Best Hotels on Pacific Coast - probably in all of Costa Rica

For those of you looking for a more upscale experience, I have polled my friends and family in Costa Rica and come up with the following list.  Below are the recommendations beginning with the best:

 (Note the first four are in Guanacaste - best airport for these is in Liberia)
1. The Four Seasons:  http://www.fourseasons.com/costarica/
- Most of my family and friends in Costa Rica believe that the Four Seasons must be amazing, but none of them are familiar with that area. That being said, they do not believe the beach area at the four seasons is very good.I have not stayed at the four seasons, but stayed at a resort directly across from the bay from the Four Seasons and got a good look at the beach when we went fishing. The beach looked nice to me, but it also appeared to be very small. I could not see much of the resort as it has heavy tree cover, which is great, because that area can be very hot, as it was when I stayed nearby. Reviews online indicate this is an amazing resort.


2: The Westin Golf Resort & Spa, Playa Conchal: 
http://www.westinplayaconchal.com/ (this is all inclusive)
- I have driven around a little bit at this resort. My impression was that it is huge, but beautiful. I also went to the beach at the resort (all beaches are public in Costa Rica, although, some are harder to get to than others). The beach is very unique. It is a mixture of white sand and very tiny white sea shells. The water was very nice as well.

3: JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort & Spa Costa Rica: http://www.jwguanacastespa.com/
- I have never been here, but my family tells me this place is incredible. It is supposed to have the largest pool in Costa Rica. The pictures from the website appear to support this.

4: Riu Palace Costa Rica: http://riucostarica.com/ (this is all inclusive)
- This is a newer resort with great reviews, so there is a lot of excitement among my friends and family about this hotel, but they have not stayed there.

 (Note the next two are in Puntarenas - best airport for these is in San Jose)

5: Los Suenos Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort  http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sjols-los-suenos-marriott-ocean-and-golf-resort/ 
- I have stayed here and it is a beautiful resort with a beautiful pool and great restaurants.  It is located in Herradura, closer to San Jose than the other hotels above. This is a plus when looking for other activities, as you are only about an 90 minutes away from San Jose, volcano tours, and other great tourist options.  When I stayed there about 4 years ago there were very few activities other than Golf and spa.  They now have a casino and a kids club. I have several family members who prefer Los Suenos over the Hilton DoubleTree Puntarenas. The beach is not very good and they do not promote it much. It is more about relaxing in a tropical local alongside a beautiful pool.

6: Hilton DoubleTree Puntarenuas: http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/costa-rica/doubletree-resort-by-hilton-hotel-central-pacific-costa-rica-JAPCRDT/index.html  (this is all inclusive)
- I have stayed at the this hotel for years, sometimes twice a year.  The service is amazing. The rooms are nice, although I hear the rooms in building three are the best. We always get a junior suite on the ground floor in front of the kids pool... you step out of your room and 10 more steps puts you in the beach like pool.  The food is good, nothing special. They change it up every nice with a different theme.  There are lots of activities for kids and a fun and entertaining show every night for adults. They recently closed their casino, which is a negative for me, but might be a positive for others.  The beach itself is not that great. They do tend it, but the water is rough and discolored from the nearby river run-off. That being said, I saw plenty of locals swimming in the ocean near the resort during our visit last week.

I will add other hotels as I become comfortable with recommending them.  I have stayed in three or four different hotels in Quepos near Manuel Antonio, and I love this area, but the hotels I have stayed in are are not in the same league as those above.  The hotels you see online for this area look nice, but are not within walking distance to the beach at Manuel Antonio, so you will likely be driving your rental car, taking a hotel shuttle, or taxi to get to the beach.

Pura Vida,

Mike

Safety and Security

Costa Rica is pretty safe, especially compared to the rest of central and south america., but be aware of your surroundings and your belongings. Don't leave luggage where it is visable through the windows in your car, make sure you always lock your car, and park it a regular well lit parking area. I would recommend getting the full insurance on the car rental (you have to pay almost 65% of the full rate anyway by law, so you might as well be fully covered.

Flying into Costa Rica

When you fly into Costa Rica you are actually arriving into Alajuela, which is a small town outside of the capital (about 20 minutes).

The other option is Liberia, which is advisable if you are going to be spending most of your time in the North West Pacific coast.  Saves you about 4 -5 hours of driving time.
 
If you get in late in the evening, I suggest getting a taxi to your hotel and picking up your rental car in the morning. You don't need to be driving around trying to find your hotel in your brand new rental car at night.

By the way, there is an ATM in the luggage claim area of the SJO airport. This is a great time to get some local currency. Very safe, and you generally get good exchange rates via your bank.