Vous aurez la maison entiĂšre pour vous et ne la partagerez quâavec dâautres voyageurs de votre groupe.
Hummingbird Suite - Stunning Arenal Volcano and Lake Views
This house boasts the best views of Volcano Arenal and Arenal Lake. The open floor plan, spacious outdoor patio, and rooftop terrace provide beautiful indoor and outdoor living space in this lush rainforest mountain village, close to all the attractions that make Costa Rica a top destination.
The property was in a nice family neighborhood, with friendly helpful neighbors, and a gorgeous view that was accurate as shown in the photos. We loved El Castillo overall.
The host advertised this via Expedia as "Entire place - You'll have the entire home to yourself and will only share it with other guests in your party" and that is what I expected we were reserving and paying for. We got there and found it was 2 separate studio rentals on levels 1 and 2 of the house. The landlady was nice enough to let us choose one, but we would not have reserved this if it were 2 units.
The landlady was responsive. Some of what she said was wrong. She said "there are no mosquitoes at the home" (we had many the first night) and that "Malaria is only in Africa" (Alajuela province had a Malaria prophylaxis warning - luckily we brought meds). She said her onsite host would meet us but we could not reach the onsite host due to phone service issues. The home was almost impossible for taxis or shuttles to find. We had to ask people on the street where the house was. The local people were the best thing about El Castillo.
Finally although the setting is tranquil- the next door neighbors let their dogs out late at night and they formed a pack with other dogs that howled and we heard terrible noise like they were killing some animal (they probably were). This was AWFUL, went on for a long time and earplugs and headphones. We thought others should know.
This house is beautiful. It has the best views. El Castillo is such a cute town, with some of the best food at the shops down the street (and a very good bakery). The house is very close to the lake and Arenal volcano, and about a 30-40 minute drive to the city center where you can do a bunch of different tour activities. The views are incredible! We spent some time every day sitting on the roof and looking over the rolling hills (and the volcano if we got lucky). At night, we were able to see quite a few stars as well, being in a small town. The seats on the roof were so comfy! We were serenaded by birds and frogs, but no traffic noises as it is at the end of the street. Sometimes the neighbor dogs do bark, but it wasn't a problem. We slept well each night. We saw so many hummingbirds as well as other tropical birds that would perch on the trees and flowers near the property. Pro tip, download Merlin bird identification app, we checked off a ton of lifers at this property. Erica the local host was so helpful, we appreciated her meeting us later at night when we were delayed getting to the house. She also made sure that everything was going well for us in the house. The host was very communicative and answered all our questions before we came. The opportunity to do laundry is very helpful in an area prone to rainstorms, and in an area with so many hotsprings, it is nice to wash your clothes. The house was cute, clean and lovely. I would 100% stay here again!