"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!"
