Our group of 9 had a wonderful stay at the Garden House by the Beach, located within Tulemar. This rental home was pure luxury - from the infinity pool to the large gathering spaces, and the amazing balcony off the primary suite. We were all blown away by the house itself, the views, and the wonderful housekeeper Mayra. Asher was also amazing - she arranged our transport to and from the airport, excursions, and helped with anything that was needed during our stay. Chef Tito made a delicious meal for us one night as well. The location of this property is fantastic - Tulemar has so much to offer in terms of wildlife sightings (monkeys, sloths, scarlet macaws), pools, a great beach, and Tule Cafe (delicious food and beautiful views). After this incredible trip, we are eager to return soon!!

This was our 4th visit to Tulemar and this one was really special. The house fit our party of 8 perfectly. I love this house because it feels comfortable and welcoming. It has everything you need. The pool is spectacular as well as all of the outdoor entertaining areas. Sunset views, lots of wildlife sightings, and the perfect house for entertaining. The service and staff for the house were awesome. We love Tulemar but we especially loved the Garden House! We will be coming back for sure!

To make this review easy to digest, I will provide just a few of the major highlights in bullet form: - outstanding customer service from the time we booked (6 months ago) to our departure on 9/10/22 - private chef and his assistant provided 12 breakfast and dinner meals at the house over the 6 days; did all of the grocery shopping, etc.; this was highly cost effective versus meals out - daily housekeeping - fresh bedding, all laundry handled, etc. - weather was great despite concerns going in about extensive rain; it was sunny every day until mid to late afternoon - the Tulemar beach is nothing short of spectacular and the waves where twice as big (and fun) as we expected going in; boogie boards and kayaks are provided and F&B service is provided with each order being handled beautifully by the staff - our 4 grandchildren spent literally 3 to 5 hours in the surf every day; water temp at around 80 degrees to match the air temperature - daily observations of howler monkeys and sloths close to the house or in the trees at the beach - great excursions for surfing lessons, a waterfall tour and a zip line tour Loved it and hope to return next year.

We had an absolutely perfect 2 week stay at Garden House with extended family (7 adults and 2 kids - 4 yo and 1 yo) and are already looking into when we can get back. The house is gorgeous - the sunset every night is breathtaking - and ideal for families. Everything was spectacular from start to finish. A few highlights for anyone considering a stay in case it helps: - Not only is the house itself beautiful, the setting is amazing. The house is surrounded by jungle and there were monkeys, sloths, macaws, tucans, lizards, etc. etc. right outside our door every day.  - The pool was a highlight of our trip. My son spent so much time in it! And it was perfect for both kids and seniors - with stairs going into the pool and a little ledge to sit on. - For anyone with even slight mobility challenges, the house was great. There is an entrance, master bed/bath, kitchen and pool all on the same level - making it really easy to get around. This was really helpful for my 80-year old mother, who has difficulty with too many stairs. There are not many houses like this in Manuel Antonio - so that was a huge plus for us. - The amenities Tulemar had to offer were great and so helpful - shuttle service, beach access with drink and food service (we loved using the kayaks), restaurants (although we never ate at them). Staying there made things super convenient. - Mayra, the housekeeper, was so sweet and washed our clothes and kept the house straightened up every day (except for Sunday when she was off). Such a welcomed service - especially with kids. - We hired Chef Tito to cook for us during our stay (Tito is also the onsite concierge). He is such an amazing talent - every meal was incredible and he was able to accommodate our group (we had one vegan and he also made a few separate easy meals for the kids as well). Honestly - if you are wavering about hiring a chef or not - just do it! Having someone to shop, cook and clean up is SO huge and I actually think we saved money versus going out to eat all of the time. As for concierge services, Tito was really knowledgeable about the area and was able to quickly coordinate shuttles and transportation if we wanted to go anywhere outside of Tulemar. We did Buena Vista Beach twice and he called ahead to ensure we were taken care of - when we got there, there was a great tent set up for our group and the service was top notch. - Asher was also incredibly sweet to work with and helped coordinate transportation to and from the airport, along with excursions. She seems to have strong connections with some of the best tours - we did surfing, ziplining, horseback riding, parasailing, the vacation buggy tour, night paddle boarding, and a mangrove tour. All so fun! I could probably go on and on, but as you can see - we really loved our stay in Manuel Antonio at the Garden House. We do hope to be back again in the near future! Pura Vida :)

Our family of 10 just returned from Costa Rica where we stayed at Garden House. Everything was top notch! They arranged transportation to and from airport with a great driver. We had a private chef who created meals for us every night. The house was immaculate and clean and the wonderful housekeeper did our laundry daily. Asher was available anytime with questions and made our stay wonderful. Can’t recommend this enough. The home was wonderful. We will be back!

The house is situated on a beautiful hill just minutes from the beach with picture perfect views. The house is very well-maintained, clean and comfortable. We were a family of 10 with small children and the kids loved watching the wildlife (monkeys, sloths, macaws, etc..) The beach was amazing surrounded by nature. I strongly recommend hiring Tito who is a chef with amazing talent and very accommodating to the different tastes of each family member. We hope to visit again soon!!! Pura Vida for sure....

We chose the Garden House because of the bedrooms and baths and of course the pool that had amazing space around it to lounge. We weren't disappointed and got so much more. We had sloths, monkeys and of course the view. The house is perfect, and Asher was extremely helpful with answering my millions of questions prior to getting there. Myra the housekeeper, is perfect and does everything including laundry, Tito was our concierge and cooked for us, the food was great. Having access to the resort and its amenities was a plus.

We had the best time relaxing and enjoying the amenities of the Garden House by the Beach. Everything from the home to the pool to the views were impeccable! There is nothing more we could have asked for during our week away. Thank you!!

Our extended family, 3 families - 6 adults and 4 children from ages 6 to 11, stayed at the Garden House for a week in April and it was amazing. The house is beautiful, very clean and well cared for. The view to the west of the ocean was breathtaking with amazing sunsets every evening. The pool was very clean and toys were available for our children, who spent most of their home time in the pool. Each day we were visited by white face or howler monkeys, macaws, iguanas, humming birds, sloths and many other animals. Asher and Beverly were easy to work with and Asher set us up on trips to Manuel Antonio park, rafting and a hike to a waterfall as well as our airport transportation. All the tours were wonderful however we saw the same, if not more, wildlife in Tulemar compared to the trip to Manuel Antonio park. We decided to hire a chef, Tito, for the week and were glad we did it. Tito made amazing food, including catering to our daughter's food allergies and overall was lower cost and much easier than a group of 10 eating out. Tito was a great resource serving as the local concierge and helped us find stores, taught us about local customs/foods/drinks, and even helped arrange an impromptu surfing trip. Tito also serves as the local handy man and helped us with a few minor issues. Mayra the housekeeper is amazing and surprised us by washing our dirty laundry everyday! The Tulemar beach was very private and uncrowded and we had a blast boogie boarding. The Tulemar staff, especially Jorge the shuttle driver and David the beach attendant, were very friendly and went out of their way to help and make our stay wonderful. The only negative about this trip is that it came to an end.

Three generations of our family stayed at Garden House at Tulemar in Manuel Antonio for the first week of January and were delighted. In fact our sons, both in their 20's, said that it was the best family vacation we've ever taken. It is no coincidence that the house was named the top resort home in Central America by Trip Advisor. We would have no hesitation in returning or recommending the property to a friend. The house is architecturally striking, tucked into the cliffs of the Pacific coastline, with the brilliant turquoise of the ocean, rich emerald green jungle spotted with brightly colored flora and a serenade of tropical birds and monkeys. Facing west, we watched the sun set every night and swam first thing every morning in the beautiful infinity pool. The house is built on an open scheme, with retractible doors making the entire downstairs open to the back. We spent the our time divided between the house pool and the resort's private beach, which was within easy walking distance. The obvious care with which the resort has been planned and its landscaping executed is reminiscent of the beautiful former Rock Resorts in the Virgin Islands. The interior of the house worked well for our family, allowing everyone privacy but with plenty of space in the public areas. Everything was pristine and well maintained, due in no small part to a full time housekeeper. The photographs supplied on the website are accurate, but do not do justice to the beauty of the locale and absolute privacy of the home. We hired a cook for the week, which was well worth the investment as it gave us the week off from grocery shopping and cooking and allowed us the freedom to choose when, where and what we ate in the privacy of an exquisite setting. The pool is large, appropriate for lap swimming, and certainly beat sharing a pool with a crowd of resort guests. The beach is lovely, uncrowned, well outfitted and partially shaded with palm trees. The house manager was helpful in arranging outings. We took a jungle zip line tour, a walking tour of the Manuel Antonio National Park with a private naturalist guide (our favorite outing), a rafting trip (younger set only) and a catamaran outing (crowded, motorized booze cruise in sweltering heat, which we could happily have skipped). Our security deposit arrived within a few days of our departure, accompanied by a thank you note from the owner. Brava, Beverly. You and your house deserve four gold stars!