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Best Place in Drake
The Banana Veranda House is in the beating heart of Drake Bay, a well known gathering place for celebrations by the home owner and her friends. Private but close to everything in Drake, restaurants, grocery stores, tours, the beach and trails. Guests enjoy walking a few steps to the boats, bars and restaurants. Support our local economy by booking all your tours and activities with us, from Corcovado, to scuba, snorkeling and sport fishing with the best local guides and fishermen. Sweeping views of Drake are unmatched from the patio. Humpback whales breech, tides ebb and flow, distant weather are experienced from the Mack Daddy of all houses in Drake Bay.
The house, like Drake, is authentic, traditional and truly, unapologetically and purposely Costa Rican. The larger living space is outdoors as that's where you should be when in paradise. Inside is built out of traditional materials with hardwood floors and walls throughout. There's a bathroom in the house and one just outside. As well as an indoor shower we have two outside with one bamboo rainforest one overlooking the bay so you can wash with an ocean view. The living room and kitchen is designed to be open, I believe the cook should always be part of the party and the conversation, so my hatch with a view is my favourite thing. This is a place to gather, reconnect and enjoy company.
This is also the perfect place to host a retreat or reunion by combining our other two properties and sleep up to 14 people.
Jose will help show you around and organize and book your tours for you. He will take extra good care of you and help with anything you may need.
He can meet you at the beach if you arrive by boat from Sierpe. You can also fly in to the nearby Drake Airport on Sansa Airlines and take a beautiful short taxi drive to us. Driving is the ultimate jungle adventure, you'll need a 4x4 and the last gas station is at Chacarita, where you turn off the Interamerican Highway. There's secure off street parking and we're always nearby in case you need something or for an emergency.
Bahia Drake is a small village. No Starbucks, no traffic, and no worries. The coffee is good in Drake.
Drake Bay is on the national power grid and electricity is reliable but occasionally there is a power outage. If you use a c-pap machine or another medical devise that requires electricity it would be advisable to carry a backup battery unit. This would be good advice for traveling anywhere in Central America.
There are no banks or ATMs, so plan accordingly!!
There are 12 or more small restaurants and 2 small super markets within walking distance. Offering typical Costa Rican fare, seafood, pizza, chicken, etc.
We recommend booking any tours directly with us and we will see to it that you get top local guides only. Tours booked through us are same price as everyone and all tours are run by locals. We can usually get you on tours when none are available. Help support the local economy of Drake Bay.
Questions contact Sue on + 506 6282 0434. Using WA is best.
After a complete lack of hot water from all sinks and the shower, we contacted the host (Debra) only to be degraded over voicemail in which Debra insinuated that we were stupid and just didnât know how to turn on the hot water. We subsequently messaged Debra and told her that we had tried multiple times to get hot water and to express disappointment in the missing amenities advertised on the listing. Debra quickly escalated the situation and told us we were no longer welcome in her house, to leave immediately and that she didnât need our business. We were left stranded less than 24 hours into our trip with no cell or internet service to find alternative lodging. Debra said she would cancel the booking but never did and she refused to refund us any amount.
Great location right above the beach and close to everything but still feeling private. This house was perfect for our family of 6 it sits just up the hill from the beach and across from a little grocery store. Jose was amazing to work with and helped us arrange a boat taxi, carry our luggage, book a number of amazing tours. The outdoor shower overlooking the bay is amazing. Also the large outdoor patio is perfect for bird watching and enjoying the sunset.
The property is advertised as the best place in Drake. Well itâs not! as a lot of floor boards are loose and uneven , the a/c seems to have a bearing gone or something making it very noisy, doors donât fit properly, and itâs very loud due to traffic. Jose is excellent looking after us, but the place needs a lot of work to be as advertised.
We were in Drake Bay for three nights for a couple of days of diving with our two adult children. The house was perfectly situated, lots of space, and an amazing covered deck area with an afternoon breeze.
Everything went very smoothly from first communications through to check-out.
Overall we have no hesitation giving this house five stars.
Great Deck/View â Be Ready for âIn-Townâ Noise Small Bedrooms
The house is blessed by a great deck and large outdoor living space â with a spectacular view of Drakeâs Bay. The location is convenient to everything in the small town and a 4 minute walk to the main beach where you get boats various places to visit (snorkeling and national park).
Kitchen was nice in that it opened on large deck, but it was not well stocked with pots/pans and material for cooking (fridge was broken on our arrival and small âtemporaryâ fridge was provided promptly for our use during our stay).
One of best features for some of us, was outside shower with open view on to the bay.
We also benefited from introduction from owner to Elsa â travel guide who arranged for our day trips (and even led our wonderful snorkeling trip).
The âthree starsâ is because, while the outdoor living space was greatâŠyou could not/do not spend all you time outdoors when home (hard at night to linger outside given light naturally attracting varieties bugs). The indoor spaces are not âgreat.â Bedrooms all benefit from having separate AC, but are all very small and the two on back of house are on the Main Street (small/unpaved) in town and motorcycles/car noise throughout the night. If looking for âjungle experienceâ this is not it.
No rooms had views as you needed to keep closed to keep bugs out â so going to your room meant going to small enclosed box and very firm beds. The common space indoors was not designed for living space â but for common/shared large hallway.
Absolutely the best place we stayed on our trip throughout Costa Rica. The view is fantastic and the rooms are all very comfortable. We loved spending time on the deck watching the fauna and the location was super close to everything with a small grocery mart across the street. We could walk anywhere needed within 5 minutes. On top of that, everyone involved in the management of the property as well as the owner were VERY helpful and accommodating when we had an unrelated issue. They were not obligated to help us, but they did anyway and we are super grateful to them for that. Definitely the best place to stay in Drake Bay!
The villa is situated on a beautiful spot and the views from the large veranda are amazing. There are a variety seating and laying places to appreciate the beauty of Drake Bay!
However, we weren't able to utilise the veranda as much as we would like to have, due to the mosquitoes. This is NOT a negative reflection on the property but it is the reality living in the jungle.
Inside the house all bedrooms were air-conditioned and kitchen was well equipped with the hatch window to connect the veranda. We had a problem with the main fridge Freezer, the next day the host provided us with a temporary fridge.
Having no air-conditioned in the lounge area prevented us from having meals together as a family.
The beach can easily be accessed down a short path. On returning, it was a pleasure to shower off the sand in the outside shower.
Host and representatives responded to messages promptly and provided with all what we asked for.
The location of the property is ideal for all local activities and restaurants.
The host helped us with everything f on booking our boat ride to and from Drake and most of our activities (diving, snorkeling, trip to Corcovado NP). Sue answered ALL my questions accurately and timely. Elsa took care of all our booking details, and Jose took care of our needs at The Big Banana House. Everyone was superb. The house itself sits up on a hill with a wonderful view of the bay. The beds were comfy, the kitchen was complete and the outdoor shower was fantastic. If you're going to Drake, book Debra's Big Banana House. You simply can't go wrong.
The house was good, 4 bedrooms and an indoor and outdoor bathroom. The deck and covered patio are the really amazing spaces: view of the whole bay, macaws by day and parrots in the evening. Located right next to a store and a tour operator so errands were very easy. Private (steep) path down to the beach. The most amazing amenity by far was the property manager Kim. She helped us with all our activities and transportation: taxis, boat shuttles, restaurants, night tour, day tours, even letting us know to book in advance as things were filling up. She was so helpful and easy to work with.