Casa Samba an Authentic Tropical Villa with Outstanding Pacific Views

This was more than I could have ever expected. Will come back again, and recommend it to anyone looking for a place in Costa Rica.

Possibly the most beautiful house we've stayed in. Each room was spacious with great attention to detail both aethstetically and functionally. Upstairs deck with TV and pool table was an amazing space with gorgeous views. And yes, they call it the "Monkey Room" for good reason. We got our fill of Capuchins making themselves at home there and even saw some of the more rare Squirrel monkeys. Pool on main level was small, but useful, and had a great view of the Pacific, facing toward the park. Kitchen had everything for cooking and meals in, which is mostly what we did. We were my family of four (two teenage girls) plus my mother, my sister, and her two young children (a toddler and an infant). Communication was great, as was check in and check out. My family lives in Costa Rica and knew are way around, including exactly what activities we wanted to do, so didn't require any help, but the crew there was ready to help arrange anything we wanted and I couldn't help but notice in the Guestbook how many people absolutely loved the available on site chef for quality, variety and flexibility.

Need to know stuff:

-depending on your definition of "walking distance", this house possibly isn't. It's more than a few hot, sweaty minutes up the hill to the main road through Manuel Antonio in the area of Café Milagro. My daughters and I, sure. My mother, sister and her kids...not so much.

-Stairs!! Did not catch this in one of the other reviews, but there are STAIRS. Over 50 just to get from the street to the house. Hauling our cooler of food was challenging, as well as some of the larger luggage. And inside the house, every room is on a different level accessed by a steep spiral staircase, one bed room three flights up. Combined with a lack of railings around the pool area and deck (for fantastic views, mind you), it made for a real long weekend trying to manage an active 3 year old.

All that being said, it was definitely a 5 star experience at a very fair price and we would love to stay here again. Just without very small children and a big cooler.

the home was beautiful and i would love to rate it higher, however, I would not recommend having young children ... to have the windows open in the kitchen/dining area leaves a drop off to the pool and outside from the pool, there is a drop off as well (no railings, just the ledge of the pool). I have a 3yo and we were on edge the whole time worrying about him.

the other thing is the immense amount of stairs. this is probably pretty common in the area, but again not great for young children as the stairs to all the upper floors were very narrow and steep.

there were many great things about the home if you don't have young kids and don't mind the stairs. the monkeys (capuchin)came: 2 times every day, early morning and early evening. we also saw squirrel monkeys midday and the howler monkeys were nearby, not close enough to see unless you have binoculars.

We just returned from an amazing stay at Casa Samba. This is a beautiful and well decorated home. Note: this is a very vertical property and there are several spiral staircases. This property might not be ideal for those with mobility issues or very young children. But, we loved it for our school-age children (who enjoyed their own 2 bedroom "apartment" accessed from the deck of the main house) and it would be great with teenagers. We worried about the size of the pool (which is deep but not full size), but it worked even with 8 people in it. The deck area has both sun and shade; we spent a lot of time there and the view is AMAZING. The service here is SPECTACULAR. All of the excursions we selected were terrific-- pick-ups were on time; staff were professional and informed; they were great with kids; everyone spoke English very well. Ask for Manuel as your guide for the national park tours! Our favorite perk was Chef Junior. He is so friendly and accommodating and gentle, in addition to being a great chef. The food was very fresh; we tried different juices every day; Junior appeased our picky eaters. It was such a pleasure to have his meals after a long and hot day of excursions. Finally, this house is very well located--a short drive to the national park and main beach, as well as to Playa Biesanz (which is smaller and nice for families); also a short walk to grocery store, ATM, and souvenir shops, as well as to El Avion restaurant, which kids will enjoy.

Great family vacation around fathers 85th birthday. Ten of us were easily accommodated in this spacious beautifully designed home. We arranged for a cook to prepare breakfast and dinner. Hiro the chef received high marks from all of us including my Cordon Blue Paris trained sister and her husband who for over ten years owned a haute cuisine French restaurant on the Monterey Peninsula. Ricky the property manager was always there to provide tour, restaurant and general recommendations. The house was cleaned top to bottom everyday and kept in immaculate condition. I would highly recommend Casa Samba to anyone traveling to Manuel Antonio.