We were a family of 5 (mom, dad, 1 teen, 2 20 somethings) looking for a quiet place on the beach, for the first part of our trip to Nicaragua. We found it in Las Penitas. Casa Del Mar (the name of the house) is simple, but great. In Nicaragua, a lot of living space is outside, and that is the way it is at Casa Del Mar. The eating area and hanging out area is beautiful, surrounded by lots of plants and you can see and hear the ocean. The kitchen is simple, but the gas stove works well, and the fridge is also in good repair (we cooked a number of meals and had no problems). If you are doing some of your own cooking, it is best to head into the grocery stores in Leon (La Union or Colonia) as the local stores we found were all very small...we took the chicken bus into town and then took a taxi back with our groceries. The bedrooms in the house are simple but ok. The upstairs bedroom with the balcony is great...nice view of the ocean and great to hear the waves all night. Las Penitas itself is small and very "local"...this is not a touristy spot. There are a number of decent restaurants in town...we enjoyed the Oasis (a few doors down), the Lazy Turtle, and Barca de Oro. We really enjoyed hanging out in the hammocks, swimming in the ocean, and surfing (surfing is really good)...also just walking down the main street to grab an inexpensive drink at one of the many little bars. We also did day excursions to Leon. Once we got to know the local Las Penitas people a bit, we realized how great they were...very honest, very friendly. Suzanne (the owner) sent a lot of info in advance of our trip, which was helpful. The caretakers for the house, Abel and Sorocco, were great! We even had Sorocco make dinner for us one evening, and that was wonderful. One thing to note: most people in Las Penitas only speak Spanish (naturally), so learn a little Spanish or bring Google Translate. We would go back to Las Penitas, and we would be happy to stay in Casa Del Mar again.