| Date | Rating | Comment
[Guest Comments: 15 positive, 0 negative]
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| 07/04/09 |
Positive
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Thank you ~ thank you! Our sentiments echo all the other reviewers so will keep it short.
A group of us stayed at Casa Pacifica for a week in late April early May '09. We had the best time ever! The house is lovely and Paul was great to work with. We were a group of 5 adults (one couple, three singles) and found the house and location to be perfect. We spent time on both Samara and Carillo beaches, in town, kayaked out to the nearby island and did a boat tour.
Alonso and Adriana were fantastic!! They prepared an amazing traditional dinner for us on our last night and it was so yummy! The backyard, with the pool, monkeys, iquanas and birds made it really hard to leave, even just to go to the beach! The kayaks, snorkel gear, bikes, mp3/ipod compatible stereo - all bonuses!
We also recommend William at Carillo Tours who we arranged our transportation for the whole of our trip with (we visited Monteverde, the Arenal/La Fortuna areas, and flew out of San Jose). He was also so accommodating and terrific!
We would not hesitate to recommend Casa Pacifica and already have. It was all of our first trip to Costa Rica and it was wonderful! Thank you Van Raays as well as Alonso – Adriana & Chary! There was not a single negative with our trip and any of us would be grateful for a return visit.
Traci – Chad – Brenda – Mike and Holly |
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utah travelers, park city, utah |
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| 06/10/09 |
Positive
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Four of us spent four days at the end of May at Casa Pacifica, and we enjoyed every minute of it. The house is very beautiful and comfortable, and equipped with almost everything you may need, from band-aids to kayaks. You get to see the howler monkeys, parrots, crabs, and other wild life just sitting by the pool. They have a nice collection of DVDs, books and games to keep everybody occupied. For the ones who cannot get away from work, the wireless internet connection works great. If you do not have your notebook, there is also a computer with internet connection.
We did not have a chance to use the bikes, but we used Paul’s equipment to kayak to the nearby island for snorkeling, which was a lot fun.
We tried several restaurants in the downtown area, and we liked the Esmeralda where you can have traditional Costa Rican dishes and seafood at very reasonable prices. We also liked El Colibri, the Argentinian restaurant in Carrillo, with great steak dinners.
The caretaker couple, Adriana and Alonso, were very friendly and helpful. She prepared an excellent red snapper dinner for us, definitely the best seafood we had at Samara.
We also visited La Selva, an animal rescue park/zoo operated by a very knowledgeable lady, where we saw several local wild animals rescued by them. The type and number of animals obviously change all the time, as they release most of the rescued animals back into the wild, once they grow up or recover. On the way to the zoo, stop at the bridge over the river and watch the crocodiles.
Overall it was a very enjoyable stay for us at Casa Pacifica and we strongly recommend it.
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N. Ozboya, Benicia, CA |
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| 04/26/09 |
Positive
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We cannot say enough about your fabulous accommodations AND our trip to Samara!! Your house is just beautiful, so spacious, and perfectly equipped for any group. My husband and our 2 children (ages 14 and 9) stayed for a week and did NOT want to leave. Alonso was so personable and incredibly helpful to us, arranging a horseback ride on the beach and a dolphin watching/snorkeling trip, and answering any questions we had. Adrianna's breakfasts were amazing, and she kept the house spotless each day. The howler monkeys in the woods behind your house were a huge hit, as well as the iguanas, birds, geckos, and crabs that we saw. The local zoo/wildlife refuge in Carillo was wonderful - we highly recommend it. The woman who works there rescues injured/abandoned animals and helps reintroduce them into the wild whenever possible. The day we went, she had a baby howler monkey who was adorable!! She also had crocodiles, boas, turtles, toucans, owls, bats, iguanas, and numerous other animals. Both of our kids tried surfing lessons in Samara, which was a lot of fun for them (and they were both able to get up and catch a couple of waves!). They also loved the local sno-cones (called copoz, I think), which included sweetened condensed milk, making them creamy and delicious! The town of Samara was so fun to walk around, shop, and try different restaurants. It was truly one of the most relaxing, fun, and interesting vacations our family has had - We can't thank you enough!!!
Norris and Jeff Phillips |
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Norris Phillips, Chapel Hill, NC
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| 04/09/09 |
Positive
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| My wife and I spent 12 days at Casa Pacifica with our two young children (3 and 6). The house and pool are perfect for families with children and could hold a very large group. We enjoyed our time so much we all agreed on the 3rd day we would book next year upon our return. The Villa is very well equiped with bikes, kayaks and accesories necessary for an active family. Importantly, the house and grounds including pool are very well maintained something not always found in the tropics. We enjoyed Adrianna's breakfasts and Alonso was quite helpful arranging a fishing trip that was perfectly tailored to young children with short attention spans. Can't wait to get back! |
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Gary Gonzalez
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| 03/31/09 |
Positive
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Dear Paul,
I am writing to thank you and your staff for the exemplary job that was done to make our wedding reception the wonderful event that it was. Alonso and Adrianna did an outstanding job of pulling it all together. The food was delicious; the setting was beautiful; they were very gracious and their family worked with them to make it a near perfect event. It was all that I imagined it would be. We were very pleased.
Thank you for the gift of ceviche ... it was a hit! It has been a long time since I have had it ... I have a friend in Maine who used to make it when we would visit her and I had forgotten how much I really like it.
Your home is beautiful, very comfortable and perfectly located. Congratulations on your choice of setting, decorations, staff etc... I could go on!
From the Samara web-site, we chose to book an additional room at The Hideaway Hotel, assuming only that we would share a beach. We were shocked when we arrived and found out that it is the hotel next door. WOW! What a great surprise. The week was filled with great surprises.
Bottom line ... thank you ... we hope to visit again ... we hope to stay in touch.
Sandi and Terry
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Anonymous |
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| 03/20/09 |
Positive
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| Our trip to Casa Pacifica included 8 adults and 3 small children (i.e. not a small group). This gorgeous house fit us all more than comfortably and offered all the amenities you would want. The location was ideal – quick walk to the beaches or short drive to town – yet it was private, with beautiful landscaping. Paul, Alonzo and Adriana were awesome! Thank you Van Raay family, we will recommend you to our closest friends (though don’t get too booked up, ‘cause we want to come back!). |
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Springer Family, New Hampshire |
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| 03/18/09 |
Positive
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Thank you Van Raay's for sharing your home with us. We had an INCREDIBLE time! That was our favorite vacation we have ever had, by far. Your house is lovely, and we especially appreciated the books and videos. Alonso and Adriana were kind and helpful and Adriana's food was fantastic. We love Samara and Carillo. Thank you for helping us have such a wonderful experience!
Sincerely, Elice |
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Elice, Prescott, AZ |
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| 01/21/09 |
Positive
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| Our stay at Casa Pacifica was fabulous. We really enjoyed the hospitality of Adriana and Alonso, who are a lovely young couple. We were given a lot of helpful information for interesting and fun things to do in the area. Adrianna cooked some wonderful fresh meals for us. Being able to use the bikes, kayaks, boogy boards etc were extra touches that really made it very easy to settle in and enjoy our stay there. Our family voted this favorite stop of the six places we stayed while in Costa Rica (followed closely by the Hotel La Mansion in Arenal, which was also just spectacular). We are hooked and certainly hope to travel back to stay at Casa Pacifica again. We highly recommend this place to anyone. Thank you again - Cathy and Elmer Enns Rosthern, SK. Canada |
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Elmer and Cathy Enns, Rosthern, Saskatchewan |
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| 01/07/09 |
Positive
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We just got back from a week at Casa Pacifica, Dec 12-19. It was a wonderful vacation, and our first visit to Costa Rica. The house is even nicer than I expected from the pictures. Everything about the house is first class.
We had four couples in our family group, plus a 9-month old baby, and there was plenty of room for all of us in the villa. The two master suites are great with huge attached bathrooms, and the other two bedrooms and bath are fine.
We swam in the pool, walked to both Playa Samara and Playa Carillo, and used the kayaks to go around the island.
The housekeeper, Adriana is very sweet. She did a great job of keeping the house clean, and she even babysat for the 9-month old some of the time. Alonso, her husband, was very helpful too.
Alonso arranged to have horses brought to the house. We rode on the beach. We enjoyed the Samara zipline canopy tour.
We took a day trip to Arenal Volcano -- it makes a long day, but well worth it. We swam in the hot volcanic pools at the Los Lagos Resort beside Arenal. (Warning, watch out for the water slides as one person in our group had to get stitches in his head, when he hit it on the slide. The long water slide was a bit violent. However, the Costa Rican medical care turned out to be very nice, and free.)
We would love to return to this house. It was all terrific!
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Myron Shear, Brookeville, MD
301-774-5756 |
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| 12/16/08 |
Positive
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We had a fabulous time at Playa Samara and Casa Pacifica as well as all the other places we visited in Costa Rica. Casa Pacifica was even nicer than it looked on the internet! We treated my husband’s parents to Casa Pacifica and the four of us had a wonderful time. The layout of the house was perfect for us with the two master suites. We loved the large pool and enjoyed many late afternoons sipping wine while we floated in the pool. We enjoyed both beaches and kayaked to the island twice. We walked into town via the beach one morning and another morning we cycled on the beach. On our last evening, there was an amazing sunset. It was the most brilliant orange sky we had seen in all our travels over the world.
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Arlene, Calgary, AB, Canada |
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| 05/21/08 |
Positive
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We rented the house the last week in April. Nearly perfect weather (warm/dry) the entire week. Kids (13 & 14) really enjoyed the trip.
I highly recommend getting a 4 wheel drive and explore. We drove across rivers, tried to get lost, etc. We went ATV'ing (Monkey Tours - GREAT fun), horseback riding, zip lines, fishing, beach fires and Ultralight flights. All were a good time.
The house is very nice (new). I enjoyed waking at 4:45am each day to watch the sun rise, drink CR coffee, end hear the howler monkeys in the back yard (we saw them everyday, up close). Plus we had birds and even horses walking just beyong the pool.
A stop at the grocery 1/2 way from Liberia is manditory. Stock up for the week! We missed it and had to shop locally 100%. Supplies were a bit limited and prices are higher. Plan to bring everything you need, including spices, etc. This house is new and most of those items are not available.
Lastly, bring adventure-seeking friends willing to explore. Although I did not get a single bug bite, everything is alive in CR. The crabs came inshore one night and it was very cool to watch.
Alonzo and his wife were very gratious hosts, and did a great job keeping the house clean, directions etc. We did not experience any safety of theft related issues the entire trip.
Enjoy CR. Thanks Paul! |
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Kerry, Cary, NC
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| 02/13/08 |
Positive
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| This was our first trip to Costa Rica and it was great. The villa was wonderful, plenty of room, fruit trees in the back yard and your private pool right out back. We had a lot of fun, we went to the zoo, the beaches which were beautiful, did some kayaking, snorkeling and bike riding. We spent a lot of time just hanging out at the pool relaxing and that was really nice. We made trips to town daily to shop and try different restaurants. Adriana & Alonzo were very nice and always there to help out. Thanks to the Van Raay family for sharing there villa with us. We had a wonderful vacation and look forward to going back one day. |
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Deborah Tillman, Raleigh, NC
919-790-7754 |
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| 02/07/08 |
Positive
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| This was the best vacation ever. My first trip to Costa Rica will be most memorable due to the generosity and hospitality of the Van Raay family and their grounds/housekeeper. The Villa is so relaxing and beautiful. Adriana and Alonzo are so sweet and very helpful, I must say it was very nice to have a clean beach towel available every morning. The toughest decision during the day was whether to stay at the pool or go to the incredible beaches. We did venture into town everyday and have drinks, lunch or dinner, but we also bought groceries and cooked at the villa. I must say the boys got very good at making fruit drinks. Thanks for allowing us to experience this beautiful country with the luxery of your villa, it is simply breath taking. |
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Vicky McLean, Fuquay Varina, NC
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| 01/11/08 |
Positive
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| Our stay in this property was very pleasant given the great location, ammenities of the house and overall quality of the property. With it's easy access to the pool from any room and large comfortable living room area the two families with children we had had a lot of fun. The service personnel was also very helpful in guiding us regarding local sites and kept the house clean and well stocked with clean towels. If you plan on visiting Samara this is the place to stay! |
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Gerardo Chaves, San Jose, Costa Rica
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| 01/06/08 |
Positive
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| I love to travel around the world, and have been to numerous places...yet this recent trip to Costa Rica has quickly worked it's way to one of my favorite places of all time. The Villa is gorgeous, spacious, and paradise. The house keeper Adrianna and her Husband Alonso were sweet, kind, and extremely helpful. The Location was minutes from the beach and we saved a ton of money by the kayaks and snorkel gear which was available to us on the premises. We kayaked to a nearby island, walked up and down the beach to the local town meeting all the locals and trying several typical dishes and drinks along the way. The town offered us many things to do as well, such as zip line canopy tours (like Tarzan), Scuba, and trips to see the volcano in Arenal. We took a horseback ride of the beach/mountains/rainforrest. We hiked through and explored rain/dry forrests and waterfalls. Costa Rica is equistie, and the rental home was beyond wildest expectations. I would go again in a heart beat and sincerely reccomend it to all. |
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Michelle Ragusa, Durham NC
347-992-2229 |
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