Frequently asked questions

Up to 14 guests. You rent the whole villa, so it's just your group.

The villa has 5,000 square feet of living space, two swimming pools and several covered decks. There are five suites, each with a king bed and a private bathroom. Two suites have a Bali-style day bed that can be made up for one more person, and another can have a double bed added. See the villa layout.

The dining table inside seats 14, and there's a second dining table on the covered outdoor deck that seats 8.

Yes, two: one on the upper level and one on the lower level. Both have space to lounge, and the lower pool has a covered Bali bed over one end.

Every room looks straight into the rainforest. You can watch wildlife from your bed, the shower or the living room, and monkeys and toucans often hang out in the trees right above the pool.

Occasionally a hummingbird flies in if the sliding screens are left open. We designed the villa to be open-air, so the breezes from the ocean flow through, but there are sliding glass doors and screens throughout, and they keep out anything you want to keep out.

All five suites have air conditioning.

It's a large chef's kitchen with a commercial-grade six-burner range and oven, plus a coffee maker, microwave and everything else you'd expect. You can cook for yourselves, or your concierge can arrange local chefs to prepare one or all of your meals.

Yes, and plenty of it. Our solar hot water system keeps the water hot day and night, with electric backup for cloudy days.

Yes, and we're very proud of it. Solar panels produce most of our power, and we're also connected to the electric grid. Sometimes we feed power into the grid and sometimes we draw from it, so there's always plenty of power.

Yes. Fiber-optic Wi-Fi covers the whole villa, at 100 Mbps.

We border it. Prana is one of very few properties in the area that sit directly on the edge of Manuel Antonio National Park, so we have a very large back yard. That means incredible wildlife and a wonderful feeling of privacy.

Yes, you get your own seasonal waterfall, right next to the covered yoga and spa pavilion. It's about 12 feet high, and depending on the rain it runs anywhere from a slow trickle to a roaring torrent. It's one of the reasons we love green season.

Relax in the two hammocks, practice yoga or book a couples massage right next to the falls.

Yes, a small trail system. One trail takes you to the other side of the waterfall, where there's a bench, and another follows the stream down to the larger stream that flows into the national park. Bring closed shoes or sports sandals for any trail in Costa Rica.

Lots! Monkeys, sloths, toucans and much more. See our wildlife page for what guests see most often.

Yes. Housekeeping comes six days a week, Monday to Saturday (our staff are off on Sundays), and includes laundry at no charge. Carlos, who looks after the grounds and pools, is always happy to point out wildlife, often including sloths that are hard to spot on your own.

Every stay also includes a personal concierge. Once your reservation is confirmed, he'll email you to start the conversation and send you directions to the villa, and he'll be there to welcome you on arrival day. He can arrange adventure and nature excursions, a private chef (best booked well ahead of time), in-house massage and spa services, ground transportation, and a kitchen stocked with anything you request before you arrive. He can also call taxis or arrange rides to beaches and restaurants if you don't have a car or don't feel like driving.

Our staff are experts at letting you enjoy your stay without getting in the way or disturbing your privacy.

Yes. We can arrange expert massage therapists and yoga teachers to come to you. Our covered yoga and spa pavilion sits just below the villa, down a set of stairs from the lower pool deck, right next to the waterfall and steps from the national park. You can also have treatments by the pool, on a deck or in your suite.

When it's not in use, the pavilion is yours to enjoy, with two hammocks and an antique wooden bench from Java. Bring a morning coffee, a book or a bottle of wine and let nature happen all around you.

Check-in is at 4:00 pm and check-out is at 10:00 am. Early check-in or late check-out is free whenever we don't have other guests arriving or leaving the same day, so please ask ahead of time and we'll do our best. We're also happy to hold your bags.

We prefer no outside visitors on the property. Any events or outside visitors must be requested and approved ahead of time.

Yes! Families are some of our favorite guests. The villa sleeps up to 14 guests ages 2 and up, and babies under 2 don't count toward the 14. We have a pack 'n play and a high chair for babies, so just let us know when you send your request.

In general, no. If you need a service animal, we're happy to discuss it.

The minimum stay is 3 nights, or 7 nights over the High Holidays. A 50% deposit reserves your dates, and the final balance is due 60 days before arrival. See rates, policies and how booking works.

Yes, for sure. Costa Rica is a modern country and travel here is easy, but things happen. Once in a while the airport closes because of weather or volcanic ash. It's rare and clears up quickly, but it's always better to be covered, whether for accommodation payments like ours, cancelled flights, lost luggage or a medical issue (we have excellent hospitals and doctors here).

A good place to compare plans is squaremouth.com. We suggest considering a "cancel for any reason" policy. It doesn't cost much more and can come in very handy.

We can't buy cancellation insurance on our end, so it's up to you to protect your deposit and payments with a travel insurance policy.

In Manuel Antonio, on Costa Rica's Central Pacific coast. The closest town is the port town of Quepos, about 8 minutes by car. The main road between Quepos and the Manuel Antonio beaches is about 8 km (5 miles) long. Villa Lirio Road leaves the main road about halfway, and Prana is at the very end of Colina Monito Road, about a three-minute drive from the main road, directly on the border of the national park.

As the toucan flies, very close: when the waves are big, we can hear the surf. By car the beach is an easy 5 to 10 minutes. Walking is more of a hike, about 40 minutes, and we do it all the time for exercise.

Like most places to stay in Manuel Antonio, along with most restaurants and shops, we're up in the hills above the beach rather than right on it.

There's a good variety. The main beach, about 2 miles long, has small to large waves, and two sections are popular for surfing. A couple of other beaches are much calmer, with almost no waves.

The sand is clean and warm, and the beaches are lined with coconut palms and almond trees that often host troops of monkeys, flocks of parrots and slow-moving sloths. One end of the main beach has restaurants, souvenir shops and beach chair rentals, and the other end is more natural.

A huge range, and the closest are just two minutes away by car. You'll find local food (rice and beans, a protein and salad), international options like falafel, wood-fired pizza and Mexican, all the way up to five-star resort restaurants with great food, wine and live music. We have our favorites and can point you to whatever you like, and even get you a good table on busy nights like New Year's Eve.

A lot! Manuel Antonio is famous for adventure and nature excursions, beaches, hikes, and inshore and offshore sport fishing (your chef can cook your catch). Popular day trips include:

• White-water rafting, waterfall rappelling, zip lining and canyoning
• Whale and dolphin watching
• Horseback riding, hanging-bridge canopy walks, nature hikes and bird watching
• National park tours, surfing, parasailing and a vanilla farm tour

We work with the best guides in the area, and they can pick you up at the villa.

Costa Rica has two seasons: green (rainy) season, roughly April through November, and dry season, usually December through March.

The rainiest months are usually September and October, when it can sometimes rain all day or even all week. Then again, some days in October there isn't a cloud in the sky. It's weather, so nothing is written in stone.

The rest of green season often goes like this: a misty morning that clears by about 8:00 am into a glorious sunny day, a refreshing shower around 4:00 pm, a clear evening, and maybe more rain overnight. Sometimes it doesn't rain at all.

Green season really is green, not rainy all the time. The rivers are great for rafting and the waterfalls are full and dramatic. For most of us who live here, it's the best time of year. Dry season is warmer and drier, but there's always an ocean, river or pool close by.

It's great if you do, but it isn't necessary. Many locals (known as Ticos) speak some English, and almost all restaurant staff and tour guides are fluent. Some guides speak other languages too.

Fly into San José: Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO). It's much closer to us than Costa Rica's other international airport in Liberia (LIR), which serves the Guanacaste region in the northwest.

Please note: SJO is San José, Costa Rica, not San Jose, California (SJC), and not San Juan, Puerto Rico. These mistakes do happen!

By air: Small domestic flights go from San José to our local airport in Quepos (XQP) in about 20 minutes. The planes are small and safe and the ride is beautiful. Search "flights San José to Quepos" to compare airlines and schedules, which change between green and dry season. We like Sansa best. Check in at least 45 minutes before your flight.

Your concierge can arrange a transfer from Quepos airport to the villa.

By land: Rent a car, hire a car and driver, take an airport shuttle van, or take one of the modern buses from downtown San José. We can help with any of these.

Almost all of our guests, and most visitors to Manuel Antonio, prefer having their own car. It gives you much more access to the area, including hidden gems we can point you to that are hard to reach without one.

You don't have to: there are plenty of taxis and buses, and your concierge can arrange rides. But guests who've visited both ways almost always choose a car the next time. Rentals are reasonably priced and the driving is easy, with good paved highways and mostly good secondary roads.

Outside San José there are few street signs, so navigation helps a lot. If your phone works in Costa Rica, the Waze app works very well. Otherwise, rental companies offer GPS units with Costa Rica maps for a few dollars a day.

Many rental cars here are manual (stick shift). If you want an automatic, request it when you book and double-check when you pick up the car.

You don't need it, but it's nice to have. A 4x4 lets you get further off the beaten track, and its higher clearance helps on roads with potholes and stones. Plenty of people do fine in small cars, but a larger vehicle takes a lot of the worry away.

Costa Rica requires every renter to buy basic liability insurance from the rental company. A credit card can't replace it.

Where you can save money is on coverage for damage to the car itself (often called CDW or LDW). Some credit cards cover this in Costa Rica:

• Ask your card company specifically about Costa Rica, and get a letter of coverage.
• Check with the rental company that it accepts your card's coverage. Some do and some don't.
• Expect a larger damage deposit held on your card if you decline their coverage.

Both agencies below have accepted guests' credit card coverage. Do your homework and you can save a lot.

No. A valid license from your home country works for tourists.

Two have worked well for many of our guests:

• Adobe Rent a Car: pick up at their Quepos office, meet them at Quepos airport, or have the car dropped off at the villa. You can also pick up near San José airport after a short shuttle ride.
• Economy Rent a Car: great service, with pickup in Manuel Antonio close to the villa.

You need a valid passport to enter Costa Rica. Check the current validity rules with your airline before you travel.

Once you're here, you can leave your passport in the safe at the villa. Carry a copy instead (a photo on your phone works) of both your photo page and the page with your entry stamp.

Yes and yes. Our tap water is safe to drink, and fruit and vegetables are safe to enjoy too.

Costa Rica doesn't require vaccinations for most visitors. Check your own country's travel health advice before you go (in the US, the CDC).

The local currency is the colón (plural colones). US dollars are widely accepted, but you'll usually get change in colones.

Airport exchange counters give poor rates, and banks rarely exchange money unless you have an account. Our best advice: use an ATM card, which can give you colones or US dollars. Let your bank know you'll be using it in Costa Rica.

Pack light. We're in the tropics, and even the best restaurants are casually elegant, so there's no need to dress up.

Footwear matters most. Bring three kinds: flip-flops for the beach, sports sandals that can get wet, and light closed shoes (sneakers or light hikers). Those will get you through almost any activity here.

• Light clothes, plus light rain gear in green season
• Sunscreen and bug spray (available here, but often cheaper at home)
• Any medications you need (there is also good medical care here)
• A small flashlight or headlamp for the trails at night
• An e-reader: with our Wi-Fi you can download more books while you're here

If you like, yes. Alcohol costs more here, so we suggest the duty-free shop at San José airport, which you pass after passport control and just before baggage claim. For wine, look for Chilean and Argentinian bottles. The local spirit is guaro: inexpensive, but you might not thank it the next day! There are also plenty of shops nearby.