Holiday rentals with lake access in El Castillo

We enjoyed our stay! It's a nice, clean home with scenic views in an authentic, safe community. We bought a few basics for breakfast (eggs, queso blanco, milk, coffee, juice) at the nearby community mini-market (a few blocks away) so we could make breakfast at the place. If you want fresh fruits & veggies, you should stop at a bigger market on your way (La Fortuna? Or El Castillo?). We ate dinner twice at the nearby La Terraza restaurant, which was good. We loved the batidos de fruta (fruit smoothies/shakes - 'de leche' ('of milk') . My favorite is the batido de papaya (de leche). My kids also tried the strawberry, pineapple, maracuya (and I think others, too!). We enjoyed the dishes we had there, too. Internet at the house can be spotty, but there's some cell reception, too. If you're on vacation and just checking your email from time to time and researching things to do in the area, it's fine; if you're looking to be a digital nomad, this is probably not the place for you.

The home was exactly as described and offers beautiful views of the lake! The home is close to La Fortuna and all attractions. The layout worked well for our family (older adult child and two teenagers). Nancy is a great host and gave us good suggestions for things to do! We enjoyed our stay in El Castillo/Lake Arenal area and will be back!

We had an amazing stay at this Airbnb in La Fortuna—honestly, it was even better than the photos! The house was spotless, beautifully maintained, and incredibly comfortable. You can tell how much care goes into every detail, inside and out. The outdoor space was lush and peaceful, with a view so close to the volcano it felt like we could reach out and touch it. Karina, the host, was exceptionally thoughtful. She left a kind handwritten note and some chocolates to celebrate my niece’s 11th birthday, which was such a sweet and personal touch. It’s rare to find that level of warmth and hospitality. If you’re thinking of staying in La Fortuna, don’t hesitate—this place is a gem. We’d come back in a heartbeat. Ania

Wow! What an amazingly beautiful home for a group to share! Loved the spacious place and clean accommodations, large outdoor seating area and the pool is perfect! Just from the house we saw a sloth, toucans, & lizards. We felt very safe with having a locked gate. The privacy was nice. I hope to be back soon!

Aqua Vida is simply amazing. Words cannot describe how you’ll feel when you see everything you get with this property. It’s off the main road in La Fortuna but it’s very safe and peaceful. You get all the privacy you want while being 5 minutes away from everything in town. A huge natural spring pool, a covered area where you can cook, have your meals or just hangout, a huge yard to play in, a stream going through the property with beautiful trees and absolutely stunning landscaping. All this and you’re still not even in the house. Book this place. You’ll be happy you did.

The place is super nice, with a nice view too. Very clean and with the essentials. Highly recommended.

We had slight difficulty finding this place as we arrived after dark. What a treat to wake up the next day to the sounds of birds and howler monkeys and a spectacular view of Lake Arenal! The previous evening we had the best meal of our entire vacation at Restaurante Tinajas just down the road. In the morning, we rented the Paddle board. It was so peaceful out on the lake with gorgeous views. The unit is exactly as described. There are not many extras such as salt/pepper for cooking or shampoo for showering.

Once we found this house, it was an amazing place to stay with beautiful views of the lake and the volcano and plenty of room for our family of 5, but we found it extremely difficult to find (part of the problem was that we arrived in the dark and without wifi- not the original plan but due to flight delays) and the house is not really visible from the road. It would have been very helpful to have more of a description of the location of the driveway, etc. Instructions about how to find the lockbox that contained a key were vague and we ended up feeling a bit like we were in an escape room adventure. But once we found it, everything about the house and the location was perfect! Would definitely stay here again- especially now that we know how to FIND IT!

The view over the lake arenal is just phenomenal! The house has a huge garden with some fruits, herbs & vegetables wich we were allowed to eat. We can for sure recommend.

Beautiful place if you’re looking for peace and quiet!

Maribel is an excellent person, very friendly, very conversational and very nice, the place is super quiet and comfortable, access to the parking lot is easy and with an electric gate which makes it easy to enter and exit in an agile way. 100% recommended.

Maria's home is tucked in a beautiful and private, but also convenient location by Lake Arenal. Maria is so welcoming, responsive, and made my birthday trip extra special with a few accommodations/touches! Would definitely return and highly recommend others.

This is one of the best places I’ve ever stayed. The atmosphere is peaceful, incredibly relaxing, and the surroundings are absolutely beautiful. Breakfast was fantastic, and having a chat with Paul was truly a blessing. Thank you, Paul and Carole, for such a wonderful experience. I’ll definitely be visiting again!

Very good place and location. Christopher was very supportive in making recommendations! Don't miss the tour he recommends! Everything is very clean and you have the necessary space to have a comfortable stay. I thought the details of the soaps and shampoos were lovely! Just behind it, there's an excellent spot by a river where you can hang out.

The host is very attentive, the place is very nice and in a quiet village, close to Fortuna and Ciudad Quesada, perfect to disconnect without losing access to other facilities

Nice and modern apartment, located in a very beautiful section of the valley with great views of Lake Arenal. Tanyia and Rod were also very friendly and provided us with a list of local attractions.

Great place to spend a weekend or some vacation time, with a tiny supermarket nearby which can be reached out by walking. Adrian was very responsive, making the stay even better. I recommend the place and would stay again when going to La Fortuna

This was a most beautiful setting. The views of Lake Arenal and the volcanal were spectacular. If you climb to the top of the property (very easy to do as it is open pasture) it is even more beautiful and the volcano is easier to see. The property both inside and out had room for a larger group than the four of us except for sleeping area. There were two queen beds and two bedrooms and also a pullout couch in the living area. The only reason I mention this is the kitchen, living room, outside patios and size of the outdoor area would lend itself to a much larger group than current sleeping arrangements afford. Melissa, our host, was very responsive to questions and problems. One bathrooms hot water was not working and she offered to have it fixed right away. We opted to just use the one bathroom so as not to interrupt our stay. Melissa seemed genuinely interested in making any suggested improvements and was a pleasure to deal with. Great location 20 minutes from La Fortuna.

This beautiful paradise is amazingly beautiful my family didn’t want to leave this place, is really an incredible beautiful paradise, we will comeback

My daughter and her boyfriend were there for a bike ride ride. The location was perfect for proximity to the ride and a great environment to relax following a strenuous day! There was a slight mix up with rooms, but it was quickly resolved for everyone. And, my daughter loved the replacement digs (pets included!) Kees is extremely easy to communicate with and very responsive. We highly recommend him and his accommodations.

We stayed at Juan's recently and were very happy! The unit itself is gorgeous with everything meeting our needs, and the host was very responsive, helpful and made the check-in and check-out process very straightforward with clear instructions. I would definitely recommend this unit and would stay here again!

very peaceful place with a great pool

This was an amazing AirBnB there is far more to do and enjoy on the farm than you expect. The farm is enormous and there is a short hike down a little hill through the jungle that leads down to a big open area for cattle where you can cross a stream and enjoy the beautiful nature. Also there is this great, cheap restaurant called Victorino's which is relatively close.

Super nice place! We could see the dardo frogs very easily, super recommended!