Our month stay at Casa Lilu was everything we expected and more. First and foremost, Mike and Louisa are genuine, caring and quite helpful with local as well as country information. We explored the Tico neighborhood that is just on the other side of the gorgeous morning glory hedge, shopped in the local stores and made frequent visits to buy freshly baked bread just down the street. Being away from the common resort type establishments was refreshing and allowed us to experience and immerse ourselves in the rhythm of everyday life in Costa Rica.
Casa Lilu is in itself an oasis with a lovely and well cared for pool, a deck where we spent much time relaxing, having our meals and watching the local fishermen pass by on their way to the ocean to fish with many stopping in the canal or estuary to cast nets or to throw hand-lines into the water. The lot is spacious and well maintained. Jonathon, the on-site overseer, is expert at his work and was always prepared to assist us with our needs. He was very discreet, gracious and kind.
The house suited our needs well with two bedrooms and each with its own bathroom, a large common area and a well-stocked kitchen that facilitated our cooking needs. We even learned how to make Gallo Pinto (a popular Costa Rican dish) and enjoyed that meal several times during our stay.
Casa Lilu was a great location for us as from here we were able to drive to many other areas of interest. Quite a few were day trips and we did choose to do two “over-nighters” one being in the Arenal area and the other was a sojourn to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica all the while leaving most of our “stuff” safe and secure at Casa Lilu with Jonathon. To give one an idea of the areas that can be visited on a day trip our trips included Monteverde, Montezuma (on the Nicoya Peninsula), La Fortuna, Manual Antonio, Jaco, Uvita, Atenas/San Jose and the Poas volcano area. We made quite a few trips into Puntarenas proper as there are markets there, several good restaurants, the ferry and of course just people watching. We enjoyed exploring several different areas in Puntarenas and walking through the vendors’ stands near the pier where cruise ships dock.
Thank you, Mike, Louisa and Jonathon, for being such lovely hosts and making us feel so welcomed. Through our stay you have become friends that we shall forever cherish and yes, if and when we return to Costa Rica, we would enjoy revisiting Casa Lilu.