Costa Rica Jan 2010- Lucy

I was in Costa Rica for 3 days to site 3 hotels for a group of 160. Here are my thoughts

Hilton Papagayo
15 minutes from the apo.
This is a recent addition to the Hilton family and they have just spend $60mil on a renovation. The rooms are lovely, flat screen TVs, fridge (not stocked), 300 thread-count sheets and feather duvets. The hotel is made up of 90% 1, 2 and 3 bedroom bungalows and 10% “normal” hotel style rooms. Do not poo poo the hotel rooms as they are up on a cliff and have LOVELY views of the bay and sunset-their interior is just the same as the bungalows. The bungalows have either water or garden views-spend the extra $$ on water views.
The challenge of the hotel is that it is built in a valley with super views of the bay. If you are not a mountain goat or 24 years old, you must use their shuttle system. It is good but does limit your ability to get around quickly. Golf is not onsite but close. The other Costa Rica activities (zip line, hiking in a rain forest) is a 45 minute drive. F&B is nice and for a couple or family that wants quaint and small, this is really nice.

Paradisus Costa Rica
45 minutes from the apo
This is a typical Paradisus-seriously, it is an exact clone of the Paradisus Punta Cana. Room are all suites and nicely appointed. Very few rooms have water views as the hotel is short on beach front and long on garden view rooms. They have a casino, disco and a selection of restaurants. We found the food OK but not fabulous-a bit salty for my taste. The service was good, landscaping nice and it needs to be as so few rooms have water views. It was a nice hotel but lacked any character or charm.

Marriott Los Suanos
1 hour 15 minutes from the apo as there is a new highway. Quicker but not as pretty.
Well worth the drive! The setting is exactly what we American’s think Costa Rica looks like-dense foliage covered mountains and flowering trees. The golf course on site is gorgeous! The hotel is only about 10 years old but it appears to have been built in an old sugar plantation complete with aqueducts. A very nice architecture/decorating job and I really did ask what the building used to be. Food is great and you must have your clients have dinner at their fusion restaurant-quite the experience. The pool is huge, lovely and full of little bays and bridges. The hotel sits on a bay with a long sand beach. There is a marina on the other side of the bay and it is very pretty. The rooms are nice about 70% have water views and the rest golf course views. Spend the $$ on water views but you will be happy with golf course views.