We rented Aracari Villa for 6 nights in the middle of our Costa Rican holiday. Joelâs house is beautiful, spacious, with the most amazing views and every facility you might need. We arrived late at night due to a long drive and havenât been aware of the beauty around us till we woke up the following morning. We absolutely loved everything about the house and didnât mind 5km drive from the main road up to the house as we knew the views and seclusion are well worth it. The house is as practical as is beautiful with well equipped kitchen, laundry, good size pool and plenty of seating around the table and outdoor shaded areas. We worked online for some of the time and wifi was excellent. We settled into a routine of working and relaxing in the house till 3.00PM and then going to the beach and early dinner. When we arrived Joel explained that we would need to let his neighbour Edgar know when we were going out so he could come and look after the house while we were out. This was precautionary as opportunists might be tempted during busy Christmas period and at first we felt this would require too much forward planning but it really worked in our favour as it meant we had to settle into a daily pattern. Edgar was incredibly nice and helpful and we felt very safe with him minding the house while we were out. We were so fortunate to be close to beaches, supermarkets and great restaurants with Uvita beach being closest and best, we ended up running, walking, swimming and sunset watching there most days. Joel sent us tide times so we could plan our swims ahead, it was very useful to have. Supermarket is 10 mins drive and we found everything we needed in the bigger BM. We tried a few restaurants Joel recommended but by far the best was Scala, we ended up going there twice and plan to stop for lunch on our way back from Drake Bay to San Jose, the food and staff were amazing. We did a snorkelling tour with Pacific Expedition, only 7 of us and had an incredible experience, we were very lucky to see the whales, dolphins and swim with turtles. Communication with Joel was exemplary, he was very quick to respond with all the necessary information. We canât recommend the house enough. For us it really worked as we stayed in hotels before and after, moving from place to place and it was so nice to settle in such amazing place surrounded by nature and close to all we wanted to do.
