Jake, the owner, is a wonderful person and very helpful. The house is clean but rundown and dank. Because it was the Christmas season, it was very overpriced for the value- but everything in Costa Rica is overpriced during that season. The great things were hot water and air conditioning and just how helpful Jake was. The photos are for the most part true but the street that the house is on is pretty rough.

OMG… What a wonderful time we spent in Casa Tamarindo in Playa Grande. If you’re looking for a genuine Tico (nickname for native Costarican) experience in a safe and friendly neighborhood close to Playa Grande (800m.), well this is the place to go. In opposite to some people’s expectation, this place is not a five star hotel next to souvenirs stores and crowded beaches. And you know what? It’s perfect like that! My husband, two kids (6 and 7 years old) and I stayed at Casa Tamarindo for a week (January 9th to 16th). First of all, I would like to thank Jake (owner) and his little family for the warm welcome that we received upon arrival and throughout our stay at Casa Tamarindo. We now consider them as friends! They were always there to help us and answer our questions. Jake was kind enough to show us around and tell us about the stories of Playa Grande and the surroundings. This little tico house as everything you need to feel at home. It is clean, bug free and well maintained; it has all the amenities and even has a flat screen TV (interesting for the kids) and an amazing Wifi connection (better than some places in Canada). The only thing that we would have appreciated would have been a washer and dryer but no worries, Jake and Tania (Jake’s lovely wife) can do your laundry for you for a very low cost. As for the neighborhood, Casa Tamarindo is located on a small street in the heart of Playa Grande right behind Kikes’ Place (which is a very quiet and great restaurant and not a ‘noisy bar’ as you can read in other comments) . If you like the beach it’s perfect because it is less than 10 minutes away by sandals or 1 minute by car. Great surfing during the day, amazing sunsets and turtle watch at night. Playa Grande has it all and it’s quiet and peaceful. If you want more action, no problem because the vibrant city of Tamarindo is only 25 minutes away.
In a few words, you can’t go wrong with Casa Tamarindo if you want to live the "Pura Vida".
Thank you again for the wonderful time!
P.S. If you want to have a surf lesson, go around the corner to frijoles!

SCAM ALERT. Stay elsewhere, there are better places closer to the beach.
We arrived for a four day (prepaid) visit and left within minutes to find another place . The owner stated he would make sure we got a refund and then lied to TripAdvisor denying any such statement. He claimed he had no ability to give us back even some of the money. We tried to contact Tripadvisor within an hour and found we had no way to contact them without an e-mail password we didn't have with us. We contacted our very computer savvy daughter at home and she commented on what a bad business model Tripadvisor has since she was not able to contact them in any way. They do not take phone calls and so we were stuck with not being able to contact the company until we returned home 7 days later. We stupidly trusted this very untrustworthy owner.
Still fighting about a refund. The owner, Tripadvisor and Flipkey are all uncooperative and no help so far - buyer beware!
Pictures and description on website are old and all from a previous owner. Time has not been kind to this place or the neighborhood setting. The house was not close to the beach, it is in a garbage dump area, (with a no dumping sign). The house looks at tin metal shack like partial structures, the dump as above, and the washed out driveway which goes past a loud bar within a couple hundred feet of the house just about ruined the bottom of our rental car. The small refrigerator in the picture was replaced with a smaller icebox type that does not make ice. The place felt and smelled like an old frat house and the kitchen had been downgraded to the point that we would not care to cook anything in it. .Scam Alert!

Stayed at this place for a week and was very happy with everything. The restaurant right next to it was awesome, beach is a close walk and had killer surf the entire time, and the place is sweet! Very comfy evrgthing works great no complaints I'd definitely come back and plan to!