Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo

This resort is nothing short of amazing. It was clearly built to accommodate nature , wildlife, and the beauty of the peninsula. It is a tropical paradise. The staff took each experience to the next level. Special shoutouts to: - Jeancarlo at Añejo who was so kind to teach us so much about mixology and answered our endless questions - Jenny at Añejo who was incredibly warm and always had a smile on her face - Wil at Añejo who made us feel like old friends as soon as we met him - Alonso at the beach and pool who went out of his way daily to ensure we made the most out of our time and that we were always comfortable, hydrated, and well fed. He knew what we needed before we even asked! - Steven at Surf X for the absolute best day surfing. He tailored everything to our specific needs. He was patient and so knowledgeable - we had so much fun with him! - JR who taught our coffee class at La Reserva was a true expert and we learned so much from him while having a great time. Adriana and Jason at the beach and April at Bahia were also so attentive and friendly. The only bad part of this stay was leaving! We can’t wait to come back.

At the FS Papagayo there's a Forbes plaque celebrating that this resort has been voted 'one of the best in the world'. We all know that these awards can sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt. However, in this case it is entirely true. I've been lucky enough to travel extensively and stay in some exceptional resorts. This is one of the very best. This was our 3rd stay at the FS Papagayo. We stayed in a 3 bedroom villa - #4822. Not cheap but you get what you pay for. Absolutely beautiful villa with amazing views. And as I said in my last review in July 2022, the services levels at this resort are superb. Special mention goes out to the team of drivers, headed by Karim, who ferry guests around in golf carts. Always friendly and efficient. In my last review I flagged one area where there was room for improvement at the resort - the gym. I was delighted to discover on this visit that the gym had been substantially upgraded. Lots of free weights. Indoor and outdoor squat racks. A smith machine. Good quality weights machines. A huge range of cardio equipment. And an excellent selection of free weights. Well done to the management of the resort! On the subject of improvements, all of the restaurants at the resort had improved since our last visit. And the beach club restaurant is an excellent addition. We missed the complimentary electric bikes. Apparently the system is being upgraded. Look forward to having them back in operation when we next visit. We will definitely be back. Thank you so much to all the management and staff for a wonderful experience!

This is a lovely property and we were there during Festive week in December of 2024. Having stayed at many luxury properties around the world along with many other Four Seasons, our service at this property was below what we have received at other Four Seasons properties. While sitting at the pools or the beach, it usually took at least 10 minutes before anyone acknowledged you. Overall, the property seemed understaffed for the week- which may have led to the average service. The food options were also lackluster with the exception of the steak house at the Golf Course, which was WOW! The property itself was beautiful, and the rooms were very nice. The golf course was stunning.

Four of us stayed here for a week over the New Year. We truly enjoyed our stay. The resort is gorgeous and the staff was the best we have ever experienced at any hotel or resort. However, I am going to be honest here and say I would give it 3.5, and this is primarily based on the cost you pay to stay at this resort, and whether this cost is worth what you get overall. We booked a week in a Canopy One Bedroom Plunge Pool Suite. We didn't book until mid fall, and it was also a big holiday week, so the cost was over 9k a night. We had to pay the entire amount in full upon booking of $77,900 USD. Mind you, this price did not include any incidentals, food or activities for the week, it was just for the room. I blame myself for paying the cost of planning a late trip, but honestly, from what I read online, this Four Seasons is never actually cheap even if you book far in advance. However, when you pay thousands of dollars on a nightly basis I feel that everything should be absolutely perfect and "the best of the best." I write this, not as a snob or someone who is terribly picky, but as an average person who just happens to absolutely love travel and will pay more money based on the service and the experience of it all. THE GOOD: As mentioned above, the resort is beautiful. It is serene, safe, and welcoming. It is positioned right at the tip of Peninsula Papagayo and has amazing water views of both the bay and the ocean. The open air lobby is breezy, well lit and decorated with muted colors. And as one might expect, there are birds and even monkeys that come steal fruit right off the bar and the tables. We witnessed a spider monkey swing her way in one morning at breakfast and steal an orange, which was fun to watch. The landscaping is lush, with well-maintained tropical flowers and grasses throughout. The resort itself is pretty spread out, with villas, canopy suites, houses and buildings situated picturesquely across the property. If you like to walk and enjoy steep hills then this is a great place to get in some miles. If you don't enjoy walking or hills then the wonderful staff is happy to drive you around in their army of golf carts. There is always a cart available, and if you call for one to your room it will be there within minutes, sometimes seconds. The staff is amazingly friendly, and everyone speaks both English and Spanish. They were always thrilled to have a conversation with one of my boys in either language, and happy to answer any questions one might have about the resort or Costa Rica itself. They remembered our names and were calling my sons and husband by name all week, which was a nice touch. It is common practice to remember family names at Four Seasons, but the staff here truly seemed to care about us and often went out of their way to greet us. There is plenty to do. There are two beaches; one on the ocean and one on the bay. You can rent jet skis, which we enjoyed taking out to see the bay, and they have kayaks, boogie boards, and complimentary paddle boards. There is also beach volleyball and a large chess game. There is a yoga studio perched high above at the top of the resort with great views and scheduled classes. The fitness facility is right next to the spa and is well maintained, clean and stocked with plenty of equipment. There was a great cold plunge in the men's locker room that my boys enjoyed daily. Additionally, there is a teen center with pickleball courts, a basketball court and a small soccer field. Families and kids were using them daily, and my youngest son enjoyed being able to check in and play some basketball whenever he wanted. And, in typical Four Season style, they are willing to arrange whatever you want/ need. We scheduled a yacht/ fishing excursion that my boys really enjoyed, zip lining, a hiking excursion, a Chorotega pottery making class, massages, and golf and thoroughly enjoyed everything. The food is good for the most part, but definitely not the "best I have ever had" as some others had described it in their reviews. Anejo offers crudos and tapas and served some great poke bowls and drinks. The bar and sitting area area of Anejo is very comfortable and easy going with glittery tiles behind the bar and well-positioned lighting and seating. Virador Beach Club offers a mediterranean menu, and had a delicious hummus plate with bread for dipping. Bahia was open all day every day from breakfast through dinner. We enjoyed their tacos at lunch and their cocktails. The Bahia breakfast buffet was good, but as mentioned, could maybe have been better? For example, there were a few days when we had to wait a bit to get someone to bring us coffee. The Italian kitchen Pesce has very good Italian, but again, not nearly as good as Italian I have had in Italy or even in my hometown of Chicago. THE JUST OKAY: The rooms are not the best we have ever stayed in. There were some stains on the chairs in our suite and on the white duvet on the bed. The pullout sofa my teen son slept on was not up to Four Seasons standards. Usually, Four Seasons has pretty decent sleeper sofas, but this one creaked and groaned and had a large sunken hole in the middle of it. Additionally, the linens on the beds do not breathe well for a tropical, humid climate, and you are only able to lower the thermostat to 68 degrees, which left both me and my husband way too hot several of the nights. The bathrooms are pretty plane looking, mainly decorated in cream and brown marble. The shower was disappointing for me since I always say that every shower in an expensive resort should have a built in bench or foot stool for someone to sit on or for a lady to shave a leg. I also think large showers in resorts should always have an adjustable hand sprayer in addition to a rain shower or stationary shower head because hand showers make it easier to wash without having to stand below a rain shower if you don't want to wash your hair that day or get soaked. These were just large rectangular empty showers. Lastly, there were some sort of creatures living in the ceiling and walls above the sitting area of the suite. We assumed they were bats since we would hear them come back each morning and they would be moving and scratching all day and then we would hear them leave and make scratching noises through the wall again around dusk. Bats don't bother us, but we let management know as we were leaving that there was definitely something living in the ceiling/ walls, as it was a bit creepy sitting in the room during the day and hearing the constant scratching. Be warned that there are lots and lots BUGS in Costa Rica. Our family doesn't mind bugs, but we had an extremely large, thick 4 inch bark scorpion in our room the first night that the room service guy happened to see as well and quickly grabbed with a napkin. The second day we had a praying mantis climbing the wall. We also had lots of moths and little ants in the room throughout the week, and paper wasps building. nest above the plunge pool. Lastly, my son almost stepped on a second large scorpion in the bathroom on our last morning there when he went to move the bathroom mat. Again, we don't mind bugs, but some of these encounters might seriously freak out someone who does. We made a point to not keep our door open ever and to check as we were heading in and out, so we were not sure if all of these creatures were coming in with the housekeeping staff during the day when we were not there or whether the place was not treated for insects properly. Admittedly, we were in the rain forest :-). The New Years Eve Celebration left a lot to be desired. We paid $1400 for a buffet for 4 of us and we found the selection of food to be just okay. Additionally, the set up was a bit overcrowded and I watched several people trip over awkwardly positioned uplighting on the ground close to the buffet. I will say, the band was very good. The fireworks that evening over the water were fantastic, but I believe we would have been better off just ordering room service or eating at one of the other places and then venturing down to the show afterwards. One thing I did notice was that people here were obsessive about saving seats by the pool. I am not a pool person, so never worried about this, but I found it to be quite odd as usually this isn't allowed at high end resorts, and it reminded me of something one might do at an all inclusive or a Grand Hyatt. I have attached some pictures, but people would literally save multiple seats at 8-9am and then wouldn't return to actually use those loungers until 11am, sometimes almost noon. I find this practice tacky and rude and think there should be a better way for resorts to handle it . You will see in my pictures that every seat was saved by 9am one morning, yet no one was actually at the pool.

In all candor, I'm quite picky with hotels. This one was on my list for quite a while and we finally made it this year for Thanksgiving (we were supposed to go last year but our pup got that weird dog virus and we had to cancel--this is relevant). When you turn into the Peninsula entrance, pick your jaw up from the floor of the car. It is beyond gorgeous! We checked in and were greeted with huge smiles and delicious coconut water! The staff knew my son's name and made him feel part of the check-in process (he is 11). The golf cart driver, Geison (who is awesome btw), took us to our room. We were spoiled with a lovely upgrade courtesy of Raquel. I emailed because I was trying to upgrade via Fine Hotels and Resorts and couldn't figure out how to do so. She and I got to corresponding and I explained how we were supposed to go last year, etc etc. When we got to our incredible room with the most spectacular view (Canopy One Bedroom with a plunge pool), it took my breath away. When we walked into the room further we saw a beautiful fruit and cookie display with two carefully framed pictures of our dog and a handwritten note from Raquel. I can honestly say that this brought tears to my eyes! What an elegant touch and what a way to make us feel right at home. THIS is the type of act that sets a Four Seasons apart from other hotels. It is just next level. The staff is nothing short of spectacular at this resort. They are kind, helpful, & always smiling! From breakfast with Charlie, Ana, Omar (thanks for my delicious acai bowls daily) to Anejo with Yonder, Pesce with Oscar.....the list goes on and on of fabulous staff members. The golf cart driver, Geison, who checked us in often helped get us up that steep hill to our room. He called out to our son by name whenever he saw him which made him feel special. The food is delicious and fresh and crafted with pride. Need a substitution, no problem. Have an allergy, they accommodate. Truly fantastic! Now to the hotel guests.....you will randomly run into and/or meet awesome people here. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of kids on premises and they seemed to just play beach volleyball or have a catch or whatever very organically. Our son made friends from all over! We were so impressed that we emailed the hotel manager to compliment him. He was mid-way to Europe but responded super quickly and so nicely. We hope to meet you on our return trip. This hotel is run incredibly well, the staff is amazing and we will be back next year. We are all talking about it and trying to bring friends! This was hands down one of our best family vacations EVER. If there is one suggestion I would make it is to order more umbrellas for the blanca beach. And that is truly the ONLY thing I can suggest. Is this property expensive....yes. Is is worth EVERY single penny....100% We can't wait to be back! Pura Vida!!!!