The arrangement, in plain words.

The house is owned by a Costa Rican limited company (sociedad de responsabilidad limitada) and operated by Alan and Viveka Martin. You deal with us directly.

Published rates are in US dollars and exclude Costa Rican value-added tax, currently 13%. A one-off cleaning fee of $120 applies to every stay. Nothing else is added at checkout that you have not seen on the rates page.

A confirmed booking is never re-priced. If our published rates go up after you book, your rate does not move.

We take a deposit to confirm the dates and the balance before you arrive; the exact split and dates are set out in your booking agreement. We accept bank transfer and card. On longer stays a transfer saves roughly four percent in processing, and we pass that saving on to you rather than keeping it.

A refundable security deposit of $3,000 is held against the booking and released after checkout once the house has been checked, normally within 14 days. It is a hold, not a charge — in the ordinary course you never see the money leave.

Plans change. Cancel well ahead and you get your money back — we would rather have a guest who trusts us than a deposit we did not earn.

The specific windows and the percentage refundable at each stage are set out in your booking agreement, which we send before you pay anything. If a cancellation policy is going to matter to your decision, ask us for it first and we will send it before you commit.

The house sleeps 6 comfortably in 3 ensuite bedrooms. Additional bedding exists and we will talk it through with you, but the number of guests is agreed in advance and we ask that it not change without telling us. This is about insurance, septic load and cleaning, rather than about being difficult.

No parties or events without our agreement in writing. The property sits in a residential community and the neighbours are our neighbours too.

No smoking indoors, anywhere, at any time. Outdoors is fine.

On pets, ask us. We decide case by case rather than running a blanket policy, and the answer depends on the animal and the dates.

This is a rainforest property on a hillside above the Pacific. Power and internet occasionally go out, roads wash, wildlife is wildlife, and the weather does what it wants. We maintain the house properly, we have solar backing the essentials and two internet connections, and our concierges are twenty minutes away. What we cannot do is guarantee that nature behaves, and interruptions of that kind are not grounds for a refund.

If something in the house breaks, tell us. We fix things fast and we would far rather hear about it during your stay than read about it in a review.

Normal wear is expected and is our cost. Genuine damage comes out of the security deposit, and if it exceeds the deposit we will talk to you about it with photographs rather than simply billing you.

We strongly recommend all-wheel drive. The coastal highway is fine in any car; the mountain roads here are a different proposition, particularly in the rain. Your choice of vehicle and your driving are your own responsibility.

The rental is governed by the law of Costa Rica.

Ask before you book rather than after. Contact us.