Choosing a villa for 12, 20, or 30 people comes down to a handful of questions that the listing photos never answer: how many real beds, how many stairs, how big the kitchen is, and whether the pool has an edge a toddler can walk off. Get those right and the trip works. Get the wrong house and you spend the week managing it. Here is how we walk a group through the choice, and what to send us so we can quote in a day.
One big house or two next door
Up to about 16 people, one house is simpler if you can find it with enough proper bedrooms. One kitchen, one pool, one bill, everyone in the same place for dinner. Past that, single houses get rare on this coast and the ones that exist often reach their number with bunk rooms and sofas.
Two houses side by side, or two on the same property, solve more than they cost. The families with babies get a quiet house, the late night crowd gets the other, and everyone still shares the pool and the long table. We have a few pairs like this in Manuel Antonio and more in Guanacaste. The one thing to check is that "next door" means a two minute walk, not a five minute drive down a hill. The large group villas we list say which it is.
Bedroom count versus bed count
"Sleeps 20" is a marketing number. What you need is the bed map: how many bedrooms, which have a king, which have two twins, which are bunk rooms, and which "bedroom" is a sofa bed in a media room. A house with eight bedrooms and 20 beds might have four rooms with a king and four rooms of bunks. Great for a group with a lot of kids. Terrible for ten couples.
Do the same count on your side. Couples, singles who will share, singles who will not, kids who can bunk, kids who need to be next to a parent. Send us that list and the match is quick. Also ask how many bathrooms. Twenty people and four bathrooms is a queue at 7 a.m.
Stairs, hillsides, and the people who cannot do them
Manuel Antonio is a hill and Dominical is steeper. The view comes with stairs: from the parking down to the front door, from the living room down to the pool, from the pool down to the bedrooms. For a group of 30 year olds that is fine. For a grandmother with a hip or a toddler who has just learned to run, it is the whole trip.
Ask for a ground floor bedroom with a bathroom on the same level, a rail on every stair, and a house where you can get from the car to the kitchen without a climb. If anyone in the group has real mobility limits, a flat house near the beach beats a hillside house with a view, and Guanacaste has more of them. Tell us who is coming and we filter for this first.
Kitchen size and a private chef
Twenty people need a real kitchen: two fridges or a fridge and a chest freezer, a six burner stove, a big table, and enough plates. Look at the kitchen photo and count the burners. If the listing has one small fridge, you will be at the supermarket every day.
For groups over ten, a private chef is the thing guests say they would not skip next time. The chef plans the menu with you, shops, cooks in the villa kitchen, serves, and cleans up, and you pay a daily fee plus the groceries. Breakfast and dinner is the usual arrangement, with lunch left to the beach. Tell us allergies, picky eaters, and how many nights you want covered, and ask how the grocery bill is settled so nobody is surprised.
Pools and toddlers
Almost no villa pool in Costa Rica is fenced. Most have an infinity edge, a deep end, and steps that a two year old can reach from the terrace. You can still book a pool house. You plan around it: one adult on pool watch at all times, a house where the pool is visible from the kitchen, and a shallow ledge or a kids' pool if you can find one. Ask us which houses have a separate shallow pool; there are a few. A pool alarm or a temporary fence can sometimes be arranged, but not always, so ask early.
Distance to the beach versus the view
You usually get one or the other. Houses on the hill have the sunset and the monkeys and a ten minute drive to the sand. Houses near the beach are flatter, easier with kids and grandparents, and the view is the garden. For a big group we lean toward the beach, because 20 people moving to the beach twice a day in three cars is the logistics problem that ruins afternoons. If the group is mostly adults and the beach is a once a day thing, take the view.
Manuel Antonio versus Guanacaste
| Manuel Antonio | Guanacaste | |
|---|---|---|
| Airport | San José, about three hours by road | Liberia, 30 to 90 minutes depending on the beach |
| Land | Jungle hillside, stairs, views | Flatter, drier, more gated communities |
| Wildlife | Monkeys in the garden, sloths in the park | Howlers and iguanas, less dense |
| Big houses | Fewer above eight bedrooms, more pairs | More eight to 12 bedroom single houses |
| Weather | Greener, afternoon rain May to November | Drier most of the year, hotter |
| Best for | Groups who want the rainforest and the park | Groups with mobility needs or who want a golf and beach club setup |
We book both. If the group is split, we say this: come to Manuel Antonio for the animals and the national park, go to Guanacaste for the flat ground and the short transfer. Our guide to getting from San José airport to Manuel Antonio covers why big groups usually take two vehicles on the Pacific side.
How deposits and minimum stays usually work
In general terms, because every owner sets their own. A deposit, often a share of the total, holds the dates. The balance is due before arrival, usually a month or two ahead for a large house. A refundable damage deposit is common and is returned after checkout. Minimum stays get longer in the busy weeks: Christmas to New Year and Easter are often a full week, and some houses hold a five night minimum all dry season. Cancellation windows are longer for big houses than for hotel rooms, because an owner cannot refill a 10 bedroom villa in a week. We send you the exact terms for the specific house before you pay anything, and we recommend travel insurance for any group booking.
What to send us so we can quote fast
One message with these answers and we come back with real houses, usually the same day:
- Dates, and whether they can move by a day or two
- Headcount: adults, and children with ages
- Couples, singles who will share, and singles who need their own room
- Anyone who cannot do stairs, and any toddlers
- Which airport you are flying into, or whether that is open
- Beach walk or view, if you have a preference
- Chef, transfers, and a car or not
- A budget range for the house, per night or for the whole stay
If half the group has small children, our guide to Manuel Antonio with kids is the next thing to read. If the group is coming for a wedding, our guide to villas that allow weddings covers guest caps, the 10 p.m. music rule, and the legal steps. More planning guides are on our guides page.
