We've received lots and lots of questions about the rental house we stayed in during our vacation to Costa Rica, so I'd like to share a little tour of the house as well as talk a little bit about our experience renting while abroad.
It was really important to us to find a house that could comfortably fit our entire group (four couples), and we also wanted a space that was near the beach and also had a pool. The infinity pool at the Casa Blanca house was absolutely perfect. I also loved all the seating on the deck as well as the outdoor hammock just steps away from the pool. I spent time reading in the hammock and plenty of time swimming in the pool!
The house also had a great outdoor grilling area. We never ended up using the grill, but we did spend lots of time hanging out with each other in all the outdoor spaces. Costa Rica is just too beautiful of a country to spend all your time indoors. The house also had an outdoor shower that came in handy for rinsing off after returning from the beach or after getting out of the pool.
I have to admit that the floating staircase is probably the feature that pushed us all over the edge about this house (pun!). We looked at lots of different rental options while researching for our trip, but the architecture of this house was just stunning. It was easily the most beautiful (and fancy) house I have ever stayed in. I mean, look at the view from the stairs! The views around this house made the trip feel even more epic.
Here you can see the dining area and kitchen. One thing I love about using rentals like this is they often come with fully-stocked kitchens. This means you can cook dinners together if you want to stay in for a night, and you can save money by cooking your own breakfast or lunches and only going out at night. I much prefer making my own French toast to most hotel continental breakfast options. Just saying.
This house had three bedrooms with another room that could be used as a bedroom (which we did, since we had four couples). The master bedroom had this cute little deck attached to it. We drew numbers to see which couple got this room, and then switched halfway through the week. 🙂
There were multiple bathrooms in the house. This second one was probably my favorite because of the bright and cheery yellow tile.
Here you can see the upstairs hallway that leads to all the bedrooms. There was also a roof deck that we used in the evenings to hang out and have a drink together.
We found and rented this house through HomeAway. It's a very similar service to Airbnb. I've personally rented through HomeAway while on group trips three times this past year (and I've booked one for a short trip to Seattle this July), and I've had a good experience every time. This was my first time to book one in another country, and at first I was pretty nervous about it. While researching for the trip, I had asked our friends at Mucho Mucho Bueno Bueno for any Costa Rica tips or hotel recommendations, as I knew they had been there before. They said they had used HomeAway to rent a house, and it was a better experience for them than any hotel, so I decided to give it a try. I am SO glad we did.
In case you're curious, our Costa Rica house was about $500 a night (I believe the price varies some based on what time of year you visit). Since it was a group trip, this cost got split up, making each couple's price per night $125, which is a pretty similar price to a standard hotel (maybe even a little cheaper than a hotel, depending where you are). So, for the price of a standard hotel, we all got to stay in an amazing house, have access to our own private pool, and have plenty of space to hang out together. This is why, for group trips, I just love rental houses over hotels when the option is available. If you're planning a group (or family) trip any time soon, I would highly recommend checking out rental houses in your destination's area. Thanks for letting us share. xo. Emma
Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman and Michael Solinger (the home owner). Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.
101 Comments
Such a stunning house, majorly jealous that you got to stay here, I would love to stay in this place for just a day, it looks like heaven. I loved looking through all of your pictures, they were just so beautiful 🙂
its all just unbelievably gorgeous. i can’t get over those floors!!!! DIEEEE!!!!! and the views and all the light…. oof. i was almost teary eyed reading this! so glad you had the opportunity to stay somewhere so beautiful whilst somewhere so beautiful 😉 <3
now i definitely have to go to Costa Rica and rent this house….om wow…..
All your Instagram pictures of Costa Rica have been absolutely beautiful! It looks like you had so much fun. Thanks for sharing your trip details. I definitely want to get together a group of people now, so that we can all take a trip to Costa Rica.
-Helen Grace
http://www.sweethelengrace.com
It’s so beautiful and modern! I love looking at the pics.
cloveranddot.com
Amazing house! I can’t believe it was only $125 when split up.
I think renting somewhere abroad is always cheaper than staying in a hotel when there is a large group of people. Plus, this place is much nicer than any hotel I’ve ever stayed in. It’s stunning! I’m very jealous. 😛
Ahh! That house is gorgeous!! Did you ever feel like you were going to fall off the staircase? It’s gorgeous, but for my klutzy self that would have been a concern…so glad you all had a great trip! Tell your team they did a great job running blog while you were away…thanks guys!
Welcome back to the states! 🙂
xoxo
Morgan
wanderingrush.wordpress.com
Thanks for sharing! I’ve been dying to see some pictures of this gorgeous house! My husband and have been talking about taking a trip next year with friends and am curious how you (all) planned for it? like finding plane tix etc. Would you mind sharing some tips? Thanks!
Oooooooo, I would like to be there soon.. Hmm..
http://www.fashiondenis.com
omg omg omg! I’ve been waiting for this post ever since you first posted pictures of the house on Instagram! It’s such a gorgeous house 🙂 I love the modernist aesthetic and the use of concrete – it’s all so minimal and rad and fabulous!
I’m so glad that you all had a fabulous time! You’ve really sold Costa Rica to me 😉 House rentals abroad are the best, especially with big groups imo. A year or two ago I went to France with family and we stayed in the most gorgeous, rustic farmhouse. You just wouldn’t get the same homely feel and flexibility staying in a hotel!
I agree. We are all big fans of renting and traveling with groups (friends or family). The spaces tend to be a better deal and have much more personality. 🙂
-Emma
I will say the stairs where pretty wide, so it wasn’t as scary as it might look. We also were extremely careful though if we were wet from the pool, as that could make the concrete more slippery. We didn’t have any accidents though. Happy to report. 🙂
-Emma
That house is amazing! I’d be tempted to accidentally on purpose miss my flight home for a few more weeks.
We planned the whole trip about 3 1/2 to 4 months before we went. This gave us a better chance to find decent plane ticket prices (we checked kayak.com, orbitz and expedia). I do recommend using a travel agent if you don’t feel you have the time to devote to researching a trip. We used a travel agent for our honeymoon because we were just too busy at the time to feel like we could confidently book that trip ourselves. A good travel agent is worth every penny if you ask me.
-Emma
this is so gorgeous!! i think people automatically assume that a trip like this would be out of their price range, but you just proved it isn’t! love the house!!
xxoo,
nikki
http://www.dreaminneon.blogspot.com
god… paradise….. i’m so jealous!
Oh wow, this really is the most beautiful house. The architecture is just spectacular x
holljc.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks for the information. We always rent houses when we vacation…have every since the kids were little. We’ve stayed at one hotel in the past 10 years as a family! We recently used HomeAway for a vacation to Charleston and go to stay in a 200 year old guest cottage behind a gorgeous historic home! It was divine…and CHEAPER than a hotel room in the city for a week!! (or two since we have a family of four and would have needed two rooms to keep our sanity)
Thanks so much for recommending HomeAway! I’m going on a trip in July to Kaua’i and although my family lives there, there are four of us coming in from Honolulu and not enough space at my house. I’ll be checking this website out and hoping for the best! Thanks again!
I’m so glad you shared these photos of this beautiful house. SO much inspiration for future spaces!
We used to rent a house on the beach in New Jersey with a couple other families every summer when I was a kid. It really is a fantastic option.
-Kris
http://love-loft-life.com
Great info, thanks! The house is beautiful!
This house is out of the world..love that infinity pool. And my husband & i choose AirBnB for our trips with friends. Those rentals are much better than hotels to relax and hang out with friends.
And you are coming to Seattle in July? That info got me more excited than the house. When? As you can guess by now i live in the beautiful scenic Seattle! 🙂
Absolutely stunning home. Glad you all had an amazing trip.
This looks and sounds absolutely fabulous! What an incredible trip! I’ll have to look at home away for future reference !
What an amazing house, it looks like the perfect holiday home!
Gorgeous! I love how open and natural everything is. There’s so much wood and stone. And I’m with you, I’d love to get ready in that yellow bathroom every morning.
-Anna
http://www.bananagrovedesigns.blogspot.com/
my husband + i went on a two week trip to europe several months ago and did the vrbo thing (similar to homeaway and airbnb) the entire time. renting apartments instead of staying in hotels helped us save SO much money cooking our own breakfasts every morning, and packing our lunches to go during the day, then having an awesome dinner every night. my brothers and their wives met us up in spain for the last leg of the trip and the apartment was big enough to entertain everyone on our last night for wine + pastries, whereas we would’ve been stuffed in a hotel room. renting is the way to GO on vacation!!
Holy bananas! That place is gorgeous! I love the greenery & wood. :] // http://www.itscarmen.com ☼
This haous looks so stunning, fascinating and perfect! I love this style of architecture, so spending my holidays there on time would be a dream <3
http://anovamelody.blogspot.com
Wow, what a gorgeous place! The pool and rooms are amazing xx
http://www.creativityandchocolate.com
Love the concrete used in the kitchen
wow that house is stunning!! I need to be there, like yesterday! thank you for the lovely post and all the photos. It was nice to live vicariously through all you lovely people hee hee. Welcome back!
totally inspired me to go to Costa Rica one day…. and of course rent a vacation home 🙂
xo.
http://dropsofjupiterBLOG.com
Wow, what a stunning house! $500/night is incredible for that view and gorgeous architecture. Loved all the instagram pics you guys posted too. Looks like a fantastic vacation.
Holy cow, this is freaking gorgeous!
That house is lovely!!
Carina | http://carstina.com/
How did you ever make yourself leave such a beautiful place and space? I think I’d cry. Amazing architecture and design!
Growing up, my family always stayed at a rental house for our vacations. I don’t think I ever stepped foot inside a hotel room until I was in high school! Such a better experience.
That house is drop dead gorgeous. How on earth did you leave?!
-Lindsay from Dearest Darling
What an absolutely gorgeous house! We were in Costa Rica in 2011 and I would have loved to extend our stay with a few days in a house such as this. Amazing…
This is absolutely stunning. I can’t wait to check out HomeAway for future trips!
Wow. That house in Ahmazing! I looove all of the concrete. Great choice! Love the idea of vacationing with couples!! So great!!
Looks so amazing!! What part of Costa Rica were you guys in?
This blew me away! Just beautiful
thegreatcatsbyx.blogspot.co.uk
These pictures are beautiful! What a dream! Love it!
http://sometimesgracefully.com
Wow! This space is amazing and the location is even better!
Janine Maral from http://www.janinemaral.com/
http://nikitaandvesper.com/
Awww, this is amazing! We are going to have to check out HomeAway for our next trip for sure.
http://nikitaandvesper.com/
I REALLY want to take a vacation now but I still have school! I’m definitely bookmarking this for future trips though! Thanks so much for sharing, I think it’ll come up really handy 🙂
http://everydayingrace.blogspot.ca/
Gorgeous!! Costa Rica is on my bucket list!
excuse me while I faint of jealousy. I was in Costa Rica a while back and while we stayed somewhere lovely, it doesn’t hold a single spark to this beautiful abode! WOW. I’m definitely storing this address away for my next jaunt to CR. Thanks for sharing!
I adore that yellow bathroom. Those sinks are amazing. I think I need to book mark this, so I can show my realtor that bathroom when I’m looking for my dream house.
Mana
http://www.fashionahdhappythings.com
Stunning house, beautiful photos. What wonderful vacation!
Oh wow awesome place!
http://www.fashionpartyblog.com/
Very beautiful
Only four days (a long weekend) towards the end of the month. Trey as a few good friends who live there so we’ve been meaning to visit for past two years.
Can’t wait to see your city! I’ve always wanted to see Seattle.
-Emma
Mal Pais
-Emma
Wow! On Instagram, I totally assumed this was the sort of trip you get to go on once you’ve “made it”, but wow! That’s doable!
Did you ever try AirBnB? Just curious if it’s as good as HomeAway.
It looks amazing and to be honest, the people who rented it to you would be smart if they would ask you for your pictures, so they could use them for the homeaway website.
This is so pretty! Definitely looks nothing like the average Costa Rican home and absolutely nothing like my family’s but is much more gorgeous. I could totally go there for vacay! Visiting you from sunny Costa Rica (though rainy season is now setting in!)
I am way more into renting houses on vacation than hotels when on family trips. So far, so good in experiences.
AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING!!!! So gorgeous, how superbly awesome! I live at Sugarloaf (Maine) and I have friends who use HomeAway for renting their home there and they’ve had great success with renters 🙂
~Sacha
wow!!!amazing
thanks for sharing-very useful
My husband and I stayed at this house on our honeymoon! We fell in love with it too.
That house is seriously so freaking amazing. The pool and cute hanging chair alone made me want to rent it. I went to Costa Rica not quite a year ago – guess I’ll have to go back 🙂
Wow, so beautiful. I’ve used Airbnb before and had good experience with them, but I haven’t heard of Home Away, definitely checking it out for my next trip!
You should come back and maybe i will meet you guys XD
beautiful house and the view is amazing, wich beach was? in Guanacaste?
xo
Thanks for sharing! I absolutely love all of these photos and the ones that everyone was posting during the trip!
Just…WOW!! This house is beyond spectacular!! I can only imagine the amazing time you all had staying there…and the incredible memories (and photos!) you took home with you!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
http://www.StyleIsMyPudding.com
stunning! and the price. you can’t beat that!!
wow this is stunning!
Mal Pais is truly magical! My favorite place to visit EVER. Thanks for sharing
Yes, I have heard great things about HomeAway and Airbnb.. and my best friend always rents a house, no matter where in the world she is going. I have to get over my phobia and go for this next time!!
what a dreamy abode.. pretty darn perfect!
xx
Wow, stunningly beautiful home! I don’t know if I’d want to come back from vacay if I had a house like this! You were smart to try the group thing. The savings was phenomenal. Great images!
Sincerely,
Laurali Star
http://www.thesecretsurprisinista.com
This house is AMAZING! What beauty inside and out. Costa Rica has always been on my list of must-see places.
http://www.foxtailandmoss.com
Such a breathtaking home! All of the concrete reminded me of your concrete counter-tops…what a perfect fit!
I LOVE using rental houses! We went on a road trip last summer and used AirBNB for most of our trip and it was such a wonderful experience! It adds a much more personal feeling to your trip and actually makes me feel a lot more comfortable, especially when traveling far away. Glad to know it’s also great for out of country trips!
xoxo
Taylor
Wow this house is so beautiful! Never thought of going to Costa Rica before, but I want to go there now, seems like a nice place to relax and get a tan 🙂
you will love it, i am sure. Summer is the best time of the year to be here!
That house is indeed, absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! And the view!! My gosh!!! Splendid!!
Thanks for sharing the tips Emma!
xoxo
Melodie
http://www.sevenlivesandmore.com/
This house is unbelievable. So so gorgeous…I want to be there now! Thanks for sharing!
What a beautiful, beautiful home, just breathtaking. I’m glad to hear about your experience with HomeAway I just reserved a home with them this August for a trip to Walt Disney World with my kids, they have no idea where we are going just taking a trip before school starts.
Thank you for all the info, and a peak into your vacation!
OBSESSED!!! <3 "Take me away. . ."
Summer lovin', trips are fun.
xoxo,
the bbb blogger
http://thebippityboppitybeautifulblog.wordpress.com/
wow that looks awesome, i always wanted to go to costa rica!
Love The Big Lebowski shirt! Do you know where it came from?
This house is amazing. If only we could get a sitter for 2 weeks straight think I would be healed of all things wrong in the world! How long do you recommend staying if you were to go with a few friends/couples?
Such a gorgeous house. Thanks so much for sharing. We are definitely going to look into homeaway for our next trip!!
xx Sarah | Loser Girl Wins
Beautiful house! The architecture is outstanding ! I use homeaway all the time, when traveling. I have no complaints about it. It’s the best way to travel.
xoxo,
Andrea
kree8ivityandbeyond.blogspot.com
Beautiful home at a fantastic deal! Group vacations are great in that aspect!
http://liveitinerantly.com/
Where in Seattle?! July is the perfect time to be in the PNW 😀 Can’t wait to have you in our neck of the woods!
Oh my gosh that is a dream.
Gorgeous house and all your photos too! My husband and I love Costa Rica so much, we are moving there in 2 years! Which part were you guys in?
Hi, i´m from Costa Rica, reall glad you can visit our country 🙂
This place is beautiful! Wow.
I just got back from an amazing bachelorette weekend in Maine where a big group of us stayed in a HomeAway home! I would also agree that it was the nicest house I’ve ever stayed in!
Thanks for sharing your views. Great blog here…We provides real estate link like House for rent
Hey there!
My fiance and I are considering renting a home in Costa Rica for our honeymoon. What did you guys do about grocery shopping? Was the house stocked when you got there or did you have to go into town to buy things? Just curious 😉 Thanks in advance!
Hi Jamie! There was a grocery store nearby 🙂 -Jacki
Amazing infinity pool!