Things we really liked about the apartment:
*Owners are great communicators and were eager to please us before and during our stay. They provided an excellent guest guide upon our arrival, which really helped us maximize our month in Costa Rica!
*The location is central to all the main areas that most people want to visit e.g. La Paz Waterfall, Arenal Volcano, Monteverde and many beaches. San Ramon has a lot to offer on its own including several nice restaurants.
*The apartment is in very nice condition and the view is absolutely beautiful… the sunsets are incredible.
Improvement opportunities:
*There is no AC in the unit, so letting in a breeze is critical to being able to sleep. It was very difficult to sleep in the bedroom, which is on the ground floor, due to not being able to open the windows at night to let a breeze in. If you do open the windows and leave the shades down for privacy, which is needed with a first-floor bedroom that is right on a road, they blow all over the place and make a lot of noise. This could be rectified if the owners install shades that won’t blow in the wind, preferably room darkening for sleep. It would also be helpful if they put screens on the windows for night time use, as the bugs do come in when the lights are on.
*The owners, who live in the unit above this apartment, have 3 dogs. Unfortunately, they proceeded to bark almost every morning when other neighbors walked their dogs past the apartment. The dogs are often out on the deck right above the apartment looking down onto the apartment patio area. If you are an early riser, this won’t be a big deal, but we like to sleep in so this didn’t work well for us.
*Internet service was poor and not available for many full days and parts of other days. For us this was a major inconvenience since we use the Internet for everything: phone calls, TV shows, movies, business communication, blogging, downloading maps, etc. We had to leave the apartment many days and go to restaurants and coffee shops with wifi to get anything done. Maybe for others this won’t be a big deal, but for us it took a whole point off our rating.
*There was no microwave or clothes dryer as listed in the rental amenities. There was also no TV (not advertised), but generally expected by most travelers.
*Despite these issues, we would have rated our visit as a 4 if the Internet had worked as the 6G network that was advertised.