Hotel room balcony

Scottsdale cousins arranged accommodations for our recent week-long Costa Rica trip. We were tag-alongs, so in a show of agreeability just went with their choice. At the last minute (24 hours before our flight time), they unfortunately had to cancel. This was not because they’d done a more careful accounting of the hotel costs, which conceivably could induce a cardiac event in the unwary. We stayed with it. The Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort where we stayed is a high-end Hyatt brand, and there are a few Andaz’s worldwide. This one was worth every penny.

The 153 rooms have many thoughtful design features. I liked best the balcony with its view through the trees down to the bay. Early in the morning, with the howler monkeys howling, the tropical birds screeching, and a cup of coffee steaming, to sit outside in 75-degree temperatures was heaven.

¡Pura Vida! Is the untranslatable motto of Costa Rica, which suggests enjoying life at the max, and it’s certainly the watchphrase of the Andaz resort staff. When Costa Rica eliminated the military in 1948, those monies were diverted into improving the citizenry’s quality of life. Best health care system in Central America. Best educational system (free to an extent that would warm Bernie Sanders’s heart-cockles), and highest literacy rate. Schooling includes English. If I worked at it, I could find older members of the gardening staff who don’t speak English (Me, with big smile: “Plantas están muy bonita.” Him, with big smile: “Sí” and thinking, “what the heck did she just say?”). My linguistic provincialism is routinely embarrassing.

The beautiful welcome lobby’s vaulted ceiling is lined with river reeds and it’s wide open, letting the breezes (during our stay, strong winds) blow through. That’s where you find the knowledgeable and extremely conscientious concierge staff. They set us up with tours to the places we wanted to see and kept us up-to-date as conditions changed. Their goal was to make sure we had a good time, and in that they were beyond successful! The food at the resort’s three restaurants is excellent—even the buffet breakfast. We watched the Super Bowl in Spanish at the tapas bar.

The spa is elegant, and the grounds and infinity pools, also built into a steep hillside, are beautiful.

Infinity pool built into hillside

The hotel has two beaches on the bay, but when we wanted the Pacific Ocean experience, a free shuttle drove us to the beach club. There’s also a gym and golf course availability, which we didn’t use. Don’t let the steep terrain of the Andaz’s 28 acres put you off. A golf cart will come immediately to take you anywhere on the grounds you want to go. We walked up and down the steep paths and by week’s end, it was getting easier.

We probably would stay closer to the cloud forest on a return trip and save ourselves some long van rides, but as a place for a getaway and a once-in-a-lifetime vacation? Priceless.

Million-dollar bonus: stars at night, by the bushelsful.

(All photos by the author.)