The Bahai Encantada is well located (on the beach with 10 min walk to village centre). The property has security and is well maintained. The units are large and holding up very well considering the rental volume.

Jaco (pronounced 'hawko') is a great alternative to Tamarindo. Actually I highly recommend staying away from Tamarindo unles you can limit your stay to a few nights.

Jaco is a village along a sweeping bay with a wide beach and great sunsets. It has several hotels and rental condominiums along the water. Most have nice swimming pools. The village has several good restaurants (best for us was the Wahoo).

If you land at the San Jose International Airport there is now a very good highway to Jaco (about a 90 m,inute drive). If you have a rental car you can make some cool day trips out of Jaco:
1) 60 min south to Quepos and the Mannual Antonius Park
2)15 min north to Herradura (turn east at the intersection for great Zip Lining or turn west to Los Suenos Marina
3) 25 min north to the Crocodile Bridge
4) 2 hour north (30 min north of San Jose) to the La Paz waterfalls and game park (zoo)
5) 45 min north to Punta Arenas (a town who's day has past but also where the ferry goes to the Tambor area

I have read through the other reviews and the complaints are all true:
Can be noisy if people are partying on the beach.
Might see some unwanted lady visitors at night.
Bugs around the kitchen.
Not many activities for kids.
Pool bar closed during low season.

Guess what.....this is Jaco! I walked up and down the beach and the town several times and this is by far the nicest property on the beach. I was in the Penthouse #L3 and each room has a nice balcony, the main balcony is on the corner overlooking both the beach and the pool, and the rooftop terrace has a nice view of the entire beach. It was a little annoying to see bugs in the kitchen, but if you rinse all your dishes and throw them in the dishwasher you shouldn't have any problems. Having the full kitchen and washer/dryer are a HUGE plus. I saw someone complain that the penthouse didn't have tv's in every room, but we did, so perhaps this was a recent upgrade. There is security at both the front and back entrance at all times and they are very friendly. I prefer a place with a concierge available 24/7 but for the most part the security guards were able to help me when necessary. I had a problem with my thermostat and called the headquarters, someone was in my room fixing the problem within 5 minutes. There were a few families with kids enjoying the beautiful pool area (3 separate pools including a small one for kids), so I'm not sure what more people want for their kids. Yes there are a lot of hookers in Jaco....if you read the reviews, every hotel has mention of them, so if you don't like it, Jaco isn't the place for you...it is not the fault of the hotel. And yes, it's nice to have the pool bar going, but if it's closed, just grab a bottle and a mixer and make your own drinks (plenty of cups in your room and ice makers in the freezer)...you'll probably save a ton of money anyway. Clarita's next door is a convenient food/bar option and I didn't really have any problems walking into town. A couple times I got lazy and paid the $2 to take a cab...no big deal.

Overall this place is great and I will definitely stay there again. $175 a night for the penthouse overlooking the beach is very reasonable. My only (minor) complaint is that if the maid service is going to only come every other day, it would be nice if they did a little more than a "touch-up" which is to say they made my bed and made sure I had fresh toilet paper. I don't mind cleaning up after myself but it's nice to not have to tidy up and do the dishes while on vacation. If you can understand that any of the complaints apply to pretty much every place in Jaco, then you will definitely see that this is the nicest property overall.

We stayed here in F5 with our three children for a week. Our visit fell into their "slow time" here, so most of the week we had the pool to ourselves. Loved it!!! The beach is beautiful! The view from the room was spectacular! The penthouses are clean and beautifully furnished. The staff is helpful and friendly. Great place to stay!!!!! Would love to come again!

This is a great location. We only stayed one night but should of stayed the week. It is located on the beach and close to town where you can shop and eat. Safe and secure location so you can relax with all the modern thing you could possibly need while your on vacation.