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Travels with Baby Reviews: Blue Batik Villa, Playa Hermosa (Nicoya Peninsula), Costa Rica
In this Review: The Location The Villa Amenities Activities Words to the Wise Bottom Line More Info & Helpful Links See all Costa Rica travel tips and features from Travels with Baby
Our family stayed at "Blue Batik," a three-bedroom / two-bath villa centered on its own private swimming pool. Most of the villa is open-air, with a large dining area and living room open to the outdoors on three sides, with high ceilings of split bamboo creating ample shade and providing coverage from tropical rains. Even the kitchen, which opens up behind two sliding doors (shown left), is open above its walls. Temporary walls (like giant blinds) can be lowered around dining and living areas if desired. Happily, we felt no need for these.
The sprawling arrangement of bedrooms with the
communal core at the center would be ideal for family reunions or vacations with friends. After the
group congregates at the center, they can slip off to their own private sleeping
quarters. However, with the bedroom doors between them opening onto the
outdoor living area and swimming pool, this arrangement would not be suitable
for parents staying here alone with
While each of the villas I toured at Batik Retreat had its own unique appeal, I’d say ours had the prime position, being the last at the end of the lane and closest to the beach trail, with a private view out the master suite and from its patio hammock. As you can see, it's the ideal place for "Mommy's Time Out." Daily housekeeping and pool service is included for guests staying at Blue Batik. Babysitting is available for $5 US / hour from either of two lovely ladies (I met both) and can be arranged by Dahlia of Costa Rican Vacation, the manager of the Batik Retreat villas. Book your babysitter ASAP as they are very popular with the families here, whether sitting in during naptime while the parents hit the beach or helping supervise the children at the beach while Mom or Dad catch a surf lesson (see more in Activities below). A Pack 'N Play crib for your villa is available on request. The kitchen at Blue Batik is equipped with a full-size refrigerator, startlingly powerful gas range, microwave, electric coffee maker and four stove top espresso makers to keep all your breakfast guests happy. There is also a shared outdoor BBQ area that guests of the villas can use.
As mentioned, the saltwater swimming pool is a definite highlight of the villa, and in spite of being so near a great beach, we made very good use of it, whether allowing the kids a good swim to burn off energy in the morning before setting out on a rugged drive for sightseeing, or while mom prepared dinner for all in the open air kitchen. The villa has WiFi throughout, a sound system in the main living area for your iPod or laptop, and as mentioned above there is a TV with DVD player in one of the guest bedrooms. Laundry is available for $5 per load. While you could easily spend all of your time here between the villa and the beach, it may be hard to do so without developing a yen to surf. Fortunately, surf lessons can be easily arranged by the manager of the Batik Retreats, along with surfboard and boogie board rentals for your whole family. Private yoga lessons are given on request right at Batik Retreat in the yoga shala, and other yoga classes are available at the Florblanca Spa in Santa Teresa. Zip-lining is available a short drive away at Mal Pais, and while we didn't try it ourselves, I've been told they'll allow children as young as 5 years to zip at this location.
Cabo Blanco National Park and Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary are approximately one hour's drive from here. As mentioned earlier, dinner with your own private chef is available and can be a highly enjoyable "activity" in itself (more on this to come in the Travels with Baby blog). Ask the Costa Rican Vacation property manager for details, including their new torch-lit barbecue evening option (also available at Casa Vista). For more ideas of family-friendly activities in this part of Costa Rica, see the 5 Best with Children Under 5: Nicoya Peninsula. - To get to this southern portion of the Nicoya Pensinsula from central Costa Rica, you will either take the car ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera (read my tips here), and drive crossing the Rio Negro as we did, or fly into the small airport at Tambor on Nature Air. You can arrange for a rental car from Tambor or get a ride with a hired driver arranged by Costa Rican Vacation. - As you might imagine, getting to Hermosa can be a family adventure in itself, and be prepared that Google Maps and your GPS won't be of much help on the Pacific side of Cobano. The same advice I give in my Casa Vista review applies here: Roads are rough, but few, making it easy to guess the right one, and people are friendly. Keep your Spanish phrasebook handy and remember what the caballero told us as we drove through his herd: "Turn left at the big mango tree." - A small market is located just two doors up from the entrance to the Batik Retreat villas.
- If you prefer, you may arrange to have your groceries meet you at your villa through Costa Rican Vacation's grocery service, which was very helpful for us during our earlier stay at Casa Vista.
- Bring extra
family-friendly insect repellent Did we enjoy our stay at Blue Batik? Yes. Would we recommend it to a friend? Yes. Would we stay there again? Absolutely. More Travels with Baby Hotel Reviews
All photos, video, and content (c) 2011 by Shelly Rivoli. See editorial disclaimer concerning hotel reviews here.
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The focal point of the outdoor living section is the
saltwater swimming pool, which goes from a depth of about four feet to five feet
and proved to be the perfect depth for us spending time standing in the water
visiting and assisting little swimmers. While I was concerned how my 2-year-old
would react to having a fully accessible pool beside our living room, we were
very glad when he embraced the idea of an "invisible fence" we declared where
the wooden pool deck meets the cement floors of the living space. Still, it
requires an added measure of vigilance for anyone staying at this particular
villa with a toddler. If you think this may pose a constant frustration for your
toddler (and yourself), know that other villas at Batik Retreat (
The
bedrooms at Blue Batik are completely enclosed with screened windows and ceiling
fans, plus individual AC. The master suite is positioned off to the
west across a small wooden bridge, and features a king bed with mosquito net canopy and its own
covered patio facing out into trees and greenery. A hammock and chair help you
fully enjoy the scene. We quickly realized we had no need of the sheer drapes on
that side of the room and opened them up to fully enjoy the view of an
impressive spiky tree, greenery and an occasional horse. The bi-folded glass
doors lining the wall also open up either singly, doubly, or entirely to suit
your mood. A sliding door leads from this bedroom to an open-air bathroom that
was lovely by day, but proved to be even prettier by night with its accent
lighting. 
The
two other bedrooms are located across a second small bridge at the opposite end
of the villa. Each
of these bedrooms sleeps three people with both a queen-size and twin bed.
Between these two rooms, with its own entrance, is a slightly larger open-air
bathroom. The second of these bedrooms has a TV with DVD player and a small
collection of DVDs for guests' use (a few are kid-friendly). 
only very young children. If
that's the case for you, take a look at some of the
A private chef can also
be arranged, whether for one special meal at your villa, one daily meal, or for
all meals during your stay (
Day trips to Tortuga Island
and some other
popular destinations can be arranged through Costa Rican Vacation.
and incense to use during your evenings in the outdoor living
room. While the mosquitoes did not bother everyone in the family so much as they
did me (I am famous for drawing them even in the least likely places, let alone
in the tropics), I think some incense would have been helpful in the evenings (and I did find some incense holders
in drawers at the villa
.jpg)
