We host three houses with a pool inside Punta Leona, all a walk from Playa Mantas: Casa Azul with a private pool, and Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise with a salt water one they share with each other. Each sleeps eight, and you can book Lapas Paradise and Natural Leona together as Lapas Leona Home for up to 16, with the pool to yourselves. Rates start at $266 a night. Here they are, compared house by house.
Which are the three houses and how do they differ?
All three are whole houses in residential neighborhoods inside Punta Leona, not hotel rooms, and all three have self check-in from 15:00 and check-out at 11:00. Casa Azul is in the Barlovento neighborhood, 75 meters from the Arenas supermarket; Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise are next-door houses in the Las Lapas area, and Lapas Leona Home is the listing that books both of them together. The facts come from the Airbnb listings.
| House | Sleeps and beds | Pool | Playa Mantas | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casa Azul | 8 (2 bedrooms, 5 beds, 2 baths) | Private, in the middle of the house | About 15 minutes on foot | $287 a night |
| Natural Leona | 8 (2 bedrooms, 5 beds, 2 baths plus a half bath shared at the pool) | Salt water, shared with Lapas Paradise | Walking distance | $266 a night |
| Lapas Paradise | 8 (2 bedrooms, 5 beds, 2 baths plus a half bath shared at the pool) | Salt water, shared with Natural Leona | About 10 minutes on foot | $292 a night |
| Lapas Leona Home (Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise together) | 16 (4 bedrooms, 8 beds, 4 baths plus a half bath at the pool) | Private, salt water, with a rancho | Walking distance | $355 a night |
Airbnb ratings as of September 2026: Casa Azul 4.95 across 37 reviews, Lapas Paradise 4.73 across 11, Natural Leona 5.0 across only 3 so far, and the combined Lapas Leona Home listing 5.0 across 37.
Which pool is private and which is shared?
Casa Azul has a pool for its own guests only. Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise share a salt water pool and rancho when both are booked on the same nights, and when you book both as Lapas Leona Home it is yours alone.
At Casa Azul the pool is the center of the floor plan: the kitchen, living room, terrace and both bedrooms open onto it, with a hammock beside it. It has no gate or lock; with small children, floaties and one adult watching the water.
Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise stand side by side, and their salt water pool sits behind the two houses, with a shallow ledge, an outdoor shower and a covered rancho with a table for eight. It has no fence either. Guests say it is bigger than it looks in the photos. If the neighboring house is empty on your dates, you have it to yourselves; if it is booked, you share. A guest who expected it private was disappointed, so ask us about your dates before booking. Or book both as Lapas Leona Home and the pool is yours alone.
How far is the beach from each house?
All of them are a walk from Playa Mantas, the cove with gentle waves that Two Weeks in Costa Rica calls good for swimming even with young kids (February 2026). From Casa Azul a guest timed it at about 15 minutes on foot. From Lapas Paradise another guest measured about ten minutes; Natural Leona is next door, and its listing says “walking distance” without giving minutes.
Playa Blanca, the white-sand one, lies beyond: about 15 minutes more on foot from the south end of Mantas, over a rocky point that is easiest at low tide per Costa Rica Travel Blog, or on the club shuttle if you buy the paid bracelet. Our Punta Leona beaches guide covers the crossing, the tides and the parking. A guest recommends renting a golf cart to move between the house, the club and the beach; for Jacó you will want a car.
What does a night cost and what does Airbnb show?
Rates start at $287 a night at Casa Azul, $266 at Natural Leona and $292 at Lapas Paradise, for the whole house, and at $355 for both Las Lapas houses together as Lapas Leona Home. Those are the lowest prices we have seen on Airbnb for each listing; they vary by season, and we do not have a season table to give you, so the exact figure for your dates is the one Airbnb shows once you enter them.
Two things are worth knowing before you compare with a hotel. First, Casa Azul charges per guest on the reservation, so the total rises with the number of people you enter. Second, when we checked in September 2026 these prices were Airbnb’s totals, with no separate guest service fee; Airbnb says some listings add one, and it would appear in the price breakdown before you confirm. Look at the total, not the nightly price, and divide it by your group.
Which house fits your group?
A family with small children: Casa Azul. It is single-story, the pool is in view from the kitchen and the sofa, there are children’s books, toys and beach gear, and the Arenas supermarket with the Pops ice cream shop is 75 meters away. The main bedroom has a king bed and the second has two bunk beds with a double below and a single above. The kitchen side gets hot in the afternoon and has fans, not air conditioning; the bedrooms do have it. There is a desk and Wi-Fi measured at 118 Mbps.
Two couples, or a family of up to eight that wants air conditioning throughout: Lapas Paradise or Natural Leona. They are modern two-story houses with a double-height ceiling and a kitchen with an island and an oven. Lapas Paradise has air conditioning in almost every room and 126 Mbps Wi-Fi; Natural Leona adds a garden and a BBQ grill with utensils. In both, the third bedroom stays locked, and at Lapas Paradise the shower water is set to warm rather than hot, by design.
Two families or a big group: Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise together, booked as Lapas Leona Home. Sixteen people in two mirrored houses, each with its own front door, kitchen and living room, four air-conditioned bedrooms, eight beds and four and a half bathrooms (two full in each house, plus a half bath by the pool), and the pool behind them shared with no strangers. To find it, follow our directions, because map apps do not name the streets of the neighborhood.
What do they all have in common?
At all three you walk in without passing a front desk: a lockbox at Casa Azul (between 15:00 and 20:00), a smart lock at Lapas Paradise, a keypad at Natural Leona. All three have a washer (paid at Natural Leona), parking, Wi-Fi and air conditioning in the bedrooms, and the two in Las Lapas also have a dryer, for a fee. None of the three accepts pets, and all keep quiet hours from 21:00 to 08:00.
Two things surprise first-time arrivals. Raccoons open doors left ajar, so close them when you go out. And the way in: since June 2026 the Punta Leona entrance gate on the main road is gone, removed by court order; the resort’s own entrance rules for people who are not hotel guests can change, so ask us which entrance to use before you drive in.
Where to stay
All three houses in this guide are ours. For a family with kids, Casa Azul; for eight with air conditioning throughout, Lapas Paradise or Natural Leona; for up to 16 with a private pool, both of them together as Lapas Leona Home. If you are weighing a house against the hotel, Punta Leona hotel or a house with a pool puts the two side by side, and the Punta Leona page has the rest of the area. Message us on WhatsApp with your dates and how many you are; we tell you which house is free and whether the shared pool will be yours alone.
Questions this guide answers
Are the pools fenced?
No, and each house says so in its rules: Casa Azul's pool sits in the middle of the floor plan between the bedrooms and the kitchen with no gate or lock. At Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise the salt water pool is in the back yard behind the glass doors of the living room, with no fence, including when you book both houses as Lapas Leona Home. The rule is the same at all three houses: floaties for anyone who cannot swim yet and one adult watching the water.
Can we book Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise together for two families?
Yes, and it is the best way to use them: book Lapas Leona Home, which is exactly these two houses together. They are next-door houses, each sleeping eight, sharing one salt water pool and its rancho. Booked together they add up to 16 people, two kitchens, two living rooms and a pool nobody else shares. Message us on WhatsApp with your dates and we confirm both are free.
Are the pools salt water or chlorine?
Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise share a salt water pool, the same one you have to yourselves when you book both as Lapas Leona Home, and the listings describe it as gentler on eyes, skin and swimwear. The Casa Azul listing does not state the water type of its pool; if it matters to you, ask us before booking. Both Las Lapas houses ask you to shower before the pool and rinse sand off at the hose out front.
Does the house price include access to the Punta Leona club?
No. The club's pools, courts, restaurants and shuttle to Playa Blanca are paid per person with a bracelet whose price and rules the club sets and changes, and the hotel does not publish the rate on its website as of September 2026. The beaches are public and free: Playa Mantas is a walk from all three houses and Playa Blanca continues along the sand at low tide. Most of our guests never buy the pass.
Sources
- Airbnb, Casa Azul Punta Leona (listing 33528851)
- Airbnb, Lapas Leona Home (listing 37518767)
- Airbnb, Lapas Paradise Punta Leona Home (listing 1208886125089974716)
- Airbnb, Natural Leona Modern Stay (listing 1207550754386375722)
- Airbnb Help, Airbnb service fees (guest service fee)
- Hotel Punta Leona, FAQ (distance from SJO, day pass)
- Two Weeks in Costa Rica, Playa Mantas (February 2026)
- Costa Rica Travel Blog, Playa Blanca central Pacific (July 2024)
