{"id":5284,"date":"2016-02-16T08:31:22","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T13:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5284"},"modified":"2016-03-17T07:03:59","modified_gmt":"2016-03-17T11:03:59","slug":"our-costa-rica-hotel-pura-vida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5284","title":{"rendered":"Our Costa Rica Hotel? \u00a1Pura Vida!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Andaz

Hotel room balcony<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2019d 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\u2019s worldwide. This one was worth every penny.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a1Pura Vida!<\/em> Is the untranslatable motto of Costa Rica, which suggests enjoying life at the max, and it\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019t speak English (Me, with big smile: \u201cPlantas est\u00e1n muy bonita<\/em>.\u201d Him, with big smile: \u201cS\u00ed<\/em>\u201d and thinking, \u201cwhat the heck did she just say?\u201d). My linguistic provincialism is routinely embarrassing.<\/p>\n

\"Andaz<\/p>\n

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\u2014even the buffet breakfast. We watched the Super Bowl in Spanish at the tapas bar.<\/p>\n

The spa is elegant, and the grounds and infinity pools, also built into a steep hillside, are beautiful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Andaz

Infinity pool built into hillside<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2019s also a gym and golf course availability, which we didn\u2019t use. Don\u2019t let the steep terrain of the Andaz\u2019s 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\u2019s end, it was getting easier.<\/p>\n

\"Beach\"<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Million-dollar bonus: stars at night, by the bushelsful.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(All photos by the author.<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Our Costa Rica Hotel? \u00a1Pura Vida! - sometimes you get what you pay for","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[104,78],"tags":[469,416],"class_list":["post-5284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-morgue","category-travel","tag-costa-rica","tag-real-life"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-1ne","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5284"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5400,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5284\/revisions\/5400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}