Hello All,

We will be going to CR end of July and will be spending 2 nights in MA. We are a family of 5 with a moderate budget so wanted a mid-ranged option. In looking up many of the other suggested options for MA suggested on the board, it seems they are all v. nice (unfortunately Buena Vistas/Tulumar is a bit out of our price range ). We also want to be close to beaches that where we can swim (walking distance). That said, does anyone have any suggestions or ways to help discern which mid-range hotels/villas are better than others, or are closer to a swimable beach? We need a place that can accomadate 5 adults together. BTW-I love reading everyone elses postings!

Most people seem to like staying up on the hill. Somewhere like Costa Verde might fit your budget, has pools for kids and gets consistenly good reviews. If I had more time in MA I would have split between nearer the beach and on the hill. I like the looks of La Posada Bungalows which is next to park and beach, and appears to be great for families. Hotel Espadilla looks pretty good as well and someone stayed there recently and said it was a nice stay.

We did some research into mid-priced options, and narrowed it down to:

Costa Verde
Mango Moon
La Posada (wound up booking there)

La Posada is easily the closest to the beaches--it's right next to the park.

Why not share "Casa Quinta" at Hotel Costa Verde...?

And really, really don't stress about "not" being on the beach, it's no biggie. We have walked from CV to the beach, but hopping on the local bus which passes every 15 min is so, so easy & very, very economical.(.25 cents pp)

Casa Quinta or Bungalow A-11 would be perfect & the tiny pool in the A-Unit area is picture perfect.

ps 3-5 minutes by bus to beach, not far at all.

Usually do La Mariposa

special rate $140/nt

expedia.com

Very nice for price...

La Mariposa is one of the "original" hotels in MA....but IMHO....not the best choice with kids....it was once the "grande dame" of hotels in MA but no longer.

Costa Verde would be great for you. Decent priced and a few minutes by bus or taxi to the beach. Most hotels aren't on the beach as the view of the park is sp stunning.

We just stayed for a week at La Posada. We stayed in the Monkey room which has two doubles and a twin and in the casa which has two separate bedrooms plus a ton of futons. The casa also has a full kitchen.

We really loved our stay here and the walk to the beach and the park are very easy from here.

Thanks for all your replies! costa verde and la posada jungle are full for the time we are there. I will have to check into La Mariposa and Mango Moon. and I won't stress about the beach!

Villas Nicolas. . .next to Si Como No--isn't mentioned much anymore, but used to get excellent reviews. One of the posters used to rave about the view from 7-Up (room).

Found this post on a Fodor's search--hope it helps!

To be honest, I don't know anything about buena vista villas, but my husband and I did stay at Villas Nicolas for 4 nights in room 7 up last summer. We were very happy with our stay. We had an enourmous balcony overlooking the ocean, we were right next door to si como no, where the public bus picks up in order to take you to the national park/beach. The staff at Villas Nicolas were very helpful and friendly. I loved their security guard! He was a hoot! We did not have any monkey's on our balcony or anything that exciting, but we saw plenty of it at the park and loved our view

We stayed at Mango Moon; when we were there, they didn't accept children, but they've recently changed owners, so you'd have to check and see if their policy has changed.

Villas Mymosa hands down folks. www.villasmymosa.com Small, ten unit condo complex with a pool and small poolside restaurant, and more affordable than those other places.

What's even more awesome is that i can give discounted prices so you an pay even less than what you see on the website when you book through me