WOW, Gorda Vista is pure tranquility. A jungle villa is a perfect description of this property. The wildlife from butterflies to monkeys and multitudes of birds/owls. Toucans visited daily in the big tree. Mornings are a symphony of birds(being a bird lover I was in heaven) and other jungle sounds that are a true delight to start your day with a great cup of coffee. The villa is located in the jungle overlooking the ocean with stunning sunsets. Pictures can not capture the beauty of this place. My wife and I stayed here and it was the most relaxing vacation we have had in years. The local beaches are perfect and uncrowded. There is so much to do and explore within a few minutes drive. Speaking of the drive, as mentioned in other posts a 4x4 vehicle is a must. The road is fine just steep in places. The villa is perfect for a family or two couples. The only sounds we heard were nature and ourselves. My only regret is we had to leave. The owners are wonderful, very helpful and gave great advise. Don't forget to check out the gardens, lots of treasures down there. Spending days by the pool was so refreshing. Will be back for sure.

We had a wonderful stay here! The views are amazing and the sounds of nature are peaceful and enlightening. We wanted to know which bird or monkey was making all the sounds! There were two toucans that visited us every day and evening. The pool is so refreshing after a day of adventure. The kitchen is large and very well equipped. We had a private chef come to cook dinner for us one evening and it was an awesome experience! The surrounding area is quaint but perfect for what we were looking for. Thank you Doug and Janet for having us. A special thanks for showing us around the property late at night due to flight delays. You are so kind!

Beautiful place to stay up in the Jungle, beautiful views, Safe and secure! lots of animals to see, Relaxing pool, great accomodations, Highly recommend!

The owners met us and personally went over details to know about the house. There was a security gate and fence. A Beautiful infinity pool overlooking jungle and ocean. The owners have a great eye for detail - lovely home and landscaped grounds. Fans and air conditioning in bedrooms. Howlers, toucans, scarlet rumped tanager, hummingbirds and cane toad seen around the property. Thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Better have a 4 wheel drive. Thank you for the opportunity to stay in your beautiful sanctuary !!

We loved staying here it was incredible. The open floor plan and the pool were dreamy. From the pool we watched monkeys and toucans go by and at night after grilling dinner we got back into the pool and saw shooting stars. The drive up and down the hill was not for the faint of heart but totally worth it and wonderful

Our family had a great get away in Dominicalito. The house was perfect with a great view of the ocean. The pool was also perfect and makes for a perfect start and end of the day!! Thank you!

Upon waking up this morning following our return from Costa Rica, our first thought was, “We wish we were back at Gorda Vista!” Anyone who doesn’t thoroughly enjoy this VRBO doesn’t understand the meaning of “paradise”. Everything — the property, the surroundings, the house, the swimming pool, the outdoor shower, the kitchen, the hosts, the seclusion, the creatures of the jungle — it’s all perfect. There’s nothing negative we can say; we’d return in a heartbeat. One thing for certain — when you read that a four-wheel SUV is necessary, they’re completely serious. You’d never make it up the mountain in a typical sedan. But it’s just part of the adventure and the charm. Enjoy — we’re sure you’ll love it as we did.

We had an amazing 6 nights here. We were close to Uvita and Manuel Antonio which we wanted. The home is very comfortable and has everything you’re going to need. We swam in the beautiful pool twice a day. This was our second rental we stayed in during our time in Costa Rica. They also have a washer/dryer on site which we used and our other place didn’t have. The owners Doug and Janet were great with our every question. Oh and did I mention there’s a concierge service too?!

We enjoyed our stay at the private jungle villa with a bonus large private garden on the property, located a short drive from the highway. The pool is quite enjoyable with the shallow seating area and deeper end. Comfortable outside living area.

It was exactly as advertised if not better. After a 3-hour drive from San Jose, Doug and Janet were quick to get us checked in and into vacation mode…very much appreciated! The property manager, Lyle, is super friendly and responsive plus has great recommendations for food and activities; although we spent most of our time in the pool bird watching and listening to the howler monkeys. Highly recommend!

We had a wonderful 3 week stay at Gorda Vista! We swam in the pool, read, ate great food & then did it again! We loved the little town of Dominical & ate at some yummy little restaurants. This was our third trip to Cost Rica & it didn’t disappoint!

We loved everything about this VRBO stay. Lovely view, easy check in, comfortable beds, privacy. Dominical is a quaint town with the friendliest ticos/ticas. We enjoyed the beach and the vendors and artists on the beach. My only disappointment is that we could not stay longer! Thank you to Lyle for all of the local recommendations.

We are a family of four who work too much and spend a lot of vacation time with friends and extended family. This vacation was a long overdue trip with just the four of us, husband wife 10y/o and 6y/o. And it was everything we wanted it to be and more. We did family surfing, poolside massage, catamaran trip ( with snorkeling and a water slide and maybe the best meal of the week!), zip lining, and found out way to visit, swim, climb and even slide down probably 4 or 5 different waterfalls (10y/o even, but the 6y/o self selected out). We enjoyed sunny mornings and then watching the storm clouds roll in during late lunches… cooling everything off. The normal August rain did not stop us from doing much of anything, tho of course must be cautious about bouldering etc when the slippery factor is amped up. We loved the wildlife in CR, but will advise you to keep those screen doors closed to the bedrooms. Insects are part of life. Our last night we had the private chef come and at first I was worried it was just tad too expensive for the kids to appreciate, until they sat with us and ate everything and we had the most relaxing, fun, chill, bonding meal of the week. Worth every penny. Every evening we all got in the pool and played and splashed/outdoor showered, snuggled into their beds with relative ease. Costa Rica is a lovely country. Credit cards are accepted most everywhere but we were glad when we got some colones and figured out the exchange rate. Absolute dream.

Paradise! The grounds and Villa are beautiful with a stunning view. Layout and features of the Villa are well thought out. We loved the covered patio area, ability to open full wall windows in kitchen/living, patios off rooms were lovely and pool lights in evening made for gorgeous evening swims. Our kids (ages 7 and 8) appreciated the varying depths of the pool with a shallow part near sunken loungers, a large step down they could play on and then a shallow end (nose above water on tip toes) and a deep end (~6 feet) for diving. Lots of pool floats for use. Town of Dominical had some amazing restaurants and coffee shops. Small grocery store nearby was a pricier than we had at other locations so we wished we had purchased more groceries and liquor before arriving. Owners were AMAZING and super helpful with check in, answering questions and addressing any concerns we had. Power went out a couple nights (which supposedly is uncommon) but they ensured we had charged flashlights and brought extra batteries when one ran out. Concierge was helpful in booking some excursions for us and even coordinated babysitting so adults could go paragliding one day (highly recommend Zion paragliding…top highlight of our trip)! Poza Azul waterfall was 5 minutes away and was BEAUTIFUL and so fun to swim in. Some small parts of the Villa are showing wear of age but owners are on top of things and doing repairs and regular upkeep. Would stay here again in a heartbeat!

What an amazing place! My wife and I stayed there recently and it was beautiful! It was better than we could have hoped for! The location and seclusion are wonderful, the house is gorgeous! The owners Doug and Janet were very attentive and helpful! They really helped us get into the "Pura Vida" lifestyle! Town and multiple beaches are close by, but we usually were only away a couple hours because we just wanted to get back to the house! There are also many excellent places to eat close by. We had Yolanda and Wendy from Jungle Sun Spa come to the house for massages; highly recommended! They are excellent! If you get the chance to stay here, make it happen! We are looking foward to returning!

What an absolute amazing house. Completely surrounded by jungle but can still see the ocean. Seeing the monkeys flying through trees was so cool. Very well maintained and managed property. We would definitely stay here again.

Pictures are beautiful but don’t even do the property justice. Private, gorgeous views, great house, awesome owners. What else could you ask for? We had a blast. Felt like we had an oasis to ourselves. Thanks again Doug and Janet

This is a fabulous home. Our family loved every minute—the pool, the beautiful views, the well-appointed kitchen, and the kind care and responsiveness from Doug and Janet, the owners. Wish we were still there! Highly recommended.

What a great property with a fabulous location, pool, and view! We would definitely return. This was not our first time to Costa Rica, but it was our first time to Dominical. We loved how low key it was. We enjoyed waking up to the jungle sounds every morning. The pool was the best! Temp was perfect. We had a little hiccup at the start of the trip with the pool draining, but Doug responded right away, and made sure the problem was fixed, and got the pool filled back up to the top in no time (never cost us a minute of time in the pool). We had a few issues with water pressure (some related to filling the pool, and some just a local water issue), but nothing that was going to ruin our day, and Doug was extremely responsive to anything we reached out about. The gardens on the property are so neat, so many different species of plants and animals. We traveled with two teens who also really had a great time. We did a tour out to Corcovado with Bahia Adventures (definitely worth doing), and ATV tour (very fun-you will get dirty!), the boys went fishing on a small boat with a local in Uvita, and they came back with plenty! We had massages at the house (HIGHLY recommend), and also had some wonderful meals. Kids took surfing lessons at Bodhi (also great). If you have the chance to book a dinner at Rancho Cielo Alto, don't miss going there. It is truly an experience. We also loved Scala-great cocktails, food and service. Bar Jolly Roger and Phat Noodle were also favs.

This is our second time visiting the property and we appreciate the care the owners put into it. It’s in an excellent location between Uvita and Dominical.

We spent 12 days with one other couple at Doug and Janet's beautiful villa. The villa has a unique architectural design maximizing the gorgeous view and combining in-door and out-door spaces. It is up high enough to offer a constant cooling breeze making it comfortable even on the hottest days. The entire 5 acres is beautifully landscaped with a large variety of flowers and plants attracting a wide variety of butterflies and hummingbirds. The Villa comes complete with everything we needed to get started. We enjoyed the beautiful infinity pool overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It offers complete privacy with no views or sounds from neighboring properties. We felt very secure with a large front gate and fencing enclosure of the entire acreage. Doug and Janet are delightful people and most accessible and helpful. They even met us after dark upon arrival at a local business, drove us to the property and got us settled in their lovely home. Gorda Vista is in a great location with close accessibility to National Parks, beaches, grocery stores and restaurants. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and would highly recommend this luxury Villa. Thanks again to our lovely hosts, Doug and Janet.

House was exactly as advertised (or even better!). The location is good for exploring the Pacific coast and Domincal is just a few minutes away with access to restaurants, shopping, etc. Howler Monkeys provided a morning wake-up call and the pool was a great way to relax after a day of sightseeing!

This property far exceeded our expectations during our first trip to Costa Rica, Osa Peninsula area. The property, landscape, privacy, and stunning views are beyond words. We fell asleep listening to the howler monkeys and toucans, and awoke to the same sounds and sights at daybreak. Nearby national parks such as Manuel Antonio and Ballena Marina are just a short drive, along with several very nice open air restaurants (with stunning views also), all with authentic Costa Rican cuisine (very affordable, friendly staff). Grocery shopping was nearby in Uvita and it was relaxing to cook in the nicely stocked kitchen and eat outside. Bonus-cool breezes, so no need to even use air conditioning mostly, and almost no bugs! This was the best time we have had in years and was an adventure worth repeating. Don't hesitate to stay here!

We booked Gorda Vista for 6 days in October 2022, our first visit to Costa Rica. I am so glad that we chose to stay here! The property itself is absolutely stunning, perfectly integrated into the lush mountainside in Dominicalito. It was clean, well-equipped, and extremely private - the perfect place to relax and recuperate after a day sightseeing and activities. We especially appreciated the outdoor living spaces, which were cozy and comfortable even during an afternoon deluge (inevitable during the green season in CR). We also enjoyed the lovely landscaped lower gardens, and (of course) the full sized lap pool. Doug and Janet (and Norma!) were marvelous hosts, and were extremely helpful, gracious, and communicative when we encountered some unexpected travel challenges. They clearly care about the experience of their guests and go the extra mile to ensure a great stay.

Doug and Janet truly have a hidden gem. This place was absolutely perfect. The place was exactly as described. Doug and Janet were responsive to our texts and made sure we had the best stay. 10/10 recommend this place and will be coming back!

This is a fabulous property and a beautiful place to stay. Everything is very clean and well cared for and the hosts respond to any questions promptly. It is about ten minutes away from a cute town with fun restaurants and shops. We saw a lot of wildlife and even had a group of monkeys pass through one afternoon. The home is lovely inside and out and extremely well designed.

Great secluded home to get away

The house is clean, spacious, and very inviting. It is secluded and surrounded by jungle and all types of wildlife. We saw tons of toucans and white face monkeys. A short drive to Playa Domicalito and Dominical. The backyard, outdoor living spaces, and pool were great! BBQ and pool floats were a plus and we used both daily. Large bi-fold doors open the house to the outdoor living spaces and provide a great feel. We planned to explore the area but spent most our time in the pool! Doug and Janet very nice, easy to talk to, and helpful with local knowledge. We look forward to staying again in the future.

The photos posted are amazing but believe me they do not do the house justice— it is even more spectacular in person. Doug was a gracious host who met us on the first night to help us navigate the road to the house and give us a grand tour. We were glad to have him and yes 4 x4 is highly recommended to get up the hills. You arrive to a gate at the top of the hill which reminds you of the opening of Jurassic Park but have no fear it is only there to protect the untold beautify behind it. From the first moment you look through the house you know this is someplace special. The wild life and fragrant flowers surround you and welcome you in this beautiful home. There are views from every corner and peace and paradise await your stay. The pool is beyond words and our kids truly thought they were royalty waking up every morning by 6 to get there morning smoothies in the “relaxing chairs” inside the pool. The house is fully equipped with anything you need and feels elegant and homey. Whether you are there for a romantic holiday or a fun family vacation it will truly make your dreams come true. The beaches that surround the areas are private, clean and breathtakingly beautiful. Truly the only regret that we had was that we had to leave at some point. Our kids, ages 6 +7, made us promise we would go back as they confidently and proudly proclaimed that this trip was better than Disney! Julie, the concierge was a wonderful addition to help plan our trip and was great when we met her during our stay as well. She is like a long lost friend that you didn’t even know you were missing but will be forever grateful for once you meet her. The welcome baskets of food were a great recommendation especially after a weary day of travel. We highly recommend them as having delicious food delivered before you arrive will only enhance the tranquility of the experience. Doug thank you so much for sharing your piece of paradise— we can’t wait to come back again soon. How about next week?! =)

A very unique layout which exceeded our expectations to a relaxing and very memorable stay! The view was spectacular from the outdoor living space, which is where we were mesmerized by all of the surrounding jungle vegetation and wild life. The site was centrally located to all amenities, such as groceries, restaurants, activities etc.!!

The house is situated in the best location ( near Dominican, near the beach, and in the middle of the jungle). We can always count on a unique experience with being in the jungle near all the wildlife. Then there’s the house! After being here 2 times before, we knew better than to book too much away from the house. Besides eating out and the occasional grocery store run, we stayed put and in the pool looking out over the ocean. As mentioned in other reviews, the house has everything you need. It is spotless and well kept. Also, we used the concierge grocery service to have food waiting for us when we arrived (since it was so late in the evening). Nice touch! Thank you to Doug and Janet! We will be back!

Unique outdoor vacation in a wonderful location! The hosts/owners were terrific and the experience was all we hoped it would be. The pool was a fantastic way to end the afternoon as the sun set with magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean. You can’t go wrong renting this gem if privacy, and an outdoor experience is what you seek.