I had my wedding at Villa Cascada in April, 2014 and I simply cannot say enough good things about it. The pictures honestly do not accurately show how incredible Villa Cascada is. The whole setup of the place is incredible; the pool is right beside the eating/bar area so people can all be together the entire time. There is an amazing upper hot tub area with bar stools and a shaded sitting area where my friends and family loved to hang out. They have a shuffleboard table, ping pong, pool and foosball tables, corn hole and a water volleyball net. They have floats so you can relax in the pool during the day. The rooms were all outstanding – big, comfortable beds, amazing bathrooms, and a lot of the rooms had incredible views. The villa is located on a hill above Playa Ocotal and gets a great breeze and an outstanding view of the sunset.
The staff is absolutely amazing. We did not have to think about any logistical things while we were there. The bartenders are AWESOME, all the food was to-die-for, your room is cleaned daily and they even offer free laundry service. Anything and everything you could think of is taken care of for you. The excursions were great and very easy to plan – we paid the manager the day of the tours so it could not have been easier. We did the Don Bosco sail and the Half-Day Canopy Tour and I honestly would recommend them both. Our sunset was great on our sail day and we even had some dolphins surf our bow! Monkeys joined us for the entire canopy tour and the staff there were awesome and the drive was well organized.
The wedding day was spectacular; it was more than I could have wanted. They change around the layout of the Villa so it honestly seems like a different place than where you have been staying all week. The music system is easy to hook up with your own music and slideshows if desired. The woman who made our cake (arranged by the wedding coordinators) did a fantastic job and I absolutely LOVED my flowers. The hair and makeup guy and his assistant did an incredible job and we opted for massages for the girls the morning of the wedding; it was one of the best massages I’ve ever had and a great way to start the day. I do not have one bad thing I could say about my wedding day.
To be honest, I was a little worried about the price of the Villa for my guests, but after being there I would definitely recommend it. After traveling around Costa Rica I can tell you that food and drinks are not cheap, so the deal you get for the quality you get at Villa Cascada is SO WORTH IT.
I planned my wedding with the two coordinators while traveling, so I could not have made it more difficult on them. My sister is very organized and kept things going, but you can have them make as many or as few detailed decisions for you as you want. For me, I was not very interested in planning every detail of my wedding and honestly used my sister to help me make a lot of my decisions. I am sure the two coordinators could make more decisions for you if you were able to have phone conversations and more reliable internet correspondence than I was able to have.
I could not recommend Villa Cascada more highly, whether it be for just a vacation or for a wedding. I absolutely loved it and couldn’t imagine a more ideal place.
-Allison C (June 2014)
