Arena Blanca · Playa Chiquita, Puerto Viejo

Ten-apartment hotel around a garden courtyard

Single-storey apartments under white metal roofs, set around a planted courtyard on the coast road at Playa Chiquita.

Land: 1,145 m²
Built area: 583 m²

The property

Ten apartments around one courtyard

Arena Blanca is a small apartment hotel of ten units. Single-storey wings under white corrugated metal roofs enclose a courtyard of lawn, palms and bromeliads, crossed by curved paths in terracotta-coloured concrete. A two-storey building stands at the road side, with a balustraded balcony and an outside stair.

From the road, a timber door set in an arched opening in the rendered boundary wall leads into the courtyard. Each apartment has its own porch or garden: covered porches with white timber railings and cream curtains between textured, rendered columns.

Inside, the apartments share one finish: large grey porcelain floor tiles, white-boarded ceilings on exposed beams and air-conditioning in the bedrooms. Kitchens are built in, with counters and splashbacks in patterned cement-style tile and linen curtains in place of cupboard doors. Each has a refrigerator, an induction hob, a coffee machine, a blender, cookware and tableware, with a table and chairs inside and out.

The largest apartment, Ensis, has 120 m² inside, with a living room open on two sides to a balcony. A laundry of 24 m² and an office with its own bathroom of 22 m² complete the buildings.

Features

What the property includes

Ten apartments, 35 to 120 m² inside
Private porch or garden for each apartment
Planted courtyard with palms and bromeliads
Kitchens in patterned cement-style tile
Air-conditioned bedrooms
Laundry and office with bathroom
46.91 m of frontage on the public road
Parking along the front wall

The apartments

Sizes and beds

Interior area, then porch and garden, as given by the owner. Calilla: 35 m² and 45 m², one queen bed. Abaloni: 65 m² and 35 m², one queen bed and a single sofa bed. Puperita: 48 m² and 60 m², one queen bed and a double sofa bed. Estrella: 53 m² and 78 m², one queen bed and a single sofa bed. Charonia: 38 m² and 28 m², one queen bed and a single sofa bed.

Conus: 40 m² and 45 m², one queen bed and a double sofa bed. Vongola: 45 m² and 38 m², one queen bed and a double sofa bed. Nautilus: 37 m² with a 20 m² porch, one queen bed. Ciprea: 56 m² and 38 m², one queen bed and one double bed. Ensis: 120 m² with a 15 m² garden, two queen beds and one double bed, and a rice cooker and microwave in its kitchen.

In all, 537 m² of apartments and 402 m² of porches and gardens, plus the laundry and the office.

Land

A walled plot on the public road

The plot measures 1,145 m² on its survey plan, with 46.91 m of frontage on the public road. Guests park on gravel along the front wall.

Setting

Playa Chiquita

Playa Chiquita sits on the stretch of Caribbean coast between Puerto Viejo and Punta Uva, in the canton of Talamanca. Buses run along the coast road to Cahuita, Manzanillo and Sixaola.

Photographs

Inside Arena Blanca

Arched gateway in a rendered white wall under a canopy of climbing plants, the planted courtyard visible through the open door — The gate from the road

Aerial view of white metal roofs arranged in a U around a courtyard of lawn, palms and terracotta paths, with gravel parking along the road — The buildings and courtyard from above

Aerial view from the road: a two-storey building with a balustraded balcony and outside stair, the single-storey wings and courtyard behind, forest beyond — The two-storey building and the wings behind

Porch of the Calilla apartment with white timber railings, a table and chairs, opening onto its own lawn — Calilla, porch and garden

Tiled veranda under a white-boarded ceiling, white railings on one side and the courtyard planting beyond — Veranda along the courtyard

Living room open on two sides to a balcony with a white balustrade, a round dining table with red chairs and a leather sofa, trees beyond — Ensis, living room and balcony

Kitchen with two tiled counters facing each other, a dark timber wardrobe on the right and glass doors to the living room — Ensis, kitchen

Kitchen counter faced in patterned cement-style tiles, with an induction hob, coffee machine, blender and a double sink, a linen curtain below — A kitchen counter in patterned tile

Bedroom with a bed on a rendered plinth, open shelving, an iron chandelier and sliding doors to the bathroom — Ensis, bedroom

Bedroom with a queen bed on a white plinth, a red painting above it and a large window onto the porch — Calilla, bedroom