I stayed at Vina Romantica for 10 days the latter part of May 2012 as guest of the people who were the tenants. The bedroom I stayed in had recently been painted, and so it looked quite nice at first. However the power didn’t work in the bathroom so extension cords were run to the lamps. In order to get to the room you had to walk outside which is fine during the dry season but a bit dangerous during the rainy season. You had to walk through the rain to get to your room and the outdoor tiles were often slippery. The outside lights near my room did not work either, so it became challenging to find the door key pad when it was dark. My stay became more problematic after about 5 days when it started raining very hard every day. Water began to seep through the back wall, in one of the windows when it was closed, and through the electrical outlets to the point where the floor was covered with water. Even though I cleaned up the water evernight it began to smell like mold in the room very quickly. I didn’t like the very low beds in the room particullarily when the floor was covered with water, so I put both mattresses on one bed frame in the center of the room in order to avoid the water leaking onto the bed. The other twin bed frame was put into a dry section of the laundry room.

Within another 2 days black mold started growing on the ceiling and I began to get cold like symptoms. So the last 4 days of my stay I moved to an upstairs room and shared it with my sister. The black mold also started to appear in her room, but we spot treated it, and managed to remain in the room until we left. There were also small dogs next door that barked day and night making it hard to sleep. That is not something that the owner could control but it was an irritant.

Would I recommend Vin Romantica, well after reading this you decide if it would be acceptable to you! To me it is not worth the hastle.

When we first arrived the place was not in move in condition. We had a rental agreement and paid for accommodations with 4 bedrooms. The first day we arrived, the onsite “manager” told us that one of the bedrooms was not usable due to black mold growing on ceiling, walls, and in the bathroom. She also advised us to contact the landlord about the problem because it required professional cleaning and repair beyond the cleaning work that the landlord had contracted with her to do. There were birds in the main room with the resultant mess. It was very hard to keep the birds out because a section of the back hallway has no roof and is open to the elements so the birds can come right in. The kitchen was very disappointing. The refrigerator was rusted inside and out. The wall behind the sinks was dirty and unsightly, and there was no covering to enclose the unsightly tangle of pipes and water heaters under the sinks. Rodent droppings and the remains of roaches were evident under the sinks and stove. The appliances are old, rusty and only sort of working. The bathrooms smelled from black mold in the tanks and bowls We spent the first week cleaning and painting the kitchen and removing the rust and refinishing the refrigerator at our own expense to make the place livable.

Things went well enough until the rain started. Then depending on the direction of the rain it would leak into the kitchen, it would leak into the front room, and it would leak into two of the bedrooms. And it was not leaking as a result of a clogged gutter. A drain pipe was completely rusted through but that water simply ran into an outside hall and down the front steps and out the front door. Yes one frequently had to walk up the stairs inside the house through water running down the steps.

As for the “in-country” manager, she is not a manager at all. She keeps an eye on things and does a bit of cleaning, but she had absolutely no authority nor the funds to have anything fixed nor does she have the expertise to troubleshoot problems that come up. She is a very pleasant person in an untenable position where she is unable to do anything managerial.

The place is overpriced for what you get and the inconviences you have to put up with and you should definitely avoid staying there in the rainy season.

I spent almost five months at Vina Romantica with friends and while the views from the back upstairs balcony are fantastic, there is too much wrong with this property to recommend staying here. It is important to know that three of the bedrooms are in a separate building in the back of the main house and require walking outside to reach. This wasn't too much of a problem in the dry season, however, once the rains started in April (a bit early this year), I had to walk through puddles of water in the courtyard and on several occasions had to spend almost an hour mopping the floor of my bedroom which had flooded (the balcony slopes down into the room).

The back downstairs bedroom is uninhabitable. When we arrived there was black mold on the ceiling and the back wall. The owner was not willing to hire someone to address this issue so my friend spent almost two weeks treating the black mold and then painting the walls. While she was painting she heard some crunching noise and then the electricity on the bathroom side of the room went out (perhaps wires eaten by animals). We ran extension cords from the side of the room with electricity to the side that had none. Unfortunately once the rains started, the back wall started leaking again to include water coming through the electrical outlets that still worked. The black mold returned and we had to vacate the room.

The only TV broke in March and we still had two months left on our lease. Luckily a kind neighbor lent us a small TV so we wouldn't be without one. The middle of May the dryer broke and other appliances (washer and refrigerator) are surely not far behind. The roof in the main house leaks and clean-up after a major rain takes more time than I'm willing to spend considering I'm suppose to be on vacation. There are also termites that leave evidence of their work in the kitchen and upstairs bedroom.

The owner lives in the United States and does not have in-country management to address any issues. There is a person who changes the sheets and does a cursory cleaning once a week but is not in any way capable of fixing electrical, structural or major housing problems. So unless you are willing to exert a considerable amount of time addressing issues that continually arise with this place (which are many and only highlights are provided here), I would not recommend Vina Romantica.

My boyfriend and I stayed at this wonderful hotel the first night we arrived in Costa Rica and again the night before we flew home. It was close to the airport but much more charming than any of the box hotels we passed. We were greeted by Ann Cabezas who, as others have reported, was wonderful and had great suggestions for our trip. We were tired and hungry when we arrived so she brought us a complimentary fresh mango drink with a little rum...Yum! We had a quick meal there cooked by Xenia ( I hope I spelled that right) who was just as wonderful as Ann. The room we had was very clean and had a very comfortable bed and beautiful views. The next morning the Xenia cooked a fantastic traditional Costa Rican breakfast and also drove us to our shuttle pick up location because the cab driver they normally use was unavailable. They definitely go above and beyond for their guests!