Renter's Remorse

This blog title was supposed to be 'Going out with a Bang'. Unfortunately, it's not the bang we were hoping for. This house, in Manuel Antonio, was probably the most disappointing part of our entire trip. We realized, early on, that we needed to manage our expectations with all the rentals. They all looked and sounded different/better online than in reality. That's to be expected for the most part, because who wouldn't want to take the best pictures they can to advertise their rental? So, we did lower our expectations, but not enough for this house, however. Part of it was most likely due to the fact that this was the most expensive house, by far, of all the rentals of the trip. We planned on splurging a little to end with the nicest accommodations and a bit more 'luxury'. Thankfully, the patio and pool were great, although smaller than expected, but nice. That is where I spent as much time as I could, or on the beach, outside the house! This house was pretty awful and poorly maintained. It felt like it was going to fall apart. I didn't want to complain too much, because this whole trip was an amazing gift, but to be honest, it was hard for me not to be frustrated with this house, especially when we paid more than the others for it. Beware of candlelit pictures when looking for hotels or rentals! Even my pictures don't show how bad this place really was. Some of that is due to the fact that you can't smell and feel the photos. The place felt dark, musty and mildewy - like an old abandoned haunted house. There were lizards running through the house, turds all over (either from mice and/or lizards), a 3 1/2 inch spider, lots of ants and lots of other bugs we could never see, but that were biting us everywhere when we'd sleep or sit on the couch. I truly went in the house as little as possible. The whole house slanted downhill. You could roll a marble from one end to the other - both stories. Anyway, I'll stop there. I don't think it's fully understandable, anyway, without being there :). My stomach still gets queasy when I look at the photos :). That was one of the blessings in disguise, though - I lost my appetite and think I lost 5 pounds, and it made us ready to go home. Before that we really weren't ready. It also really made us appreciate our home!

This is the pool and patio where we spent a lot of time.

Doesn't look too bad from the outside, huh?

There was a dishwasher, but it didn't really matter, because the dishes get stored pretty much on the floor and quickly collect dust and bugs, etc.

The couches in the living area were extremely uncomfortable and had bugs.

One of the 2 sets of stairs.

I didn't get pics of the worst. There was mildew and rotting wood all over the shower and the toilet seat was yucky.

The kids room. There were 2 other rooms downstairs (one in the basement), but they were really musty and mildewy, so Sutton & Hudson shared this room. Their room and our room had these homemade, right on the ground, wooden bedframes that were basically nests for bugs. We all got really bit up and couldn't sleep at night. It got a little better when we would put insect repellent on before going to bed.

our room

the other part of our room.

the deck outside our room that we never used. This, however, was the only place you could see the distant view that was falsely advertised.

There were weird holes and wires everywhere, these are just a few examples.

So, I can't blame the landlords completely, because even my photos don't make it look too bad. You had to be there up close and personal. The final straw, though, was when I woke up with a tird next to my pillow one morning. We got a hotel that last night :).