay on for their honeymoon!
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Wild in Wisconsin
WisconsinAuthentic Costa Rica Home Rental Rainforest Experience
Left on 07/19/2010 for a stay in July 2010
I don't even know where to begin in regards to the Lapas's Home Rental near Corcovado National Park! The rainforest surrounding their home canopy is just incredible. No detail has been left out of the house and it has everything you need, pool, ocean view and the best part - Going to bed at night, cushy linens, great fans, listening to the pleasant sounds of the rainforest is one of the greatest experiences ever. House has at least 2 levels with lots of places to explore. One awesome place! We stayed in Mike & Blondies house for 1 week With our 14 & 15 year old boys. Talk about a magical time! This is the eco experience of a lifetime. We were visited regularly by all sorts of wildlife (monkeys, birds, lizards) and even heard a loud roar one morning just a few yards away in the jungle (still a mystery as to what it was!) There are plenty of eco lodges and hotels that say they have privacy and seclusion but Mike & Blondies eco resort style rental home is private, secluded, and actually in the jungle in short, the REAL DEAL! This is their home and the love they have for it, and the community and country they have adopted, is present and felt through the lovely artistic touches (both are artists) that are found throughout the house. I was also impressed by the great respect they had for our own privacy. Although always accessible (they or their wonderful caretaker Wilbur), we felt like the cast-aways on Swiss Family Robinson Adventure Vacation. Lapa’s Nest Rental Near Rios, Playas, Great Birding and Birdwatching in Corcovado National Park. We’ve stayed at beach eco resorts and jungle eco lodges, but renting Mike n Blondies Lapas Home Rental was the real deal. If you are looking for the remote part of Costa Rica without feeling lost in the jungle & still close to town & tours- This is it ! We loved this place! Don’t waste your vacation bucks elsewhere.
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