Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo
Ok everybody, here we go. If you have seen this resort online and wondered if you should go…well you should go! My brother lives in Costa Rica and I was way overdue for a visit. My husband and I decided to fly down and see him and the kids in San Jose and then drive 4 hours to the beach. The roads have improved a lot, but I’m glad I only had to make that drive one way because we flew out of Liberia. Liberia has a nice airport that is only about a 20-30 minute drive from the resort. Airport convenience is a huge factor when we travel, because we definitely want to go back with kids at some point and convenience is key with kids!! No sense on making things harder on yourself with an airport far from the resort.
The resort and the service are superb. As soon as we walked into our room it smelled like a spa and I still can’t figure out how to make my house smell like that… The resort itself is located on a peninsula so there are two different beaches you can go to as well as four pools. One Adult pool, one kiddie pool (tons of shade), one regular pool and one special pool with incredible service that includes magazines, 30 minute massage, etc. The staff is very attentive and it was fun getting to know the beach and pool attendants from day to day. I’m just glad that our beach attendant told us about his friend who died in a shark attack accident was AFTER we got back from jet skiing. Don’t worry though, it happened in a different town. But still, I am TERRIFIED of sharks. I haven’t been in the ocean past my shins in years. I watched shark week about five years and that did it for me.
When I go on vacation I slow down and relax because when I am in Atlanta I am going 100 mph. We did go jet skiing one day and it was fabulous. There are tons of activities to do there if you need to stay busy. Hiking, deep sea fishing, jet skiing, snorkeling, drinking delicious sangria 😉 and of course THE SPA, etc, etc. The one activity that I wanted to do but didn’t was the star gazing dinner. FYI – you need to make that reservation 72 hours in advance. That would have been nice to know, so now you know! You can check out the numerous other activities they offer here. Funny story though, I decided to get adventurous with my spa experience and I signed up for a Thai Stretching Massage. It was definitely different, but I think next time I will stick with your regular back massage. Imagine a spa room with one huge mat and a lady contorting your body to pull and stretch your muscles. HA!
I’m still dreaming about the delicious fish and cocktails there. Cocktails definitely taste bette when you’re on vacation with no children. Love them to death, but mama needed a break. They had several restaurants to choose from and I never got tired of their offerings. The last night we ate at the steak restaurant at the golf club and it was divine. Plus, the fish tacos and yumminess you can order on the beach was my favorite way to eat lunch. The breakfast buffet they offer has the biggest variety I’ve ever seen. They not only had your typical omelette bar, but they had local cuisine, fresh fruit galore and gluten free offerings that were different every.single.day. Like I said, you will not get tired of the food!
When we take our kids with us next time so that they can see their cousins we will be staying here again. I have very young children so we won’t be able to get too adventurous with the activities like you can with older children. Here are some things I’m excited to do with them: snow cones by the pool at 8am, playing with the wagon full of complimentary beach toys, a catamaran sunset cruise, eating lunch on the beach.
They also told us they have plans to renovate soon and they will be shut down for 4 months. That really surprised me because I really don’t know what they are going to do to make it better!
I hope you enjoyed my little review, let me know if you have any questions!