First of all, Jaco is not the best place in Costa Rica. It is a tourist trap, the beach is lousy, and it's dangerous -- more dangerous than other towns of its size. That being said, if you stay in the Jaco Bay Condo, it is not a terrible place to stay assuming that the price is right for you. We went as guests of an RCI member, so I don't know if we got better treatment than an average visitor. Here are the good things: a great pool! (see photos), very, very nice people who run the place and clean, security ( a guard is always on duty), close to the center of Jaco, washer and dryer, nice kitchen accessories. If you come here (or any place in Costa Rica, I imagine), bring dryer sheets, hand sanitizer, or antiseptic towelettes, dish washer soap, anything you MUST have that will probably be expensive in Costa Rica. The bottom line is that you are not going on vacation in the United States, so don't expect everything to be like it is "back home". Save yourself some money and go to a more predictable place if you don't like surprises like power outages (didn't have one!), bugs, things that don't work "exactly right". If you like to travel, see new sights and try to understand another culture a little, then I recommend Costa Rica.

This was supposed be the best family vacation ever. Ended up being the worst vacation ever! Where to start?When we arrived, there was no power in our condo. We rented from a private tenant and he failed to pay the electric bill on time. We had to pay out of pocket to rent another room. Power wasn't turned on until a day later. Two days after that, the power goes out at the entire complex. We then had to rent a room at the Best Western across the street. While the power was out, our room was broken into by a staff member. They stole two diamond necklaces of ours. The marketing director made a master key that she didn't dispose correctly, threw it in the trash, and one of her staff members took it out of the trash. So this person had free reign to the entire complex. Scary!!! She took full responsibility of the theft and promised to reimburse us for our loss. Of course that didn't happen! Not much else I can say, but BEWARE!!!

We were robbed (burglarized) at this condo resort and we believe that the management of the resort may be involved. The burglary was clearly a planned heist. No less than 10 minutes of our departure from the condo on our first day of a one-week rental stay, a burglar entered our room using a card key and stole two diamond necklaces valued at $3,000. The subsequent investigation by local police determined that the Director of Marketing and Sales, Catalina Jimenez, one of only three persons authorized to create universal key cards, had made the card that was used in the burglary. She subsequently admitted her mistake (she said she threw the card away in a trash can because it had a defect) and her liability for the loss of our possessions. At the urging of the general manager she promised to reimburse us for the amount of our loss, but asked for 30 days to come up with the large monetary sum. Needless to say after 30 days we were back in the U.S. and our phone calls to the general manager and the Marketing Director have gone to no avail. The general manager had literally sworn an oath of blood the day we departed for our return to the U.S. that he would make sure we were reimbursed for our losses, now I can't get him to take my calls.The "police department"? Their ineptness was evident when it took them three days before showing up at the "crime scene" to dust for fingerprints. By the time they showed up (my family had stayed there the remainder of the week, but this is another story) the crime scene had been compromised by our fingerprints. Now, all they will tell us is that their "investigation" is in progress and we must contact the condo management to seek reimbursement.

Oh, and of the six nights we had contracted to stay at the resort (this condo is owned by Michael Cantor of Phoenix, AZ, PLEASE don't believe everything he says about his beautiful rental condo!), two of them we had to rent hotel rooms in another part of town (at our expense) to spend the night due to long power failures at the resort - - - longer than 24 hours each time, no elevators, air conditioning, lights, nothing! In fact, we believe the robbery was staged by the first power outage. No less than 10 minutes of our vacating the condo due to the first power outage (five family members and a two-year old) our condo was broken into and burglarized.

In short, our dream family vacation turned out to be a ROYAL NIGHTMARE thanks, in part, to the management of the Jaco Bay Condo Hotel Resort.

My husband and I are in our late 30s with no children. We went to this resort for a week through an RCI Exchange and only had to pay a $258 exchange feeto stay the entire week. Because of this, and my strong desire to see Costa Rica, this place worked fine for us. I came up with this list while at the resort and I hope it helps others to make an easier decision on whether or not to stay here than I had.

Top 10 Things this Resort Does Well-

1. The pool. It's well taken care of and I love the pool water temp whirlpools at the end.
2. They leave you alone, nobody nagging you about tours. In fact, nobody even here.
3. Huge balconies
4. TV-It gets CNN and the local major US television network stations
5. Wi-fi. Only had an issue connecting one time, otherwise it's very reliable.
6. A washing machine and dryer in the unit.
7. Wildlife right in the trees that you can spot when your lounging at the pool. Who knew we needed binoculars at the pool right? Yesterday, we saw 2 Scarlet Macaws (parrots) just from our lounge chairs.
8. Coffee maker in room
9. The air conditioning gets COLD. And, that's really important here
10. Shower is decent

Top Things this Resort Needs Improvement on:

1. No amentities. No soap, no dishsoap, no laundry soap, no coffee, no welcome treats or cream and sugar, no dishtowel, no paper towels. Nothing extra except for small bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
2. They didn't inform us how to work the air when we first go here & it was miserably hot in our room. That led to a really bad first impression.
3. Ants in the kitchen and living room area
4. Not the best maintained. Toilet paper just sitting on the back of the toilets when only half of the toilet paper holder fixtures are mounted. Blood spotted on a rug and the secondary bedroom comforters. Floors are dirty, dishes chipped in the cabinets. Lampshades crooked. Laundry door missing from it's track.
5. The 2 unfinished buildings are a huge eyesore outside. They claim from a previous review they aren't theirs--but they look exactly like the buildings around us & the one we are staying in. It's like they just went bankrupt & didn't have enough money to finish what could've been a truly outstanding resort.
6. The misrepresentation of the rooms on the internet vs reality. The pictures of this place show only the walls that have been painted vibrant colors with the beautiful large pictures on them. The reality is, right across from that wall, none of the other walls are painted--everything is white, no pictures on the wall. It's very odd. It was obviously staged just for pictures. The "flat screen" tv might be a flat screen, but in reality it's not. It's not the current kind that can hang on walls.
7. No clock anywhere
8. No radio anywhere
9. Furniture--all of it. is. uncomfortable. Deck chairs on balcony are cheap. Pool chairs are white plastic and cheap. Bed is low to the ground and only on thin slats of wood. It fell apart while we were here and we had to fix it. Couches and chairs are weird and not comfortable. Living room table is cheap. You get the idea.
10. Reception area was unprofessional. When we first got there, a bike was blocking the steps to the door, and a friend was in there with their child just hanging out with the receptionsist. When our keys were deactivated because they didn't realize we were staying the week & not just the weekend, another friend was in there and it appeared that they were watching a youtube video and laughing at it. They seem interrupted when they actually have to work to help someone.