Arriving in Costa Rica
There are 2 main airports in Costa Rica. Juan Santamaría International Airport in San Jose (SJO) and the Liberia, Costa Rica Airport in Guanacaste (LIR). People that stay at Bella Vista Retreat in Costa Rica usually fly into Juan Santamaría International Airport in San Jose (SJO) which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from the property.
When you arrive you will need to go through customs. Customs going into Costa Rica usually takes 15 to 30 minutes. They will check your passport and usually ask you what you do for a living and where you are planning on staying. The easiest way to answer this question is to say you are staying at an Airbnb between San Ramon and Esparza called Bella Vista Retreat in Costa Rica. You can also look it up on googlemaps and show them the location or you can click MAPs here and you can pull up a map to the property and show them the map.
** Make sure that you do not bring into Costa Rica more than $10,000 in cash. They will most likely confiscate it and you will not get it back. Also, be careful not to bring anything expensive in it’s original packaging because they may think you are trying to sell it and they may confiscate it and the only way of getting it back is to go through a lengthy process and pay a lot of money in import taxes to get it back.
Renting a Vehicle in Costa Rica
When you pick up your bags and leave the airport, you will find several taxi’s that can take you to car rental locations such as Budget, Alamo, Dollar, Economy, and others. You can rent vehicles before you arrive on sites such as Kayak and others. However, don’t be fooled by the extremely low daily cost for the vehicles. When you arrive at the car rental location, You will have several fees over and above the advertised price. The advertised price is to get you into the door. They will also ask you the type of insurance coverage you want. When all is said and done, the daily cost of renting a vehicle can be between $80 and $200 a day depending on the type of vehicle and the type of insurance. the whole process usually takes between 30 and 45 minutes or more from start to finish to rent a vehicle depending on how busy they are. Also, during the more busy seasons from June to August and between November and April, it can sometimes be very difficult to rent a vehicle because of the number of tourists already renting them.
Another option, and yes I am biased, is to rent one of our vehicles. In order to help our guests have a better experience, we purchased and insured a 12-passenger van and a 7-passenger Mitsubishi, Outlander. These vehicles can be rented out to our guests traveling from out of the country. Please see our AMENITIES tab above for more information about renting our vehicles and click the RENTALS tab above to be redirected to our square check out to pay for the vehicle rentals.
** Also, please note that there is a security deposit for the vehicles that will be completely refunded upon return of the vehicle as long as there is no damage or incidentals. Please return the vehicles with the same amount of fuel that they had when you rented them. Also, if you chose to rent one or both of our vehicles, the vehicle rental lasts the whole duration of the stay. In other words, we don’t rent the vehicles one day on and one day off and then one day on again. So if you are going to stay on our property for 7 days and rent our vehicles, the the rental is for the entire stay.
Traveling to Bella Vista Retreat in Costa Rica
As mentioned above, the property at Bella Vista Retreat in Costa Rica is about a 1 hour and 15 minute drive from the Airport. You may rent your own vehicle to drive to the property or you may schedule to be picked up from the airport and brought to the property. The driver is also willing to stop at a restaurant for food since you have probably been traveling several hours and are hungry, or the driver may also take you to the grocery store to stock up on groceries for your stay. Please see our AMENITIES tab above for more information about airport pickup and the RENTALS tab above to be redirected to our square check out to pay for the airport pickup.
Entering the Property
Once you get to the property you will see a large electric black gate and a yellow stand with a keypad. We keep the property secure with onsite caretakers, cameras, and a fence around the whole property. We will send the code to enter the property to you the day before or the day of your booking. We regularly change the pass code to open the gate.
Respecting the Property and Other Guests
This property is like a mini-gated community with 3 houses. The main house is at the end of the drive and is at the top of the property.
Guests who rent the main house have the exclusivity to the infinity pool and Gazebo. They are welcome to explore the grounds but are asked to not enter into the areas immediately next to the guest house or the tiny house unless you are renting those houses as well. All guests have access to the extra laundry room in garage and access to the gym behind the garage.
Guests who rent the guest house have access to the explore the property except for the pool, the gazebo, and the areas near the other homes of the property unless you are renting out those rooms as well. All guests have access to the extra laundry room in garage and access to the gym behind the garage.
Guests who rent the tiny house have access to the explore the property except for the pool, the gazebo, and the areas near the other homes of the property unless you are renting out those rooms as well. All guests have access to the extra laundry room in garage and access to the gym behind the garage.
Please be respectful to others who may be staying at the property during your stay. And although there is no bedtime, please keep noise to a minimum after 10 pm.
WiFi and Internet
The properties have high speed Wifi. However, when it rains or if you are far from the router the internet slows down. Instructions and internet passwords will be sent to you in a confirmation email the day of your schedule booking.
Meals
Our caretakers have offered to cook authentic Costa Rican meals for our guests. The costs for the meals depend upon the meals of course. Requesting meals can be coordinated directly with our caregivers and payment will go to them directly as well. Our caretakers would like 12 – 24 hours of prior notice in order to plan for meals and purchase the ingredients needed.
Toilets and Plumbing
Most homes and hotels in Costa Rica, that are not brand new, were built with 2 inch plumbing rather than 3 inch plumbing. So toilets can get clogged more easily.
Many rentals, and even some nice hotels, request that guests place their toilet paper in the waste basket next to the toilet like shown on this sign from a high end hotel and spa in Costa Rica.
However, we just ask our guests to be careful and not use too much toilet paper at once. If the toilets do get clogged, just contact our caregivers and they will come and make sure all the bathrooms and toilets are functioning correctly.