Family: Places: Family Escape, Four Seasons Costa Rica

Family Escape, Four Seasons Costa Rica

From A.T., NY

We are back from Costa Rica and had a very good time. The Four Seasons has a great location, as it is built on a small peninsula that stretches out into the Pacific. We received an upgrade from our original reservation and stayed in one of the larger suites which are located on the hillside. Although they are further away from the lobby, the pools and the beaches than the rooms located in the two main buildings, they offer a lot of privacy and give you a much better chance of seeing the wildlife (birds, coatis and monkeys). The staff was incredibly nice and helpful in trying to locate our luggage which we unfortunately only recovered a few days after returning to the US (hence the advantage of traveling only with hand luggage)!

On a more general note, I found the resort great for a very short getaway or to relax at the end of a more thorough trip of the country. In order to get a real view of Costa Rica, it might be better to stay in one of the eco-lodges mentioned on the Indagare website as all the major points of interest are several hours of driving away from the resort and the roads can be quite rough. As the resort is very secluded and seems to host large international groups (business meetings, etc.), you hardly get any feel of Costa Rica unless you travel around. Another thing to keep in mind is that the two beaches of the resort are very quiet: while it is perfect for younger children (especially the one on the bay side), if you are looking for bigger waves or want to go surfing, you have to go to other beaches outside of the hotel. According to the locals, it is still better to avoid the beaches around Tamarindo, although they are now open again. (Editor’s note: Some of these beaches were briefly closed due to contamination in the water from waste released by a local hotel. The Four Seasons’ beaches were luckily not affected.) This is also true for Playa Conchal, which is close by and is one of the nicest beaches of the country and one of the few with white sand. Contamination was indeed an issue, but it is being addressed and things will hopefully go back to normal soon; the hotel responsible for the pollution has already reopened!

As for the time of travel, we chose on purpose to go during the dry season (end of November to end of April) in order to avoid the occasional heavy rain. It is however important to keep in mind that this is the “dry rain forest”: everything is indeed very dry: trees loose their leaves and the vegetation feels like fall in the US. The locals call it the “gold season” because everything turns yellow. So, if you are looking for the typical green rain forest, you have to go during or right after the rainy season or travel further inland or south (Puntarenas). In any event, we loved Costa Rica and plan on returning and visiting the rest of the country.

FOUR SEASONS COSTA RICA: Peninsula Papagayo, Guanacaste. 506-2-696-0000. www.fourseasons.com/costarica