Recreo means recreation in Spanish, and if you're looking for a recess from life, I have just the place. Recreo is a new real estate development on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica in the Guanacaste province.

When completed, Recreo will consist of 25 privately owned villas. Seven are currently built and are being rented out to visitors. The villas are four and five star with Wi-Fi access and Direct TV. Built into the mountaintop, each has a private pool and most overlook the ocean, which is only a short distance away and is easily accessible by private golf cart or mountain bike.

Recreo only employs Costa Ricans, and each villa comes with a private cook who prepares all your meals and a full-time housekeeper. To top it all off, all drinks, soft and hard, flow freely. Some other features of Recreo include a combination of tennis and basketball court and a gym. All on site activities from fishing, boating, kayaking and horseback riding are also part of your stay.

In these early stages, spa treatments and yoga are only on request and, in general, there are still some kinks to be worked out. Liberia airport is two hours away and transfers are included. About a half hour of the ride is on a bumpy dirt road.