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Tulemar Resort is a full service resort set in the peaceful 33-acre gated and secure Tulemar Gardens Condominium. A wide variety of standalone accommodations are available for our guests, including the famed Tulemar Bungalows & Villas, as well as our luxurious 1, 2, and 3 bedroom Buena Vista Luxury Villas. The property itself is spectacular, nestled in a lush rainforest overlooking the beautiful Manuel Antonio coastline. Surrounded by nature, Tulemar Resort features incredible gardens, walking paths, thriving wildlife, and Tulemar Beach. At Tulemar Resort you will enjoy the luxury and privacy of your very own villa, along with the amenities of a high end resort, including concierge service, daily maid service, 4 swimming pools, beach bar, spa services, tour desk, and the best sunset bar and restaurant in town. We invite you to review our website for photos and details, then book one of these magnificent villas or bungalows and experience the most unforgettable vacation of your life!
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Tulemar Resort is celebrated for its spotless accommodations and grounds, with guests consistently commending the resort's cleanliness. The atmosphere is a hit, particularly the charming beach area and live music, although there's a call for room updates. Its location is a standout, offering close encounters with wildlife and exclusive beach access.
While the rooms are spacious and varied, some travelers note a need for refurbishment. The service at Tulemar receives high marks for its attentiveness, and the amenities contribute to a luxurious stay, despite some suggestions for minor improvements. However, the cost, including fees and taxes, is noted as steep by guests.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Outdated
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Spotless
Service
Attentive
Amenities
Comprehensive
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Tulemar is a beautiful resort in Manuel Antonio with concierge services included in the pricing. We had an amazing experience staying at this resort - it has its own private beach accessible by walking and shuttle service within the resort. Our concierge, Orlando, took excellent care of us. A few things to note: there is no need to have the concierge buy your groceries in advance - there are at least 2 small grocery stores within a 5 to 10 minute walk from the resort (which also sells alcohol). The concierge buys from the store onsite, and it's very expensive (even for bottled water). Look at pictures of the room options, and note the kitchen and seating can take up a lot of the unit space; we found the "bungalows" to be more spacious even though they are smaller in square footage. There is a 13% tax and 10% mandatory service fee, so bills add up quickly. There are many restaurants within a 5 to 10 minutes walking distance in a safe neighborhood - it's worthwhile to venture out for meals. If you have a family with smaller children, try to book a room near the "family pool" for easy access.
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Date of stay: November 2024
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â If you travel during peak season, make sure you book your excursions early through your...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chris Paul, Marketing at Tulemar Resort
Responded Jan 27, 2025
Thank you Quickfeet for your 5 stars and for staying with us at Tulemarresort! Quick explanation on tax and "fee". All bills in Costa Rica will have the 13% national tax. When it comes to restaurants, all restaurants include a 10% gratuity. So when visitors to Costa Rica eat out you need to add 23% to any bill and that's if you don't put extra above the 10% included gratuity. Thank you for the opportunity to better prep guests for their future adventure in Costa Rica and at Tulemarresort! Pura Vida Chris at TripAdvisor's 2022 #1 Hotel in the World
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Tulemar is a very special luxury resort with amazing amenities in a jungle setting. Our enormous 2 bedroom house that we shared with another couple had everything one could hope for, including capuchin monkeys running outside our patio! The showers in the home were the largest I’ve ever seen in my life! A family of 6 could shower in there at the same time. Miguel Leiva was our concierge and from the time we began our trip planning, he was able to schedule a wonderful itinerary of activities to enjoy. He was very communicative in his emails and made us feel at home when we arrived. He is truly a kind and “suave” gentleman. He checked on us and made sure we knew our activity schedule for the week. I will always remember our time there and Tulemar is very lucky to have Miguel as their concierge. I hope to return someday.
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Date of stay: March 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Be aware it is hot and humid, as Manuel Antonio is close to the equator.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chris Paul, Marketing at Tulemar Resort
Responded Mar 22, 2024
Pura Vida Goshen! Thank you for the 5 stars and for staying with us at Tulemarresort. Yes, a family of 6 could shower in our 2 and 3 bedroom casas we recommend just one (lol). We're glad you had such a good time, the 2 bedroom casas are perfect for couple traveling together! We hope to host you again too! Pura Vida, Chris at TripAdvisor's 2022 #1 Hotel in the World
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Everything about this resort is top notch--the location, the accommodations, the privacy, pools, dining, grocery service, housekeeping----perfection! Our villa was well appointed and housekeeping was on top of everything. Most afternoons we were invaded by monkeys, who liked to tip over our outside chairs. Hysterical. Tulemar's beach is beautiful, calm and warm with full food and beverage service. Our concierge, Miguel, was so responsive and helpful. He arranged 4 separate tours and made dinner recommendations and reservations--he was stellar. We also had a private chef make us dinner one night and it was so good (and similar to the price of eating out). This was the best vacation our family has ever taken. We frequent Hawaii--but liked this much more.
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Date of stay: December 2024
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Keep your deck doors locked Including windows because the monkeys will try to break in. The Wifi...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chris Paul, Marketing at Tulemar Resort
Responded Dec 30, 2024
Wow Larry- Pura Vida! Thank you for the 5 stars and for having the "best vacation" ever with us at Tulemarresort! We're grateful and can't wait to have you back! Pura Vida Chris at TripAdvisor's 2022 #1 Hotel in the World
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Excellent resort with exceptional houses and villas. The private beach is well maintained and the sea has unusually large waves. David is very helpful at the beach. We also very much appreciated the shuttle service from the beach back to our house. The drivers are all very kind and react quickly when called.
We were able to see many animals in the resort ranging from monkeys to macaw parrots to iguanas.
The Tule Cafe restaurant is very charming. Food is excellent and there is a swimming pool on the premises. It is usual to see titi monkeys playing in the trees surrounding the restaurant.
Our concierge, Laura, was the cherry on the cake. She is always most helpful and provides great recommendations about surrounding restaurants and activities.
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chris Paul, Marketing at Tulemar Resort
Responded Aug 23, 2023
Pura Vida Oliver! Thank you for your 5 stars and for spending your vacation with us! You touched all our sweet spots: beach, fantastic units, loads of animals and Tule Cafe! (and Victoria's too!) Oh yes and of course Laura! We hope to host you again! Pura Vida, Chris at TripAdvisor's 2022 #1 Hotel in the World
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This is a well run resort. The villas have a concierge assigned to them. Said concierge can help with a lot of last minute bookings even during peak times. Daily housekeeping is also there. We usually do not need it on our travels. But if you are staying a week and want a spotless rolm/ villa with laundry folded etc it is a big plus. The resort has a private beach which I really liked. They have boogie boards kayaks Etc on site. For those with smaller children what I particularly liked about their little alcove or private beach section is that the water is a little bit gentler and fairly shallow for quite a ways in. This allows for Boogie boarding. Not the best for surfing. But we loved it. Those with children will be quite happy because it offers some safety
They do not have lifeguards. However till 5:00 p.m. they have staff handing out food or equipment. I would imagine they can help with anything is happening.
There are a very large number of restaurants directly outside. They have a restaurant outside and they offer room service from another Italian spot directly outside. The Italian restaurant was very good. They have reasonable options at their own site restaurant. I would not say it is fantastic but they have a few options available and the price is not exorbitant for the onsite restaurant
In general I feel that Manuel Antonio is a little overpriced. The cost of this resort is in keeping with the prices you would expect for a resort with more amenities and more space. If staying in Manuel Antonio it is a good location
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Date of stay: December 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Please be aware that they do not do refunds. At the most they can transfer the reservation to a...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chris Paul, Marketing at Tulemar Resort
Responded Dec 31, 2024
Thank you Vidalu for your 5 stars and for staying with us at Tulemarresort. Thank you for the expansive explanations and I'll add that the Italian restaurant is part of the resort where you can sign to the room! We hope to host you again! Pura Vida Chris at TripAdvisor's 2022 #1 Hotel in the World
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What a beautiful resort! Our family had a short stay here in late October and absolutely loved it! We stayed in Bungalow 121 and it was actually a really great decision. There was a tree that overlooked our bungalow that was a highway for troops of monkeys who frequent the resort. There were times when we just stayed in the room and watched for monkeys to come by! That being said, I would advise against bugging the capuchins. They are not friendly and will try and invade your room. :)
Outside of the room, the isolated beach with service was great. The restaurant near our room had a beautiful view of the ocean and had a band playing on Saturday night. The rest of the resort had a very sleepy, relaxing feel.
Outside of the amenities, the staff was amazing. When you book a room you are assigned a named host who helps you plan you events before you arrive and acts as resort ambassador during your stay. Ours was Miguel and he was fantastic! He quickly responded and helped book our excursions and in room chef before we arrived and was easily accessible via text for questions and coordinating shuttle service during out stay. He even reminded us of our following day events each day making our trip even easier to enjoy.
We will 100% be returning to the Tulemar Resort and are planning on making it an annual thing moving forward. Thanks again!
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Date of stay: October 2024
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Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Definitely take advantage of the shuttle service to go to and from the beach. I love a good walk,...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chris Paul, Marketing at Tulemar Resort
Responded Nov 22, 2024
Pura Vida Albert! Thank you for the 5 stars and for staying with us at Tulemarresort. Your visit was during Green season and this is traditionally a very quiet time of year here in the mid Pacific. Good tip on the White Face monkeys they're not a friendly bunch, but all the wildlife should be treated with great deference, either way. We look forward to hosting you again! Pura Vida Chris at TripAdvisor's 2022 #1 Hotel in the World
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Way overpriced for what it is, it is definitely not worth what we have paid for
I booked the hotel based on false advertisements without knowing that Tulemar images on their web site looked way better than reality.
We thought that we are coming to a very special place, it ended up to be less than basic accommodation comparing to what we had in the rest of Costa Rica
No kitchen as per advertisement, unless you consider a cheap coffee and a microwave a kitchen. Not even a tea maker or tea bags and sugar like any basic hotel provides.
Breakfast is not included, was not convenient to go out for breakfast and then wait for a shuttle to come down to the beach
Beach resorts usually provide free water to their guests or provide coolers at the beach, we had to pay for the water.
The food at the restaurant is less than basic yet very expensive, the portion of fruit platter and salad at the beach were not cheap and yet not even enough for kids.
In addition to the location of the hotel on steep hills, couldn't walk anywhere because of mobility issues. this was not clearly identified on their website. Yes we had a shuttle service ran by nice drivers, but going to the parking lot on steep hill to catch the shuttle was a real challenge for us.
Boring resort that has few monkeys who we had to keep out stuff inside the room because they can steel them
The beach is pacific with black sands, the only positive thing is that the ocean water was warm
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Date of stay: March 2023
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Our family recently traveled to Costa Rica for the first time and our stay at Tulemar exceeded our expectations. The room was spotless and resort staff were always very helpful and friendly. The food was always amazing and we never had to wait long for anything. The grounds, pool and beach were all wonderful with lots of wildlife to entertain us! Our concierge, Jans, was able to assist us with everything such as room cleaning, dinner reservations and excursions. He even went above and beyond by tracking down our son’s lost AirPods to one of the vans we traveled in. He had them sent back to him and went to the post office on his day off to have them shipped back. This resort is truly one of a kind and we can’t wait to return.
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Date of stay: April 2023
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chris Paul, Marketing at Tulemar Resort
Responded May 23, 2023
Thank you Michelle for your 5 stars and for staying with us at Tulemarresort. We're grateful you enjoyed and look forward to hosting you again! Pura Vida, Chris at TripAdvisor's 2022 #1 Hotel in the World
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Tulemar is amazing. We had my family of four plus two grandparents. Monkeys literally came most days to play on the deck. The beach was usually almost entirely empty. Macaws routinely flew by. Our concierge Jans was always helpful with anything we needed. We hired a chef through the resort for Christmas dinner and Jose cooked us a feast. Because the resort was booked solid when we made our reservations in June for Christmas (book early, people), we had two casas that we moved between to get a full week. Tule Casa was the first. It’s beautiful with gorgeous views. However, it is built directly above the resort’s main office at the top of the hill. This offers some conveniences: the little grocery store is right there if you need anything; off property restaurants are a few steps away, But it’s also LOUD. You get all the Main Street noise. Plus all the noise from everyone entering or leaving Tulemar. Every excursion group meets outside your house and then is dropped off there again when they’re done. There’s a good amount of construction happening on the main road and you hear all of it. Overall we were happy to move on to Casa Aqua Vista. It’s directly adjacent to the family pool. It’s about halfway down the hill to the beach and a 5 min walk to the on-property restaurant. And it’s quiet and surrounded by jungle. It felt like what I had imagined Costa Rica to be. Monkeys in the trees, toucans flying by. While kids are welcomed, the resort definitely isn’t made to cater to kids- the pools are tiny, the restaurant menu is limited and aimed at adults. My tweens, who were used to a roster of resort activities to entertain them (and who are spoiled) were bored sometimes once the monkeys left each evening. We did not rent a car and wish we had, it would have made exploring much easier.
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Date of stay: December 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Chris Paul, Marketing at Tulemar Resort
Responded Jan 2, 2024
Thank you Stacey for your 5 stars and for staying with us over Christmas. Good suggestion to future guests... book early ideally a year in advance for the best selection. Accurate apprasal of Tule Casa though I'll add it is the best view in all of Tulemar. Stacey I'd suggest a return for you... maybe sans children?... Green season time frame this is the most serene time of year here in Manuel Antonio. Future guests as far as a car is concerned, certainly explorers can go further in the area with a car, but if you are doing tours you'll see much of the surrounding area. And right out in front of Tulemar much is walkable! Thanks again Stacey hope to see you again in Green Season. Pura Vida, Chris at TripAdvisor's 2022 #1 Hotel in the World
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We stayed in Amopola which is one of the bungalows at Tulemar. We had a beautiful, panoramic view of the ocean over the top of the jungle canopy. I can confirm that the photos of the property and accommodations that Tulemar posts are genuinely representative of what you will see when you arrive...no smoke or mirrors.
The grounds are perfectly kept and there are A LOT of grounds. The walkways are well lit at night and security is at a premium (just make sure to close an lock windows to keep the monkeys away from the cookies). The wildlife on property is as advertised. I can confirm that Howler Monkeys indeed howl!
The staff was world class. Fabio, our concierge, was THE MOST attentive host we have ever had. From booking transfers, cabs, meals...what ever, he was a text away with zero notice. These folks love their property and guests and it shows. Additionally, the staff at Tulemar has obviously vetted third party folks that they will hail for you, such as shuttle and taxi drivers. We never once experienced a "sketchy" individual.
We brought tuna back to the restaurant on property. The chef prepared 4 different dishes from it, all world class. The Tico Breakfast on the gorgeous beach was spot-on every morning accompanied by a Monkey Madness or two (or 4).
My wife and I loved our experience so much that we have already chosen a Casa on Tulemar for our return visit. We simply cannot say enough things about the experience we had in this beautiful country with these wonderful people.
-Pura Vida
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Date of stay: August 2021
Value
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Room Tip:Â I did not see a poor view or noisy section. What ever your budget affords will purchase a great...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Charlotte, North Carolina80 contributions8 helpful votes
Yes — SJO is the closest airport. Tulemar provides a very comfortable shuttle van to pick up your party outside the arrivals gate and take you directly to the resort. The cost was $190 each way for our party of 4.
There are more places to choose from in the Manuel Antonio area.
PRICE RANGE
C$568 - C$915 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
buena vista luxury villas hotel manuel antonio national park, buena vista hotel and casas
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Buena Vista Luxury Villas
LOCATION
Costa RicaProvince of PuntarenasQueposManuel Antonio
NUMBER OF ROOMS
38
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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