Casa Gecko_ villa steps from the beach.
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Bedrooms | 2 |
| Bathrooms | 2 |
| Sleeps | 6 |
| House | |
| Suitability |
|---|
| Pet Friendly |
| Suitable for Elderly |
| FlipKey traveler rating |
| 13 reviews |
| Stayed here? Write a review. |
Get the real scoop!
All reviews are written by verified travelers
Details
| Rental type | House |
| Minimum Stay | 1 night |
| Bedrooms | 2 Total |
| Bathrooms | 2 Total |
| Sleeps | 6 |
| Suitability |
Pet friendlyYes Smoking allowedAsk Suitable for childrenAsk Suitable for the elderlyYes Wheelchair accessibleNo |
| Theme | Adventure, Budget, Wilderness |
Description from the owner
At 3 minutes walking distance to one of the most atracive beaches of Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast, Casa Gecko is located just behind the premier luxury hotel Le Cameleon. There are two stories, about 150 sq meters in size and nested in a private garden full of tropical flowers.
The first floor consists in a large terrace with a nice sitting and dining area. Inside there is the kitchen and the bedroom with a double bed and a twin with an attached bathroom. Upstairs you will find another huge deck with hammocks . The large bedroom with one queen, a double bed and the second bathroom.
A pick up from the airports of San Jose, Puerto L...Read more
Amenities
Location
Casa Gecko_ villa steps from the beach.
Puerto Viejo, Limon, Costa Rica
What's Nearby:
Additional Location Information
Rates
Rates shown in $ USD (change)
| Date | Weeknight | Weekend Night | Weekly | Monthly | Minimum Stay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate Summary | $100 - $140 | $100 - $140 | $600 - $840 | $0 | 1 night |
| Mar. 31 2012 - Feb. 1 2013 1 to 2 people |
$100 | $100 | $600 | - | 2 nights |
| Mar. 31 2012 - Jan. 31 2013 3 to 4 people |
$120 | $120 | $720 | - | 2 nights |
| Mar. 31 2012 - Mar. 1 2013 5 to 6 people |
$140 | $140 | $840 | - | 2 nights |
| All Other Dates | $100 | $100 | $600 | - | 1 night |
| Can't find rates for your travel dates? Contact the owner | |||||
Additional notes from owner
Higher rates apply for Christmas and Easter weeks. Please inquire.
Availability
AvailableUnavailable Last updated: April 02, 2013 ◀▶
What Past Guests Are Saying
Overall Rating
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PattyGordanier
Elgin, CanadaAwesome vacation, beautiful facility, great food
Left on 03/02/2013 for a stay in February 2013
Read the other reviews,they were helpful and they pretty well say everything i could say.I'm glad I went anyway.
There's been ongoing changes at Casa Gecko from what I can see. Visited there 3 yrs ago and things are just getting better.
Recently Caribe Town Resort across the road has taken on rental managing this house so any issues mentioned in any other review have most certainly been addressed. We stayed at both Casa Gecko and Caribe Town ( please read my review from there, it's just too many words to rewrite:)
Bikes are available and there's access to the bodega to lock stuff up each night. All new steel doors are in place so theft was not an issue.
When I first went to Costa Rica 7 yrs ago, there was no WiFi anywhere, it was a walk to the nearest pay phone. Or into Puerto Viejo to access Internet by the minute.
There is WiFi now, but it was spotty so for $8 I bought a SIM card in town and had Internet access easily. Theres WiFi at Caribe Town too.From what I understand, even the local residents have trouble getting a hard wired phone at this time but with international cell phones, Skype, FaceTime, HeyTell, and MajicJack, I talked and saw my family every day. I even took them for a walk all around the area and to the beach on Skype! It was great!
I asked about the house providing various things, and wasn't surprised by the answer.Last time I was down, 3 yrs ago, I left face mask, goggles, a boogie board and flippers. This time they weren't there. Seems when people stay, they tend to take stuff home with them. This time I left my stuff again so if you use it, leave it for the next person, or for me when I return:) or,...bring your own.
There are lots of friendly dogs everywhere, all are happy to adopt you for a short time wherever you go. Can't do much about the barking, they get excited too about the visiting wildlife. We even had some kind of birds that felt obligated to act as our 5:30 wake up alarms. I think they went back to bed after we got up cuz I couldn't find them during the day:)
As far as the facility and area itself, couldn't ask for a more beautiful place to be. Relaxed, clean, comfortable, and amazing to sit and watch the wildlife. We even had a bunch of bananas hanging outside to wrestle the birds for!
Look at the pictures, when the new managers took the place on they where updated ( I hope). Read the reviews, read about Caribe Town, remember, it's the rain forest, it's humid and there's rain but the sun does come out and it is so beautiful. Jessica, Marcos and Carlos do an amazing job helping make your stay everything it can be. I can hardly wait for my next trip down.
Thanks everyone -
SarahsAdventures
35805Great location but flawed rental system
Left on 02/27/2012 for a stay in February 2012
My boyfriend and I rented the house for 4 days with another couple. We knew we wanted something really close to the beach but not quite in Puerto Viejo. This definitely fits the bill in that regard. It's a 20 minute bike ride or $4 cab ride into town but right across the street from the secluded and gorgeous Cocles beach. But let me get to the low points of renting from this company.
Green Management made renting this property fairly easy. We emailed back and forth a bit to arrange the days, make a down payment, pay the remaining balance and put a security deposit down. But when it came to figuring out where the house was, they were unhelpful. We knew that our shuttle wouldn't make it to Puerto Viejo until after 5pm, past their office hours. So the only instructions I could get them to give me was to "call Shialo when you get to Limon". They wouldn't give me landmarks, an address (there are none), a detailed map, nothing. So we rented an international phone since every one of us uses Verizon and our phones wouldn't work and did as instructed. Unfortunately, no one would answer the phone and we got nervous pretty fast. We got closer and closer to Puerto Viejo and weren't able to tell our driver where to take us. Finally someone answered the phone only to tell us to call someone else. ??? Come on. So we hung up, called the other number (for Kendall) and he told us to call back when we got closer to the Le Cameleon hotel. Our driver told us we were only 5 minutes away and we called Kendall back, he then tells us to call when we're closer. How much closer do you want us to be?!?! So we just told him that we were there. He was a total flake. So we got dropped off at the hotel, waited by the side of a road, and a man in a scooter pulled up across the road and parked and called us. How he didn't see us (4 people with luggage on the side of the road), I'll never understand. He finally saw us, told us to follow him on foot, and we walked the 200 yards up the road to the rental. At least we finally made it.
The house itself is great. Plenty of room, perfect for the 4 of us since it gave us our own spaces (upstairs/downstairs), 2 bathrooms, gorgeous outdoor space for hanging out and enjoying the surrounding nature. Kendall gave us 4 bikes to rent for our 4 days and he told us to leave them in the yard overnight. Unfortunately, the nicest bike of the 4 was stolen from the yard our second night there. This is unrelated to the house and the management company, but it gave us an icky feeling. We then noticed that the door to the downstairs entranced was completely beaten up. It had clearly been broken into a few times before. We never felt unsafe, but just be warned that you shouldn't leave anything of value out in the open, and put things in the the safe when you're out of the house.
The only other complaint was the noise. We did experience the chainsawing neighbor, and there were plenty of mornings that began with a wild dog bark challenge. And speaking of dogs, you'll get plenty of visitors to the house. One husky in particular wanted to hang out with us quite a bit and he brought a bunch of fleas with him. Needless to say, we all left with some itchy ankles.
However, the location is amazing. A 2 minute walk to the pristine beach, not far from town but away from the hustle and bustle, walking distance to the grocery store and Jaguar Rescue Center (do this!), and the Hotel Le Cameleon was nice enough to always arrange our cabs for us after the bike got stolen. If you don't mind the lackadaisical attitude of the management company, and can really embrace that Pura Vida attitude, you won't be disappointed. Put your bikes inside the house at night and you should be alright. -
cindy
Upper Peninsula MichiganCarribean comforts
Left on 05/20/2011 for a stay in April 2011
This place was really nice. Stayed here with husband and daughter and stayed upstairs most of the time. Nice location to the beach! The only downfall (anywhere in/near Puerto Viejo) is the barking dogs all night long...drove us nuts...next time would stay in Punta Uva or Cocles- it is quieter there. But the house is very good overall!
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hermesdog
San Jose, caNice house,
Left on 12/29/2010 for a stay in December 2010
We enjoyed our stay at Casa Gecko. It is 40 min. walk to Puerto Viejo, and equal distance to Punta Uva. A beautiful beach, playa cocles, is 3 min. away. Le Cameleon Hotel, where most tour buses do the pickup and drop offs, is 3 min. away. The area is also full of wild life. Two three toed sloth visited us in the front yard, along with lots of pretty birds such as tucans. Jaguar rescue center is a easy walk from the house. The house itself is clean, and secure. Plenty of room for a family of three or four. The kitchen is decently equipped. Indeed aC was not necessary as the night was actually quite cool in December. We stayed upstairs, since the room up there is bright and airy whereas the bedroom downstairs was quite stuffy. The upstairs porch with the hammock is a very cozy spot, especially on raining days. Shialo kindly helped us with luggage from the main road to the house. Thank you Shialo!
Now a few suggestions: First of all, the recommended transportation in the area is bicycle. As such, we did not rent a car. However, walking to town for 30-40 min. with kids to rent a bike was no easy feat, especially when it was hot or when it rained a lot. If the house could supply a bike, even a very old clunky one, it'll make life much easier. Secondly, WiFi access would be really helpful. There is no internet cafe nearby, and no working phone in the house. As the weather was very changeable, we had difficulty rearranging/canceling tours. Lastly, perhaps it is a bit demanding, but as the beach nearby, playa cocles, is relatively rough and mostly for surfing, a basic boogy board would be a treat. Renting one is not easy as all happenings are in the town 40 min. north.
We would also like to mention that although the are two grocery stores nearby, do not plan on making any fancy cooking as the supplies are very limited. Dinning out in the night was a bit of a problem unless you have access to a car. -
hernameiskyl
utahClose enough to town, yet far enough for relaxation!
Left on 11/01/2010 for a stay in October 2010
Two friends and I stayed at Casa Gecko for a week and it was the best vacation ever! The beach is across the street. The house is tucked into the jungle on a quiet private drive. We loved the big open porches and the hammocks. The staff at Green Management were amazing. Emmannuelle was a pleasure to work with getting the details sorted and Shilao was helpful and available when we arrived. We will be back!! =]
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Kate
North Augusta, Ontario, CanadaAmazing
Left on 11/01/2010 for a stay in March 2010
I love that you can rent a house in an area that is close to the beach and still be private. The house is well laid out with facilities both upstairs and down. The upstairs has a beautiful veranda you will love as it has a hammick to have a nap, read a book or just enjoy a breeze. I like to be able to go on a vacation and be able to make meals when I feel like it, but to also dine out when I want.
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Niki
San Juan Capistrano, CAAmazing house, and will come back again!
Left on 10/29/2010 for a stay in October 2010
My boyfriend and I, along with 2 friends of ours stayed at Casa Gecko, and we absolutely loved it! It is much bigger in person than what it looks like in the pictures. Very comfortable, clean, quiet, and safe. The staff is extremely helpful. It was my boyfriends birthday the week we were there and Emanuel reccomended a party for us to go to in Punta Uva, you can tell they are set to please their customers. The balcony up top is awesome and you get a perfect breeze when laying out on the hammocks, so it never gets too hot. Very close to the beach, about a 5 minute walk its just across the street. 1 thing I would change though is that in the decription it says that it is about a 20 minute walk into town, this is very wrong, It's about a 45 minute walk into town, this would be the only thing I would change, so if you want to get into town make sure you either have a bike, golf cart, or a phone to call a taxi. Overall everything was beautiful and I would come back again in a heart beat!
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Casa Gecko
Tampa, FloridaGreat Location
Left on 08/21/2010 for a stay in August 2010
House had a great location, but neighbors chainsawed for three days (would pick more secluded location next time). Upstairs bedroom had one bed with bed bugs. Shiloh was not able to be located and had to buy our own water. Loved the house otherwise.
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Chris Dellinger
VA USALoved our stay at Casa Gecko
Left on 08/06/2010 for a stay in July 2010
We (two adults, two young children) stayed at Casa Gecko for close to a month and truly enjoyed our entire stay. The house was very nice and well kept, our favorite features were the two porches (great for relaxing with the two hammocks and the numerous built in benches). True to its name, we had several geckos that would come out each night to feast on any bugs that were attracted to the lights. The house is located within easy walking distance (less than 5 mins) to the beach. There are several restaurants within walking distance as well as two small convenience shops/stores where we got our groceries.
Going in we had concerns about mosquitoes. The house provides nets, but luckily we never had to use them. We used some spray and just came in off the porches if we started seeing a lot of mosquitoes.
The staff responsible for the house were quite friendly, the cleaning team came twice a week and did a great job. I had to do some work while I was there and Emmanuelle helped me out by letting me use her phone in her office to call back to the states with my calling card. I also rented a wireless key for internet access from Emmanuelle which worked surprisingly well for me (service was best on the upstairs porch). All in all we loved our stay and would recommend Casa Gecko to others.Response from Emmanuelle Pinto - 08/06/2010
Owner
It was a pleasure to have you and thank you for your nice comments.
E. -
Crystal
Brockville, OntarioFirst time traveller, but was way beyond what I expected.
Left on 06/28/2010 for a stay in April 2009
The house was absolutely beautiful. Clean, secure. Although Casa Gecko was fairly close to Puerto Viejo (20 min walk), if you are vacationing with children, I would recommend renting a vehicle, or grabbing the bus schedule. Tranquil spot to just relax and listen to the sounds of nature.
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Jen Davis
Brockville, Ontario, CanadaFantastic time... very relaxing but definately not boring !
Left on 06/14/2010 for a stay in March 2010
A beautiful place, amazing beach, great location, everything was new and up to date. Clean, bright and relaxing. I would definately recommend this vacation home.
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Jo
CanadaCan,t wait to return
Left on 06/01/2010 for a stay in March 2010
I have stayed at this property 4 times now and am looking forward to going back soon. The house is great with all kinds of outdoor living space, it is set in a quiet area and only a couple of minutes walk to a beautiful beach. There are restaurants and grocery store close by and all within a few minutes walk. The staff that look after the house are very friendly and always ready to help out with anything you may need while there.
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avg
avellanas, guanacasteLove Shiloh!
Left on 04/27/2010 for a stay in February 2010
The house was comfortable, clean, in a good area. The agent, Shiloh, was fantastic! He went above and beyond his duties to help us and make us feel welcome. He needs a raise!
Thank you so much for your hospitality. We'll definately be back.
Here 3 more rentals located nearby.
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