Recreo is not a traditional resort; it is a collection of privately owned villas, some of which are available for rent. There is a tennis court, basketball court and a small gym with a few workout stations and a ping pong table. Tennis rackets, basketballs, etc are provided at the Welcome Center. There is also a mountaintop vista with a tiki bar structure, a small picnic table, and wi-fi that is nice for sunset watching. You can also see the windsurfers off Playa Copal from the mountaintop. Recreo is about 1 hour, 30 minutes drive north from the Liberia International airport (LIR), via La Cruz and El Jobo. A rental car is recommended, though it is possible to arrange airport transfers through Recreo, but the community is so spread out and hilly, that walking around is not really feasible. We were in Villa #7, which is a two story home with 4 bedrooms (1 downstairs and three upstairs) each with their own bathroom plus another half bath. Full kitchen, huge dining room table and large living room. There is also a wonderful wrap around balcony and stone deck with outside seating and a dip pool. The view is amazing, over the canopy of trees toward the ocean. The villa was clean and everything functional, though we were mystified by the numerous light switches that seemed to have no purpose. There is one TV in the living room with lots of cable channels. There is wi-fi, but it is not very robust - good enough to write an email or do some research, but not good enough to telework or play videos. There is also wi-fi at the mountaintop, which signal was a bit stronger. Pool/beach towels were provided. Bed and bath linens were soft and clean and plentiful. The master bedroom has a king size canopy bed and tons of windows. Each bedroom has its own air conditioning unit, but the other ares do not have A/C though there are ceiling fans as well as portable fans and huge screen doors to capture the breeze. We also hired a chef for the week, which includes the food and delivery. This was our first experience with having a chef. Ernesto is a great chef - with the exception of a mushroom sauce served on steak one night, we loved everything. Selections for supper included chicken breast, pork chops, steak, fettuccini bolognaise, and beef wraps. During the week, he also made a chocolate Bundt cake with marble icing and two wonderful flans. Though we could have also had a full lunch every day, we requested just fruit and salsa/chips (his homemade salsa was amazing). Breakfasts included scrambled or fried eggs, one morning an egg and potato casserole, and two mornings pancakes. He always had the coffee pot going as soon as he arrived and he was flexible on the times for the meals each day. If you don't hire a chef, there is a decent size market in La Cruz to buy your own food, but there are not many restaurants nearby - this is not a place to plan to eat out every meal. The Recreo staff were wonderful - Kristine provided us prompt and thorough pre-arrival information via email - including great directions from the airport, answers to our many questions, and information on tours/excursions. David at the resort was incredible - he warmly welcomed us even though we arrived later than expected, gave us a tour of the community, told us everything we needed to know about the Villa and area, brought us kayaks and lounge chairs to the beach, helped us arrange two excursions and checked in us everyday just to see if we needed anything. Maid service is available everyday, but we told David we only needed two days during our week stay. Every day, someone came to skim the pool. And, Ernesto was there all day, every day to not only prepare our meals, but he kept the kitchen clean and answered questions. The resort is on the road to Playa Rajada, which is a public beach with no facilities - about a 5 minute drive from Villa to beach. The beach is gorgeous - a crescent shaped, protected cove great for families with lots of shade trees along the sand line. The lady at the rental car desk told us it was her favorite beach. At each end are rocky areas fun to scramble over. It is like a postcard and very few people are there during the week. Weekends are a little busier with local families, but never feels crowded. During our stay, we did two excursions - one full day to Buena Vista Lodge & Adventure Center (a 1:40 drive from Recreo back towards Liberia) and one 5 hour sport fishing/snorkeling tour with Ryan Lindy Charters (a 15 minute drive to the public beach by Dreams Resort). Both were recommended by David and arranged for us by David and we enjoyed both of them. We caught Mahi Mahi and the crew filleted it for us on the boat and we took it home for Ernesto to cook for us. There are critters - ants, geckos, beetles, parrots, mosquitoes, butterflies, bees - we even had a scorpion and a snake visit the living room - this is the nature of the area. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to see any of the resident monkeys during our stay. Bottom line - if you want to experience a very private, non-touristy, beautiful area of Costa Rica and be able to relax and enjoy time with your companions, maybe take a couple of excursions and are not daunted by driving on curvy, unpaved, unlit roads, Recreo may be a good choice for you. If you need restaurants, nightlife, activities, oceanfront, hi speed wi-fi, etc - this is not a good choice for you.…