We had an incredible week at Casa Samba. The house is lovely and very well located. Everything was smooth from the check in to the check out. David was waiting for us to show us around upon our arrival and gave us great food recommendations. He also got groceries ahead of us getting there which was super helpful. Roxy the house keeper was amazing, super friendly and very helpful. We had Chef Carlos twice and all the food was delicious, he was super kind to my kids and accommodating on my husband dietary restrictions. We had tons of visitors from monkeys, a sloth, Tucanes and the Macaws. My girls had a blast playing pool and watching the monkeys past by. We all enjoy the work out as the house has a lot of stairs 😂. We totally recommend this property.

Awesome! Will be back!

We absolutely loved everything about our stay, the house and views are amazing, the pictures truly do not do it justice. The home is split between different levels so there are a lot of stairs, but it just adds to the character of the home! We woke up every day to wildlife including howler monkeys, white faced capuchins, scarlet Mccaws, toucans, and even a 3 toed sloth hung out with us in the trees eye level with the top balcony! The host is very responsive and helpful! The town is safe and walkable, we could not have hoped for a better experience!

We stayed at the property in early December and enjoyed our stay. The property is beautiful with some truly amazing views. We had monkeys, toucans, scarlet macaws, iguana's and other wildlife visit the home every day. The Escape Villa's team was great to work with and very responsive. David, Gary and Roxy were all very nice and happy to help with anything we needed. We booked a few activities through Escape Villas and couldn't have been happier. We would love to come back and stay again, the view of Manuel Antonio is really remarkable. We traveled from the states and had no issues getting around from our Casa Samba base camp. Playa Playitas was a beautiful beach and less crowded than some of the others. Manuel Antonio park beaches were absolutely stunning. Looking forward to the next trip!

Had a wonderful time. Great location, great house and great view.

The communication with Gary and David our host was fantastic they made sure that all our requests were met, Roxy the housekeeper was efficient and always had a smile. Jose the private chef and his assistant Kim were top notch and I would highly recommend everyone to use them. Now let’s get to the home, you hear people often say the pictures don’t do it justice but in this case it is true the view is spectacular each room is amazing and the wildlife we experienced can’t be be compared, from morning coffee with the capuchin and howler monkeys to evening cocktails with the sloths and macaw’s. Our stay at Casa Samba will be a memory our family will forever cherish, I’ll finish by saying there is no need for an alarm clock because you’ll be awakened by the beautiful sounds of nature every morning!

Our family of four (twin, 13 year old boys) loved every minute of our stay. Between the pool, the pool table and the wild life == there was never a dull moment for our otherwise easily bored teenagers. Wish we'd had our good camera because the wild life was on constant parade== sloths, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, white face monkeys, iguanas, macaw, parrots == just SPLENDID. Happy kids means very happy parents. We loved the proximity to shopping, restaurants and activities but honestly the house was almost too nice to leave. A little corner of paradise for sure. We can't wait to go back =hopefully with friends! p.s. We were glad to have rented a car. P.S.S. Wouldn't do this house with very young kids.

The view was second to none, plenty of room for two families. Staff was professional and attentive as were the monkeys!

The best ever! We have stayed in a lot of vacation homes over the years -- some more expensive, some less expensive, but none as nice as Casa Samba. We were so comfortable! beautifully appointed, close to restaurants and the beach, and totally surrounded by wildlife -- from the decks and balconies we saw monkeys -- Howlers, squirrel and Capuchins (one troop of about a dozen monkeys visited every day), agoutis, black iguana (one we named "big blue" due its iridescent colors), basilisks, macaws, toucans, etc. -- we even had a resident sloth. We actually saw far more wildlife from our porch than we did in over 10+ miles of hikes through national parks, etc. But what really made it special: the hosts. Roxie is absolutely delightful and attended to our needs with cheerfulness and enthusiasm, our chefs Carlos and Estaphan cooked up some great food and David checked on us daily and assisted with recommendations, transportation, COVID testing and everything else needed to assure an absolutely great experience. A five star experience. The only complaint -- Manual Antonio/Quepos is no longer a hidden treasure -- it has been found! Lonely places and empty beaches can still be found it just takes a little more effort. Nevertheless we will soon be returning to Costa Rica -- it remains an awesome experience.

Perfect location, walkable to great restaurants and a grocery store! We used 4/5 of the bedrooms, which allowed all 8 of us to spread out and have plenty of our own space. The kitchen was great with a toaster, microwave, refrigerator and coffee pot. Roxy, is an amazing housekeeper! She came by every day to clean and helped us with the laundry. The pool is deep, so feels bigger as a result. The views are amazing! Not far from the beach. We saw more animals from our patio than we did on our Manuel Antonio Park tour! Monkeys, iguanas and toucans. No complaints, I would book again without hesitation!

My family of 4 stayed the first week of November and had a phenomenal visit. The house was much bigger than we needed and we'd love to return with more people but it was nice for everyone to have their own bedroom - and really their own floor of the house. We used 4 of the 5 bedrooms and the 4th was used as my husband's office. He tried to work in the game room/living room area but the monkeys were too distracting ;) Every morning we were visited first by white faced monkeys and then squirrel monkeys. Most mornings a few iguanas visited us as well. One morning we woke to a family of howler monkeys. So we saw all 3 types of monkey people go to the National Park to see - right on the property! Another highlight were the 2 days we had the chef come. Chef Jorge and his assistant, Ashley, were amazing! We feasted, didn't have to clean up a thing, and then had leftovers to enjoy. Speaking of cleaning...the housekeeper, Roxy, came daily and saved us after my daughter's luggage didn't arrive until our last day and we desperately needed to launder the few items we bought at Walmart to carry us through the week. Location is amazing - just a few minutes drive down the hill to the National Park entrance, right near good restaurants, shops, and markets. We enjoyed reading in countless chairs with epic views and popping in for a swim in the pool. Beach towels and pool towels were provided. The only challenges we had weren't specific to this property - the road into this private community is quite bumpy but you'll get used to it and we got by with a bad rental sedan and the internet is as good as it gets in Costa Rica - not what we're used to in the US. My husband struggled at times to maintain connectivity and couldn't really do video calls. But that's Costa Rica for you! We'll be back here for sure! We had an absolutely amazing stay!!

Casa Samba is an outstanding property all-around. The house is located in a guarded, gated neighborhood that is considered exclusive in the Manuel Antonio area and is surrounded by other high-end vacation homes and residences. You will need a car while staying here as the house is located down a steep (paved) hill and it would be a hard walk to get to the main road at the top where all the restaurants, bars, and stores are. We had a 2-wheel drive 12 pax van and had zero issues going up and down the hill, even in torrential rain. The house itself is better than the pictures. The view cannot be adequately captured in an image, we were all in total shock when we saw it - it would rival any view from other properties in Manuel Antonio. Be aware that only sections of the house that are not 'open air' are the bedrooms and bathrooms - everything else, including the kitchen, is exposed (common in Costa Rica) and not air-conditioned. We liked this configuration since you could open up all the huge sliding doors and let the breeze blow through while sipping the morning coffee. You will have no issue spotting wildlife from the house; we were greeted each morning and afternoon by either white-face monkeys or howlers and even had a few resident iguanas that were enjoying sunbathing almost as much as we were. Communication with the management company and the host was flawless and they were always helpful and very responsive. The only thing I would mention to fellow travelers is to definitely make a note of the number of bedrooms and/or types of amenities you are booking with this property, as it is listed across several listings on VRBO in varying configurations. For example, this listing is for fewer bedrooms than the house has and they will lock the unused bedroom/bathroom. This is not a complaint, but because the pictures show more beds and baths than exist it was a little unclear to me what we were actually paying for - a quick message to the management did clear that up. I think this is a cool idea actually, as it lets you pay much less if you don't need all the bedrooms while still getting all the other benefits of this property. All in all Casa Samba is a great property and I would certainly stay here again on my next trip to Manuel Antonio.

Where do I begin?! Casa Samba was amazing! From the views of the ocean to the wildlife interaction(monkeys visited us every single day)...Casa Samba is far from lacking. This is my second trip planned with Escape Villas and it is always a pleasure. Valerie and Fernando have always been so good to my group and I and we were lucky enough to have Ricky as our house manager again. When staying in Casa Samba, be prepared for the stairs if you are staying in the "crows nest," the room at the very top of the house, but best believe, the view is very much worth it. All of the rooms are spectacular, the house is very clean and of course, nothing short of safe. There is a restaurant at the top of the hill, "Agua Azul," highly recommended. It is in walking distance from the house. The kitchen in Casa Samba is opened directly to the pool, perfect for passing drinks along. Valerie put together 3 excursions for us; an "off the beaten path" tour, an ATV/Zipline tour and an absolutely amazingly spectacular private catamaran with a private chef. If I could plan every vacation with Escape Villas, I would, and honestly, I just might do that!

5 bedroom, 6 bath home with daily maid service. Not just bedrooms, suites. King beds in 3, 1 queen in 1, 2 queens in one. Really comfortable luxury home. Lots of steps so not for everyone.

This was more than I could have ever expected. Will come back again, and recommend it to anyone looking for a place in Costa Rica.

the home was beautiful and i would love to rate it higher, however, I would not recommend having young children ... to have the windows open in the kitchen/dining area leaves a drop off to the pool and outside from the pool, there is a drop off as well (no railings, just the ledge of the pool). I have a 3yo and we were on edge the whole time worrying about him. the other thing is the immense amount of stairs. this is probably pretty common in the area, but again not great for young children as the stairs to all the upper floors were very narrow and steep. there were many great things about the home if you don't have young kids and don't mind the stairs. the monkeys (capuchin)came: 2 times every day, early morning and early evening. we also saw squirrel monkeys midday and the howler monkeys were nearby, not close enough to see unless you have binoculars.

the home was beautiful and i would love to rate it higher, however, I would not recommend having young children ... to have the windows open in the kitchen/dining area leaves a drop off to the pool and outside from the pool, there is a drop off as well (no railings, just the ledge of the pool). I have a 3yo and we were on edge the whole time worrying about him.the other thing is the immense amount of stairs. this is probably pretty common in the area, but again not great for young children as the stairs to all the upper floors were very narrow and steep. there were many great things about the home if you don't have young kids and don't mind the stairs. the monkeys (capuchin)came: 2 times every day, early morning and early evening. we also saw squirrel monkeys midday and the howler monkeys were nearby, not close enough to see unless you have binoculars.

Possibly the most beautiful house we've stayed in. Each room was spacious with great attention to detail both aethstetically and functionally. Upstairs deck with TV and pool table was an amazing space with gorgeous views. And yes, they call it the "Monkey Room" for good reason. We got our fill of Capuchins making themselves at home there and even saw some of the more rare Squirrel monkeys. Pool on main level was small, but useful, and had a great view of the Pacific, facing toward the park. Kitchen had everything for cooking and meals in, which is mostly what we did. We were my family of four (two teenage girls) plus my mother, my sister, and her two young children (a toddler and an infant). Communication was great, as was check in and check out. My family lives in Costa Rica and knew are way around, including exactly what activities we wanted to do, so didn't require any help, but the crew there was ready to help arrange anything we wanted and I couldn't help but notice in the Guestbook how many people absolutely loved the available on site chef for quality, variety and flexibility. Need to know stuff: -depending on your definition of "walking distance", this house possibly isn't. It's more than a few hot, sweaty minutes up the hill to the main road through Manuel Antonio in the area of Café Milagro. My daughters and I, sure. My mother, sister and her kids...not so much. -Stairs!! Did not catch this in one of the other reviews, but there are STAIRS. Over 50 just to get from the street to the house. Hauling our cooler of food was challenging, as well as some of the larger luggage. And inside the house, every room is on a different level accessed by a steep spiral staircase, one bed room three flights up. Combined with a lack of railings around the pool area and deck (for fantastic views, mind you), it made for a real long weekend trying to manage an active 3 year old. All that being said, it was definitely a 5 star experience at a very fair price and we would love to stay here again. Just without very small children and a big cooler.

We just returned from an amazing stay at Casa Samba. This is a beautiful and well decorated home. Note: this is a very vertical property and there are several spiral staircases. This property might not be ideal for those with mobility issues or very young children. But, we loved it for our school-age children (who enjoyed their own 2 bedroom "apartment" accessed from the deck of the main house) and it would be great with teenagers. We worried about the size of the pool (which is deep but not full size), but it worked even with 8 people in it. The deck area has both sun and shade; we spent a lot of time there and the view is AMAZING. The service here is SPECTACULAR. All of the excursions we selected were terrific-- pick-ups were on time; staff were professional and informed; they were great with kids; everyone spoke English very well. Ask for Manuel as your guide for the national park tours! Our favorite perk was Chef Junior. He is so friendly and accommodating and gentle, in addition to being a great chef. The food was very fresh; we tried different juices every day; Junior appeased our picky eaters. It was such a pleasure to have his meals after a long and hot day of excursions. Finally, this house is very well located--a short drive to the national park and main beach, as well as to Playa Biesanz (which is smaller and nice for families); also a short walk to grocery store, ATM, and souvenir shops, as well as to El Avion restaurant, which kids will enjoy.

Great family vacation around fathers 85th birthday. Ten of us were easily accommodated in this spacious beautifully designed home. We arranged for a cook to prepare breakfast and dinner. Hiro the chef received high marks from all of us including my Cordon Blue Paris trained sister and her husband who for over ten years owned a haute cuisine French restaurant on the Monterey Peninsula. Ricky the property manager was always there to provide tour, restaurant and general recommendations. The house was cleaned top to bottom everyday and kept in immaculate condition. I would highly recommend Casa Samba to anyone traveling to Manuel Antonio.

Our trip to Costa Rica was awesome!! We had a great time, our house was amazing and in perfect shape, very clean had beautiful views. It had that tropical feel to it but very luxurious at the same time. The daily visit from the monkeys made it really fun and they DO love bananas. Our concierge Valerie went beyond our expectations and was able to book every tour we wanted and answer all of our questions. We will definitely come back!