We rented Casa 5 for the month of August and truly enjoyed our time here. Joann was very helpful with pointing out places to eat and suggesting things to do, and quick to respond when we needed assistance. The housing development was very quiet - perhaps because it was the rainy season when fewer people visit Costa Rica. We loved sitting outside on the porch and watching the birds, listening to the howler monkeys in the distance, and enjoying the sounds of the farms across the bay. We frequently saw or heard kiskadees, toucans, oropendolas, and vultures. It's breezy outdoors, but that keeps the mosquitoes away and the temperatures comfortable.
There are several good restaurants within a 20-minute walking distance (or 5-minute drive) - Gutierrez Family Pizzeria, La Pasadita, and Brisas del Lago. Tronadora (about 10 minutes away) is charming - and we recommend getting meats from the carniceria and breads from the panaderia there. Tilaran is about a 15-minute drive away and has banks, larger grocery stores, the bus station, but we didn't find any restaurants better than the ones in Puerto San Luis - see above. The restaurant at the Hotel Guadalupe was quite good.
The house is well maintained and clean, the refrigerator is huge, the stove worked great. The pots and pans were adequate. The queen bed was quite comfortable and the roomy shower had reliable hot water. The TV gets several English-language channels. The wifi was fast and robust, despite frequent rain and thunderstorms. We only used the fans a few times - with open windows (with screens) and breezes, the house stayed comfortable all day long.
The house is in a good location, even though it is somewhat distant from the main tourist areas of Lake Arenal. It's a 90-minute drive around the north side of the lake to La Fortuna. There are several good restaurants along the lake as well. We took the local bus from Tilaran to Monteverde and spent a couple of nights there - the bus was cheap (about $2.00 per person one way), but took 2.5 to 3 hours to go 26 miles. We drove to Santa Rosa National Park - about 2 hours driving. And it was about a 90-minute drive to get to Tenorio National Park, where you can see the robin's egg blue Rio Celeste. Be sure to stop at the overlook above Lake Arenal - on the road between Tilaran and La Fortuna - just past the turnoff to Tronadora. We actually walked there from the house - it was about a 40-minute walk one way.