Villa Olivia: Spectaculaire Ocean Beach Villa!

The house was nice, but there were some things that should be noted. I would mention that having a car is a necessity if you plan on leaving the house at all. It’s a lovely area, but definitely secluded. The "5 minute walk" to food and "the village" is if you are fit enough to walk the beach or dirt road and the heat isn't knocking you down. $75 round trip to get 5-6 people to Tamarindo added up. $100 to get fro Liberia airport.

In the master bedroom, the a/c was overflowing/leaking but still works - messy. We had one room swarmed with some kind of flying insect which made that room unusable until Kimberly (or her team) came to clean it out. The bugs didn't return. Several of the lamps seem to not work. One I know was in the living room. In the master bedroom the light would turn off if you set anything on the nightstand. The extra weight adjusted the electrical wires enough that the lights would turn off.

The beach was fantastic. Plenty of places to lounge and relax. The pool was comfortable and often a lifesaver from the heat. Amazing view. Yes I enjoyed my stay! House was cooled and appreciated as it was hot!

The people are amazingly friendly. The food delicious - if maybe too much food. We had 2 dinners and had left overs 5 days later! Oh the shrimp was to die for though. Meals are cash only, pay as you go. We found ourselves scrambling for cash on the first night to pay her. Oops

Bottle water in the house - no one told us it was $10 per bottle (multiple gallons per bottle). We were fine paying the price as it was worth it, just one of the little things we didn't know in advance.

Crabs and birds and some flying objects attracted to lights at night - all that you would expect and more. LOL Very few of the biting types though. Between the 6 of us I think only 2 got any mosquito bites at all. Crabs and bats did a good job LOL

So, all and all the property was as gorgeous and comfortable as advertised and I would stay there again in another season (we were there at the end of the dry season when it was hot and brown - our mistake).

I stayed at Villa Olivia for my 50th Birthday with 8 others and it was FANTASTIC! The house is beautiful (just as it is shown in the pictures) and the pool was fabulous! The beach is literally in your backyard! The air-conditioning in each room was VERY COLD, which helped me sleep after a long day of excursions and being in the sun. The security staff were AWESOME and were always around so we felt very safe (not that we ever felt that we needed them but I slept soundly knowing they were there at night).

The beach was beautiful, clean, and warm. We all had a really good time boogie boarding (but we had to pay $5 per day per board) as they were not included in the rental payment.

We wanted to have Kimberly (the chef) cook for us so we had her do a breakfast meal on our first morning. The food was delicious but be ware that if she shops for you there is an added $25 fee for shopping (which we had no idea about). It would probably be a good idea if you shopped for your food and then had her cook it for you. We also cooked a few dinners for ourselves on the grill, which worked out great. We sat outside and enjoyed our meal and it was fabulous! We cooked our own breakfasts as the kitchen was well stocked with everything we needed. Our group went deep sea fishing and brought back a lot of fresh fish which we grilled one night for fish tacos; it was AMAZING!

Since the house is about 1 hour and 20 minutes from the airport in Liberia we rented a van, so we could all be together during he trip. We also wanted to go on excursions without having to have all the added time with picking up and dropping off other people. It was a really good idea. When you rent a car in Costa Rica understand that you have to pay for government insurance on the car, which is more expensive then the rental of the actual car, as not everyone in Costa Rica is insured. We paid about $60 per person for the rental of our van for 8 days. I felt that was completely worth it as Playa Grande is rural and you will need a vehicle to get around.

I can't say enough about how fantastic this vacation was. It was relaxing and the house was just so amazing. It was very comfortable and all of us felt that we had plenty of room to be together and also to sneak off to a quiet spot to be alone or snuggle with your partner. I would recommend this house to anyone who wants to visit Costa Rica.

Thank you Julie! Your house is AMAZING!

We had on amazing stay at villa Olivia !! The staff always very helpful and chef Kimberly made us 2 fantastic meals that satisfied even the fussiest eaters. We are Costa Rica supplied us with the surf boards rentals for the week and were very helpful in guiding us through playa grande. The only communication I had with the manager was through email. She was not available to us throughout our stay. The villa was quite tired looking but the location on the of the ocean was pure paradise which made up for it . We did not rent a car for our stay but had a driver for most of our transportation for excursions and to tamarindo. The walk to the water taxi is much further then described in other reviews. The locals are very friendly and always willing to help you out.

We had 12 people (8 adults and 4 kids) stay here over Christmas and had an amazing time. The house was set up perfectly for everyone to have their own rooms. The beach is literally less than 20 steps from the door. We enjoyed dinner at a couple local restaurants, we went to El’Huerto for great pizza and dessert. Our favorite dinner spot was Rip Jack Inn, which is in walking distance and had the most amazing Sesame Crusted Tuna and I highly recommend trying the ‘Dave’s Rum Surprise’ cocktail. My 8 year old took surf lessons at YouAreCostaRica which is also within walking distance to the house. He had a great instructor and was successfully surfing within his 2 hour lesson, they also rent boogie boards and will bring them to the house.

The location was nice. The house is right on the beach