Monkitail at Tulemar

After a lot of research, my husband and I chose Tulemar resort to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We loved the whole experience, especially since it was our first time visiting Costa Rica. The drive from the airport was easier than I was expecting and we enjoyed the scenery along the way. Once arriving at Tulemar, we were greeted by our concierge, Brian, who was amazing! We stayed in the bamboo villa which also had unbelievable views of the ocean and surrounding foliage. Although most of the villa is open air, it still feels private. We had a lot of fun on a few of the excursions booked through the resort and mostly enjoyed walking around the nearby area to the many restaurants and shops. We really enjoyed all of our meals, and all of the people we met were so friendly even though our Spanish skills could use some work. There are a couple small grocery stores within walking distance that we visited a few times for beverages, food items, etc. for our villa. They offered delivery service for $5 (and gave us a ride too) since we had a lot of groceries that would be hard to carry back. The resort itself was very beautiful, we actually only went to one pool because we took advantage of our villa pool most of the time. The beach was nice and private since it is mostly only accessible through Tulemar paths. We used the shuttle to get a ride down and back up. The grounds are very hilly, so the shuttles definitely come in handy if you need to get around. Our concierge, Brian, helped us out so much throughout the whole trip. From planning before arrival, arranging tours and private chef, answering questions and much more, he would respond to a text in minutes! The rest of the Tulemar staff was great as well. We definitely hope to return in the future with our children as there were many other properties within the resort that seemed to be perfect for families.

We had the most fantastic 7day family vacation at Tulemar! Javier was our personal concierge for the week and he was the absolute best, from planning fishing trips, transportation, excursions, dinner recommendations and reservations, leaving us surprise treats, he made it all so enjoyable! I would 10 out of 10 recommend Tulemar for an immersive experience into the natural wildlife and flora Manuel Antonio has to offer. We had daily visits from monkeys, macaws, sloths and more. The sloth walk was very informative and I would recommend doing it at the beginning of your trip so you can watch the different sloths throughout the week (the Sloth Institute is on the Tulemar premises and they have done such a fantastic job rehabilitating and educating everyone about sloths) The vegetarian is gorgeous and so vast, the mango trees were my personal favorite. The beach is private and natural. The onsite restaurant was a person favorite of our whole family. I hope to return soon!

If you are looking for the best vacation, look no further. We didn’t know what to expect, but the moment we arrived we felt like family. Our concierge, Chris, made contact with us before the trip and greeted us warmly upon arrival. We toured learned about the property and saw incredible animals. The house, Casa Fortuna, was a dream house that I wish I could permanently stay at. The monkeys played in the afternoon on the hammock and the location was near the the private beach. In the house Mariza, Cher Over and Mau treated us with kindness and love and Chef spoiled us with his incredible cooking. We would go back in a heartbeat and would love to stay at Casa Fotuna again.

Let me start with this. We have been to a lot of nice places, but Tulemar is beyond the best we have visited! We stayed at Mirazul (a villa within Tulemar), and our VIP Concierge was Brian (pictured below). From the second we arrived, in the transport that they arranged for us from the San Jose area to the Villa itself, Brian and the staff were SO amazing- greeting us with cool towels and freshly squeezed cold drinks (while they whisked in our luggage). The villa was perfect in every way, from the indoor to the outdoor space. They said there was a bit of construction going on nearby, but to be honest, we didn't hear it at all. I was expecting to do laundry at some point during vacation, but the staff did it for our family of 6 every single day...perfectly folded and separated into each bedroom. We also did the chef service for two nights, one of which was my son's birthday. They sang happy bday to him in English and Spanish, taught us some key words and phrases, and literally made food to die for! So, if you are tempted to do the chef service, go for it! My only regret is that we didn't do it more! While we were there, we did the bird watching tour, Sloth Walk, Zip lining, waterfall tour and nighttime Paddleboarding with cool lights. All of which were arranged by Brian, including dinner reservations on the non-chef nights. There was a daily itinerary on the table downstairs, which was so helpful to keep track of our very active getaway. But honestly, while we were active, we all felt truly pampered and appreciative for Brian, the rest of the staff, and Tulemar in general. So friendly and safe, and I can't believe how rested I was to return to the daily grind in NJ! Of note, being a nurse, I really liked/appreciated that everyone there was very aware of my sons very serious sesame/soy allergy. Back to the property... the shuttle service to and from the beach was so convenient. The beach was gorgeous and secluded, and the water temp was like bathwater. I am very spoiled now. If the shuttle wasn't around, Brian gave me his cell and was there 24/7 for us. He actually ended up taking our (adult) kids to the beach in the golf cart a couple days! So, I obviously highly recommend Tulemar, Brian, and the VIP Concierge Service. I hope this review was helpful! And if you go there, you will hear this a lot...PURA VIDA!

January 11, 2025 to January 25, 2025 Our family – 7 adults (age-range: 20’s to 70’s) recently spent two weeks at Villa Kiskadee and all of us loved it SO much! This 4-bedroom villa is lovely: spacious, and well-appointed. It offers luxury, privacy, and amazing views from each room. Our concierge, Javier, is simply amazing. He was always at our beck and call – arranging for shuttles or making excursion arrangements. He even went way above and beyond by occasionally surprising us with decadent, beautifully-presented treats. He is so sweet and, even though he juggles several guests at a time, he always made us feel as though we were his only clients. Our head-housekeeper, Maria is a jewel. Along with her associate, Linda, she kept our villa spotless, and well-supplied. We tried to tell her that we could do our own housekeeping, but she was insistent - saying, “no, no – you are on vacation.” She was always so kind and thoughtful – often quietly approaching us to softly whisper “Ola – monkeys”, as she took one of us by the hand to lead us out to see squirrel, capuchin, or howler monkeys. Though we were quite content to just hang out at the villa – enjoying the lush jungle setting and daily visits from the monkeys, beautiful Motmots, Toucans, and Macaws, we also spent part of almost every day at the idyllic private beach, where we enjoyed the complimentary loungers, umbrellas, boogie boards, and kayaks. It was such fun to have yummy lunches delivered from Tulemar Café – and so convenient to be able to charge to our villa. Other highlights of our trip were a very special evening spent releasing baby turtles, and a very exciting excursion rappelling down a waterfall, and zip lining over and through the trees. Both were unforgettable experiences. We all were absolutely enthralled with everything about Tulemar and Villa Kiskadee – SO MUCH, in fact, that before we left we made arrangements to return next year – same time/same place. PURA VIDA!!! PS: A special shoutout to Tulemar Dave – who used to reside in Fresno, California – as did we. We all so appreciated you coming by to chat for a bit. Hope to see ya next year

An amazing place with a beautiful warm beach, gorgeous sunsets and all kinds of jungle wildlife!!! A fantastic concierge and a daily maid service! Comfortable beds , a full kitchen and a wonderful experience!!! Our Villa was breathtaking!! The only negative was because of the water running through, there was a little bit of a musty smell from the dampness!!