We stayed in a 3 room villa and it was just beautiful! Our view of the ocean was great. The maids even did our dishes and laundry which we weren't expecting. There were monkey on the beach and the food at the beach bar was good. I feel like when I am on vacation I want to stay some place at least a little nicer than my home and this was perfect! I even get some decorating ideas! The swimming pools on site were great too! Make sure to use your map to find them all!

My husband and I recently stayed at Buena Vista Luxury Villas during our anniversary trip to Costa Rica. It was our first time to Manuel Antonio.

Upon our arrival we were informed that they'd upgraded us to a lovely villa (#305) with a kitchen and living room area. The front desk/concierge staff was very accommodating on the few occasions that we dealt with them.

The villas are perched on the side of a steep hill. There is shuttle serviced offered to/from any point within the resort for those who don't wish to climb up and down the hills, but note that you will have to do a bit of steep uphill (or downhill) walking to get to the shuttle meeting point from your villa. Having said that, however, my husband and I had absolutely no issues walking to the main road for breakfast, lunch and dinner each day. We also walked down the nature trail to the beach each day. It's a bit of a workout, but really not that big of a deal if you just take your time. The grounds are beautifully landscaped, so it makes for a pleasant stroll.

The villa itself was a bit dated (it looked as though the last major renovation may have been done 10+ years ago). However, it was clean and everything in the room was well maintained and functional. The balcony had a panoramic view of the ocean and jungle, as did the bedroom.

We noticed quite a few creepy crawlies throughout our stay, which I fully understand is part of the territory in a tropical, jungle area. However, it is something to be prepared to see. In our villa we had a constant stream of little lizards on the ceiling, spiders scurrying across the floor, and cockroaches popping up in random places (one day I turned on the wall-mounted air conditioning unit and 2 large roaches came tumbling out). I don't know that the resort could really do much to prevent this given the setting, so I merely mention it as an FYI.

During our stay there was only one restaurant and bar open for service and that was at the beach. This was the resort's weak spot. We ate lunch there upon our arrival. 4 of the 10 items on the menu were not available. What we did order was of average quality and a bit under seasoned. The portions were huge and the prices were surprisingly steep. For two Imperials and two lunch entrees our tab was approximately $50 USD. Service was extremely slow and we waited approximately 30 minutes for our check after requesting it. The staff members spent a lot of time chatting with one another. One inconvenience was that the food tab had to be paid separately from the bar tab. Considering this whole beachside restaurant concept consists of 6 tables and a tiki-hut bar, this seemed really odd.

The next two days we spent a bit more time on the lovely beach, which is picturesque and extremely secluded. At any given time there were 4 or 5 other guests on the beach with us. The first day we used their complimentary kayaks to explore the nearby beaches. The water was so warm it felt like bathwater. After our little adventure we picked out two lounge chairs down the hill from the bar and hung out for an hour or so. My husband walked up the hill to order drinks (they don't take your order from the beach, which is a bit of a bummer.) After about 20 minutes of waiting we looked up the hill to see what the hold-up was. I saw the bartender casually leaning against the bar having a conversation with the other staff members. It was only 10 minutes later that I finally heard the whir of the blender, and a gentleman brought our drinks down to us. The following day our drinks came faster, in maybe 10 or 15 minutes.

Overall we would still recommend this resort to others, with the caveat that you avoid the beach restaurant. The rest of the staff was very friendly and accommodating and the panoramic views are hard to beat. The proximity to Manuel Antonio Park was terrific (maybe a 5 minute drive down the road), and there were dozens of great little restaurants within walking distance.

Our concierge Andres was absolutely wonderful!! He was so nice a knowledgable about everything and anytime we wanted anything we just called him and he made arangements for us. The property is beautiful and there are trees everywhere and the private beach was also very wonderful saphire blue water backing up to jungle. There are free kayaks and boogie boards and the water is so warm. A friend from college and I stayed in a Bungalow and it was clean, quaint, and rustic. The floor to ceiling windows around the entire bungalow were awesome. The one complaint I had was the very thin somewhat scratchy lone bed sheet that was the only thing separating me from the matress. Also, the breakfast we had at the beach was the worst we had in Costa Rica. But, Cafe Milagro (right across the street) had one of the best breakfasts so if you can I would suggest eating breakfafst there. Lunch at the beach was good. Again the beach here is so warm and the people were very friendly. Andres was a huge help as well as the rest of the staff. We were given a house to change in after a day at the beach because check out was at 11 and our flight wasn't until two and the house they gave us to change in was spectacular!! For 800 a night we couldn't quite afford this option but it was cool to see nonetheless. AC in the bungalow was really good. Good enough to dry out our suitcases enitrely which did not happen anywhere else we went in Costa Rica.

My wife and I stayed here for 4 nights. It was VERY hard to find. We drove past it a few times before seeing it. They dont have a sign outside and apparently it is owned by Tulemar which is the only sign you see when passing by. We wish the office would have mentioned this as we called and asked if it might be called anything else and they said no. We arrived early and it seemed to throw them off. We sat across the street until check in time at which point they checked us into an average dated room with double beds. We asked to be moved to a room with one bed instead of two which took a day to accomplish but they were very nice about it. Both rooms had massive gaps between the floor and the main door which meant bugs and lizards could stroll right in which they did all night.

Our concierge Bryan was great. Very helpful and nice. The gentleman at the main office Johan was not very helpful. Upon arrival he told us to drive through the security gate around the bend and park at reception but never alerted security we were coming which resulted in us sitting at the gate waiting for them to resolve the confusion as our names were not on their "guest list". After explaining how frustrating check in was they just kept smiling saying it was all great (not sure they understood we were directed to two other parking lots first after being told we could not enter). While trying to get to Spa Uno (great spot) he had us hike down the very steep hill for a cab that was not there. When we hiked back up the hill so we could call him he just said that it was weird and to go back down later. He also forgot to give us our wake up call the morning we checked out. Thankfully we had a backup alarm set. Turned out the office was closed anyways when we tried to check out even though we had confimed the time we planned to drop keys off- so we had to leave the keys by their door and head out hoping they received them. When we checked in they said they were open 24 hours which is not the case. We realized after all this you need to rely on your assigned concierge person to ensure anything is done properly. Staff at the bar and pool were pretty disinterested in the guests. Towels were hard to come by. The only pool with a bar or food is the Family pool which was filled with kids of course so for a couple looking to have a quiet cocktail by the pool BYOB. Lounge chairs at the pool were very uncomfortable. Service was very slow at the beach restaurant and the staff seemed more interested in their conversations than helping the few guests they had. Although they were always quick to toss the tip jar up on the bar after taking 10 minutes to grab a can of beer for you. Wifi only worked 30% of the time. Power was on and off due to bad weather as well but only during one day and night. Our toilet broke on the last day due to flimsy parts which was an easy fix but just a little annoying for the price they charge to stay there.

David at the beach was super helpful and very cool. He helped supply free kayaks and give some tips on where to go.
The beach is very pretty but you need a ride to get there. You also need a ride to get to the main gate where restaurants are easily walkable.

The complex is not easy to get around in and seems like the hotel portion was a poorly organized after-thought to the condos for purchase. Most of the complex had construction underway so there was also the constant sound of hammering and power tools all week.

Overall I am sure there must have been a better option at the same price or a hotel with just as many issues just much cheaper close by.