Santa Teresa Beach Houses

Rooms

The 2 4-bedroom houses - Sandy Lane and Beachwood - are both cleverly designed to continue the feeling of space you experience out on the waves. The scale is enormous: the open-plan sitting/dining rooms and kitchens flow in one huge uninterrupted cavern of pale grey concrete floors and sandy yellow walls, brightened with grey-green striped fabric (which doesn’t get damp, so you can lounge around in beachwear). Surrounding each house is a private terrace with an infinity pool, a dining area, daybeds and loungers; beyond, a gate leads directly to the beach.

Sandy Lane has 2 bedrooms downstairs, which lead off the main room (though they feel very private) and share a long bathroom with an immense shower. There’s a kingsize bed in one and twin beds in the other; both are light and bright, with white bed linen and woven wicker furniture. Upstairs, the master bedroom is truly spectacular. It occupies the entire upper floor, with a kingsize bed, a large sitting area, and the same floor-to-ceiling louvre doors to bring in views of the surf. The bathroom is, predictably, huge, with a massive shower and a separate toilet area. Outside, there’s a separate suite with a kingsize bed, its own bathroom and wide doors that open directly onto the infinity pool - ideal for friends or grandparents.

We have yet to see Beachwood next door, which has been built since our last visit and sits slightly closer to the ocean, but it’s similar to Sandy Lane in terms of style and features. Its lofty single-storey layout encompasses 2 master bedrooms with kingsize beds and custom-designed sliding doors opening onto the beachfront infinity pool, plus 2 garden-facing bedrooms (one with a queensize bed, the other with twin beds which can be combined to form a kingsize double). All have full ensuite bathrooms.

Both houses are minimalist, modern and very comfortable, with big wardrobes, mosquito nets, thick white towels and stereo systems with iPod docks. All beds have air-conditioning units above them, but you probably won’t need them as so much air flows through. Note that there are no hairdryers or bathrobes, and you’ll need to bring your own toiletries: only soap is provided.

Features include:

• Air conditioning
• Microwave
• WiFi

Eating

Both houses are well set-up for self-catering, with everything you could possibly need to cook in the stylish open-plan kitchens. In Sandy Lane, chocolate-brown polished counters are brightened with contemporary green ceramics and glasses; in Beachwood, warm-hued wooden units sit next to exposed stone walls and stools made from tree trunks. There’s a gas cooker with a big oven in each, plus a microwave, a toaster, a blender, a coffee machine, a huge fridge and plenty of pots, pans and utensils.

There’s a grocery store just across the street for supplies. Staff can also arrange for local fishermen to come to the houses with their catch, so that you can select grey snappers and lobsters for dinner (delicious cooked on the barbecues outside, which come complete with a sink area to make food preparation easy). There’s a market every Saturday afternoon at the Crossroads (where the main road you arrived on meets the beach road running from Santa Teresa to Malpais), and there are 4 supermarkets nearby, as well as a bank with an ATM.

Most people go out for dinner, though. Florblanca is just 800m away, serving excellent food, and there are a couple of gourmet restaurants nearby. Or, for a more local flavour, eat delicious Costa Rican food at Piedra Mar in Malpais - a shack right on the oceanfront. Also recommended in Malpais is Mary’s, a good local restaurant run by Costa Ricans, which serves a great dinner.

Most luxuriously, staff can arrange a private chef for the week, so that you won’t have to worry about cooking at all. One of his specialities is tuna tartare (more details on request).

Features include:

• Children's meals
• Microwave
• Restaurants nearby

Activities

• The concierge can organise every activity for you - from whale-watching to rafting; he’ll call in once a day to check up on what you need so there’s no need to shop around for tour operators
  
• Step from the open-plan sitting room directly into your small, chlorine-free infinity pool (each house has its own) - the water is unheated, so deliciously cool
  
• At low tide it’s safe for children to swim from the long, shallow beach. There are normally no rip tides, but watch out when the tide changes, just in case
  
• Santa Teresa is a world-class surf resort (there are waves every day, year-round), so you should definitely try it out while you’re here. The concierge can arrange surfing lessons; the surf school will supply boards. Surf is particularly good between 8-11am and in the evening (though if you're keen you might want to avoid the rainy month of October)
  
• Across the road from The Beach Estates is a contemporary art gallery, which offers art classes for kids
  
• Take a canopy tour through rainforest (otherwise known as zip-wiring) in Malpais. It's great fun for adrenaline-seekers, and children can do it too
  
• Join a private yoga session, or opt for a massage in the privacy of your house
  
• Go horse-riding. It's perfect for novices or the less experienced, as local guides will collect you and take you to lovely forest landscapes near Manzanillo (a national reserve)
  
• The pretty village of Montezuma is a fun place to go for the day: there are lots of souvenir shops for gifts, and a good selection of restaurants for dinner (Playa de los Artistas is recommended). From Montezuma you can hike to lovely waterfalls, with a pool at the bottom where you can swim. It's better in the dry season when the water is clear
  
• Visit the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve. It can be reached from Malpais if you have a 4x4 vehicle and you’ll see monkeys, anteaters, coatis and deer. You can hike to a couple of beautiful beaches, too

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Fishing
• Hiking
• Horse riding
• Kayaking
• Sailing
• Shopping / markets
• Snorkelling
• Surfing
• Wildlife
• Windsurfing
• Yoga

Kids

Children will adore it here - the surroundings are wild and magical, and the pools and beach will provide endless entertainment. The houses are both very spacious and nothing feels too precious, but they're not really suitable for kids under 2 (you'd have to provide your own cot, and there's no stairgate in Sandy Lane). We rate them for a large family or group gathering, and the amount of space gives teenagers privacy too.

Best for:

Children (4-12 years), Teens (over 12)

Family friendly accommodation:

Both houses sleep up to 8 in 4 double bedrooms. Sandy Lane has one twin room and 3 double rooms, including a separate suite in the garden. Single-storey Beachwood has 3 double rooms, and one room which can be made up as a twin or a double. No extra beds are available and no cot is provided, but you could bring your own.

Distances:

• Airport 30 minutes (local airport, a 25-minute flight from San José)
• Hospital: 20 minutes

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

The 2 houses are set next to each other by the beach in Santa Teresa, on the Nicoya Peninsula. This is on the west coast of Costa Rica, a 25-minute flight from the capital city San José.

By Air:
Tambor (30km away) is your closest airport, but if you're coming from abroad you'll fly into San José Juan Santamaria International (160km away) or Liberia (210km away). Most guests then take an internal flight to Tambor, which takes around 25 minutes. Click on the links below for a list of airlines serving these airports.

From the Airport
Transfers can be arranged from Tambor - see Rates.

By Car:
It’s useful to have a car here so that you can drive around to local sights, but you can rent one once you arrive. Think twice before doing the drive from San José: it takes 6 hours, via the ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera (arrive 45 minutes to an hour before the ferry leaves to buy your ticket and get in line), and the last stretch is pretty rough. If you really want to drive, see our car rental recommendations - we'd recommend getting a 4x4. Each house has a private parking area.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com

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