I had recently came back from Quepos and a stay at Villas Tranquilas. It was my first trip to Costa Rica and the experience was excellent. Because the Villas are new and information scarce I wanted to submit a review.

I traveled with 3 friends who had also never been to Costa Rica. Our main reasons for going were to see Costa Rica and do off shore fishing. The fishing is why we went to Quepos. From my research and communications with the manager of the Villas I thought they would be a nice place to stay.

I would like to say that the service we received started long before we arrived in Costa Rica. Being a novice world traveler and new to Costa Rica I had many questions. The manager Kathleen, e-mailed and called many times to assist me. Upon our arrival at the Quepos airport we were greeted by Kathleen. She also spent the better part of an entire day assisting us with a car rental, showing us around Quepos, sharing lunching with us, and helping us settle in at the Villas. Her service was over the top!

The Villas are brand new. Honestly the pictures on the website are very accurate because they are literally are brand new. The kitchen units are fully equipped with everything you need to prepare any meals you want right there. We were able to cook fish we caught that day out of Quepos. I felt guilty leaving a messy kitchen but every morning the staff came in and cleaned everything---including the kitchen and dishes---that was nice!

The rooms were plenty large for 2 adults and all their stuff. Each room had it’s own A/C with a remote to control the temperature. Very comfortable at night. The place we stayed before had no A/C. There are 2 full bathrooms in each Villa.

The downstairs living area does not have A/C but has a ceiling fan. Honestly we were not around much during the day but I never felt it was uncomfortable downstairs. The furnishings were very nice and gave you a very comfortable “at home” feel. The staff that lived on site, Ronald, were excellent. If you like to fish Ronald might take you to the local fishing hole---that was our most unforgettable part of the trip.

We used the pool. They have done a very nice job with the pool and a community socializing area. The also have a very nice built in Bar-B-Q grill that guests can use. In addition to the on site staff they have security guards at night. We never felt unsafe.

The drive back to San Jose was very scenic. I was happy that we rented a car and got to experience that. However, I would not recommend driving in San Jose at night. For me I enjoyed driving around Costa Rica but San Jose was a little intimidating. Quepos is easy.

So, for us Villas Tranquilas was an excellent experience and excellent value. The property is 5 minutes from town so it is better to have a car there. The service was excellent and the surround area very nice. If you want the full “spa/resort” experience I would recommend the Marriott at Los Suenos---about $300 a night. If you are experiencing Costa Rica and looking very a very nice, affordable location---Villas Tranquils is the place!

Our trip to Quepos, Costa Rica was great. We went there mainly for a fishing experience of a lifetime. Quepos, on the Central Pacific Coast, is the capital for excellent sailfish in Feb. We stayed at the Villas Tranquilas in Feb 07. Our time there was great. We did not go to Quepos to have all the comforts of home. We chould have stayed in good old Florida and Virginia for that. I read in one of the blogs a group of people had stayed at the Villas Tranquillas in Dec. 06 and complained immensely about the Villas. We did not experience or feel the same as this group. They complained about the road to the Villas. Every trip agency and web site about CR advises to rent a 4X4 SUV because there are few paved highways and many are gravel or just plain dirt. Costa Rica is not an industrialized nation like the US. It does not have interstates and many major highways. We actually had a fun time negotiating the various roads in CR. Villas Tranquilas is actually located off the Pan-American Highway and yes, this major highway is a gravel highway. We drove from San Jose, CR to the Villas. It was a beautiful drive on a paved hwy. The Villas are relatively easy to locate with directions we had received from the staff. The ride to Quepos is about a mile down the Pan-Am Hwy to the paved road going into Quepos. You go over an old one-lane bridge, but a new bridge is under construction and should be finished in the near future. It is about another 3 miles into downtown Quepos. The total travel time took about 8 minutes. Not much time for a laid back vacation. One of the first things we learned when we arrived was that the hustle and bustle we were used to certainly doesn’t apply in CR. Everything is extremely laid back.

The Villas are not located in a pocket full of tourists. The more tourist area is on the other side of Quepos near Manuel Antonio National Park. The park has 4 beaches, two of which are good for snorkeling. And yes the monkeys will take your gear if not watched. I lost our Pineapple to them. The trip to there from Villas Tranquilas was about 15 minutes. We timed it going back to the Villas.
Villas Tranquilas has some seclusion (privacy). It has large grounds with the normal vegetation, woods, lizards, iguanas, sloths, and frogs expected in CR. The outdoor pool is a large beautiful pool completely constructed of one inch tiles. That would cost a pretty penny in the states. The deck is also large with many large tables and a large built in grill. Very few hotels, condos, or time shares have pools and decks massive enough to accommodate all the guests at one time. The pool and deck are plenty large to accommodate a multitude of guests. The quality is better than most. A fully one inch tile pool and massive Teak deck are not found most places.

The Villas amenities had AC with ceiling fans in each bedroom upstairs. The downstairs (living area and kitchen area) had a ceiling fan. Between the bedroom AC and fans upstairs and the fan down the entire Villa temp remained comfortable day and evening. The upstairs bath had a shower and large vanity area and was quite adequate. The downstairs bath had a large shower big enough for two and a smaller vanity area. Both bathrooms had good water pressure with hot water always. It had all the kitchen appliances of home… all shiny and new. If we needed anything extra, the caretakers of the property went out of their way to get for us. It also had a huge table with chairs with each Villa on the porch areas for outside dining or socializing. We did not have to live out of our suitcases. We utilized the drawers in the nightstands and the multiple shelves in each closet for our folded clothes and the closet rail for hanging clothes.

The grounds were manicured. The inside was kept clean daily like a motel by the Villas staff. They checked everyday to see if we needed anything. They made sure we had DVDs for the TV and supplied us with a cell phone for our use. While we were there the cable lines were being installed to the Villa. Bottom line… the staff were very attentive to our needs. We had a peaceful, comfortable, and great time at the Villas Tranquilas. Because there was property staff on location at all times, including a security guard that patrolled the villas, we never felt that we were ever in any type of danger. Not one time did we ever experience any type of noise problems. It was as quiet and serene as we wanted to make it. We had a very relaxing time. We would certainly welcome the opportunity to utilize their accommodations again when visiting Quepos.

After much research we decided on Villas Tranquilas in Quepos and for the price the value is worth it. You get a brand new villa with 2 bdrm, 2 bath, Large kitchen. The staff was incredible, in fact we made a wonderful new friendship with them and very much look forward to returning next year. Mind you this place is not located in the town, it is a short distance from town set back in the jungle, it is very tranquil and we saw all different sorts of birds, if you're a birdwatcher this is a great place. We had an excellent vaction here and I highly recommend it.

Our stay at Villas Tranquilas is one of our favorite memories as a family! The first thing that attracted us to the villas was that they were new and the bargain price. From the time that I first contacted the manager, she was very personable and helpful with any questions I had concerning the villas and Costa Rica. She explained that the villas were new and some of the kinks had not been worked out - like laundry facilities in the villas(but we had use of the general laundry area) and cable and internet had not yet been connected. The villas provided new release movies while we were there and we didn't want to take our laptop anyway.
While we were there, landscaping was being completed and we got to see the progress of a new main road to the villas being completed. The villas weren't quite as close to Manuel Antonio Park as we had expected, but we soon grew to love the drive through Quepos to Manuel Antonio so we could experience the local culture and the beauty of the jungle up through the hill to the beach. We also discovered that some of the best and least expensive food was actually in Quepos itself.
The villas had many upgrades and felt spacious, with all of the amenities of home, but the most enjoyable part of our stay was the friendly and very helpful staff. We developed a special bond with Ronald and Veronica, the onsite managers, and they went out of their way to make us comfortable and happy.
We could have stayed closer to the beach and park, but we checked out the many websites and even looked around while we were there and the price would have been much higher. Even some of the lovely hotels farther away than the villas had less to offer and were much higher priced and I expect would not have been able to provide the direct and immediate attention we were given. We left the villas planning on when we could come back and bring more family and friends!