A few months back, I had a post asking what amenities you would expect from a small luxury hotel.

Let's talk a bit more about luxury and romance! What conveys luxury and romance for you in a small hotel?

Would you want the restaurant to have a fairly full range of menu items, or would you be happy with two or three exceptional and different entrees?
How about music? Would you like the opportunity to share a table with the owners or perfer to dine alone?

How about around the pool? Very low soft music or no music?

Anything you can think of that means luxury and romance to you would help us make our hotel great!

Thanks!

Since we plan to come stay with you, I guess I'd better tell you what we expect to find when we get there!

Soft music around the pool good.

I'd prefer just a few very exceptional and varied dinner entrees.

Option of dining alone. But definitely plan to dine with you and Rick first night so we can catch up on Fodor's gossip!

I think bathroom amenities are romantic--aromatherapy things. Bathtubs nice to have--a rare treat in Costa Rica!

Perhaps free couples massages--
ONLY KIDDING!

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I'd like massage/spa facilities, like offerings @ Tabacon's Iskandia (spelling?);

Love the infinity pool @ Villa Caletas; also, their outdoor jacuzzi; or even better, to have private jacuzzi's for some/all rooms.

Music? VERY low soft music, and NO music during breakfast. Stayed at La Mariposa a couple years ago, and found their musical selections to be annoying first thing in the morning. Frankly, I would have been just as happy to have "nature's music" .... be able to hear the birds.

This is a FUN post! I would prefer no music at breakfast and lunch ... too much to see and listen to in the jungle! Very light music (Enya type) poolside. Pool lounges arranged in "twos". Lots (!!) of candles at dinner w/ soft music. Three menu options is fine w/ me with table settings of 2 and 4 for those who wish to socialize a bit. Evening turndown service and discovering chocolates in the room after an evening out ... A+! Anything involving champagne!

Lisa

This is fun (even though we have to wait a few years to stay with you). So far I agree with all prior posts.
No music at breakfast or lunch and very soft unobtrusive jazzy or new world type music at dinner and maybe by the pool. Solitude counts for romantic couples so definitely an option for dining semi privately would be nice. 3 entree selections are fine but make sure to have a nice wine selection (that would be a rare treat in CR where even the restaurants that have a decent wine list do not stock enough to have a true selection).
Aroma candles in the room would be nice (I usually bring nice smelling travel candles on all my trips). Make sure your rooms have a comfortable sitting area either in the room or on the balconies - I really like the idea of coming back from an activity filled day to my room to shower and change for dinner and then to sit down for a bit to unwind before dinner.
Other luxury items: spacious bathrooms with plenty of towels and a hairdryer, a closet where you can actually unpack, bathrobes (thin cotton would probably be nicer than terry cloth), sarongs/pareos to use by the pool, a minifridge with bottled water.

Okay, I'm taking notes...
No music at breakfast or lunch, check.
Soft music around pool, check.
infinity pool, check. (we are on a hill so infinity pool will be easy!)
loungers arranged in twos, check.
bathroom amenities, check.
lots of candles, check.
turndown service, check.
sitting areas, check. (our casitas will have a separate living area from bedroom)
3 exceptional dinner options okay with you,
and nice wine selection, check.
(my husband, sister and I all drink wine and a nice selection for us and our quest will be a must!)

I will throw in cool towel service around the pool (you know, ice cold face towels?) and a welcome drink at check-in.

Now then. About the bathtubs. Is this a must? In Nosara, it is hot, all year round, so we opted to large walk in showers with a seating bench instead. Are bathtubs very important?
We will not be a 'spa' resort, but will be looking for someone we can bring in for massages and possible other treatments. We are also located very close to a Yoga Center.

About alcohol. A hard liquor license is hard to get and very expensive. We are working on trying to get one, but it will a lot of take time. We are investigating getting a license for beer/wine only. If we provide setups for other drinks, but only have beer and wine, would that be a huge problem for most? Should we pay the fortune for the complete license?

Are we doing okay so far? Anyone else want to add their ideas for luxury and romance?

Thanks all! (Iza, when you're ready to make a trip to Nosara, email me at [email protected], or contact the hotel. Exceptions may be worked out!)

I'm new to this board and am loving this discussion...Ally, your hotel pans sound magical...I wish it was finished so that we could stay there! My fiance, Max, and I will be in Costa Rica for three weeks in January. Max wants to surf and we were going to head to Nosara after Mal Pais...but none of the accomodations I researched looked particularly inviting. So we're thinking of going to Samara instead (Hotel Las Brisas) though I know he won't get the waves there. I'm really town between the two places. If you have any recommendations for nice mid-range places to stay in Nosara, I'd love to hear them. I'm a yoga teacher, so having the yoga center right there appeals to me.

Max and I (like many) are also fantasizing about building/buying our own inn in the tropics somewhere. We almost went for it down in Tonga last year, but it's just so far far far away from family/friends, we couldn't do it. We are exploring Costa Rica and Bocas Del Toro to look for opportunities. Hope you'll keep posting your plans and experiences in Nosara!

Maggels, I will keep posting plans here as long as the fodor's editors let me! As for nice places in Nosara, there really aren't any exceptional places, that's one reason we want our to be!
Have you seen Casitas Romantica? (Not to be confused with Casa Romantica). I stopped by there to see their new place in August and it's probably the best in the area.
King size beds (rare in CR), little kitchenetts, petty baths, but fairly small) and some nice little 'homey' touches. Rooms are around a nice little pool and the landscaping is nice.
I think if you want a good location walking distance to a little store, and restaurants, this is the best right now.
www.hotelcasaromantica.com/info-casitas.htm

If you have a car and don't mind having to use it to get to the beach, there is a very nice B&B that we have discovered. It's a really nice house with beautiful rooms and a great view. The owners are very nice.
www.villalaventana.com

I have not seen Las Brisas, but have seen Villas Kilimba and they are nice. Have a great trip where ever you end up!

Oh, another fun Ally hotel planning post! =D> . That's it, we were going to wait until the kids are over 16, but now we're just leaving them home and coming!

I agree with the posts about the wine, music and dinner options.

About the bathtubs, I wouldn't think they would be necessary if you have jacuzzis elsewhere on the premises. I think most people want a good soak after a long hike or other strenuous exercise. We usually prefer showers after the beach and on humid days.

I know your casitas will have ocean views. Will they have little patio areas where one could sit? I really like the rocking chairs at the Arenal Paraiso. A couple of chairs with a small table in between to rest 2 glasses of wine would be perfect.

I think you already covered the hammocks in the previous thread?

As for the liquor license, could you get just the beer and wine license first, assess the preferences of your guests, then go forward with the full license if necessary? When people are in a tropical location, they do tend to gravitate toward margaritas, pina coladas, and all those fun drinks made with Guaro.

Ally, sorry to hijack your thread but I wanted to respond to Maggels.

Maggels, we stayed at Casita Romantica in 2003 (at that time it was under the same management as hotel Casa Romantica; since then the owners sold Casa Romantica to someone and just kept Casitas Romantica). We had a two bedroom apartment upstairs and really did not care for that place at all. The apartment was clean but the furnishings were spartan. We were woken each morning by some workers on the neighboring property (the bedroom window faced outside, not onto the courtyard). I got insect bites all over my legs (they appeared at night so they may have been mosquitos that got in through the broken screen). The relatives of the owners live downstairs and there is no privacy if you are by the pool or want to sit out in the evening because the people who live there watch TV in the evening on their porch. We felt like we were staying at someone's house and intruding on the owners. We were supposed to stay 4 nights but left after 2 nights (they charge for an extra night and also charged extra for credit card payment - the only time it happened to me in CR).
I really did not like Nosara at all and regretted not staying in Samara. I will not go back until Ally's place is up and running ;-)
If you decide on Samara, Las Brisas does not get rave reviews but there is a new place Villas Kalimba which got really good reviews.

Ivk,
Oh, sorry, the casitas will not have ocean views, only gardens with GOOD size private patios. There is only one place at the top of our hill that has views, and we are using that for the restaurant and bar!
Yes, plenty of hammocks will be around!
I know what you mean about the frozen drinks! That's why we are going to try for a full license, but it might take a while!
Also, if we don't get a full license, we are considering only serving to our 'guest' ..as in only the people staying with us, not the public. We know of someone with a hotel there that does this. If you don't sell to the public, but only to your guest, you don't necessarily need a license! So that may be the way we go, at least at first.

Iza,
Sorry you didn't like Casitas Romantica! I thought you had stayed at Casa Romantica.
When I saw the rooms (well I only say one but assume they are similar) at Casitas last Aug. I thought it was nice. Of course it was very quiet as it was low season, so it took me a few minutes to even find someone to show me the room. Now that I'm thinking about it, it might be noisy in the high season!
They watch TV in the evenings on their porch?! Yuck! That's not very nice...and certainly not romantic for their guest trying to star gaze!

At the time we stayed there, the two places were operated as one hotel under the name Casa Romantica. But when I looked at the website you gave, Ally, I realized that we stayed in the part that is now a separate hotel called Casitas Romantica. We were there actually in the low season (August 2003) and during the day the place was very quiet, but in the evening the owners would lounge on their porch and watch TV, which was really annoying.

Ally, do you know why it is that there are no real beach front accommodations in Nosara? All other towns we visited in Costa Rica have hotels on or very near the beach and in Nosara, all of the hotels and houses are set away from the beach.

wow! Really want to go on a romantic get a away now...how about 2 shower heads in some of the showers in certain rooms? Hmmmmmm....
Just a thought--not sure if it's doable...

Yes, Iza that TV watching on on the outdoor patio would be very annoying! Great for them if it was JUST them! Terrible for guest!
The beaches of Nosara are a 'protected' area. You are not allowed to build more than..can't remember exactly, but it's either 200 or 300 meters from the beach. At first I was thinking that maybe it was because the turtles at Ostional, 20 minutes away, but since Tamarindo has turtles close by, I'm not so sure anymore. This is something I need to find out!

plmrod, yes, if we go with showers only, they would be big walk-ins with 2 shower heads. But from the responses I've gotten from this board and another, it seems a tub is really important to some. So, I have contacted my husband who is in CR now and he says he'll talk to the architect about putting tubs in some of the rooms but not all. That would please most people!

Ally,
If you don't do tubs, could you make the showers extra special -- like have outdoor garden showers....have you seen the ones at Florblanca? Those are so great that you don't even think of using the tub...

Agree! Great showers would be a big plus.

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

From the Rubaiyat by Ghiyath al-Din Abu'l-Fath Umar ibn Ibrahim Al-Nisaburi al-Khayyami. Fitzgerald translation.

We have discussed the outdoor shower issue. Unfortunately, for some you, we will not have private outdoor showers! We are afraid that would attract to many bugs, as many people may leave the door open and bugs will get into the rooms!
We will however, have large windows in the bathrooms, maybe even in the showers if we can keep privacy, and are even thinking of having some kind of skylight for more natural lighting. We are also now discussing some planters in the bathroom for more greenery, so you will have the feel of 'garden bathrooms'. Is this okay?

Absolutely it's okay, Ally. At least with me ! Sounds very nice just the way you are planning it.

That sounds great!