Hotel Punta Islita, Autograph Collection

I loved staying here. I especially loved taking sunset yoga classes daily with Sarah. As a beginner yoga student, Sarah gave me specialized attention and made me feel special. She instilled in me a love for yoga! Thank you to Sarah and the whole staff at Punta Islita.

Punta Islita is a beautiful hotel perched up on large hill overlooking the ocean. There’s a lot of activities offered by the hotel which makes up for being in a secluded area. Unfortunately we didn’t see the wildlife we expected which were monkeys, the place was still teeming with many birds. The hotel did end up reversing a suite upgrade last minute on us and didn’t really make up for it in anyway which is disappointing and hardly acknowledged the problem. Also the rooms need a refresh as they are outdated for this price class of a hotel.

If you are looking for a complete refresh, this is the spot. Designed to make you catch your breath, it is tucked away, naturally beautiful and offers experiences that immerse you in the natural world. The staff is amazing - our second visit and we felt like we were visiting family on our return. We enjoyed the turtle hatching, local crafts, cooking lessons, spa, howler monkey families and of course, the scarlet macaws. Meals are beautifully crafted, unique dishes using local ingredients and often grown on property.

I have traveled worldwide for 70+ years and stayed at some of the finest resorts - and I have to say that Punta Islita now tops the list. EVERYTHING was truly five-star: ambience, food, service, rooms, views, activities. Absolutely ideal for a romantic vacation. We were there in "rainy season" so occupancy was low, but it's warm tropical rain that had little affect on our enjoyment of the resort. It is a little remote - a rough three hour drive from Liberia airport, or a local small plane hop (the better option) to an air strip a few miles from Punta Islita. I'm hoping to return!

It's been a few months since our magical visit to this amazing place and my wife and I are still in awe of our time there. The term "resort" doesn't even fit when I try to put a label on Punta Islita, Autograph Collection. Its an oasis where you can have an amazing time with tours on site, or simply rejuvenate your soul with the one you love which is what my wife and I chose to do. The view of the Pacific and surrounding jungle from the upper infinity pool is breathtaking. The walk to the lower pool was fun and different each time as it meandered between mango and papaya trees with parakeets in the branches and macaws flying overhead. The lower pool is a gorgeous resort unto itself and we enjoyed walking to the rock formation down the black beach during various tides. Our room had a plunge pool so every morning we had coffee in it while the clouds went through the valley to our left and we heard the distant call of howler monkeys. Even now I'm speechless to describe how surreal of an experience it was. On one such morning we even adjusted when we would retire because, if you allow it, this place will re-calibrate what's important in life. Amazing and healthy food, incredibly nice and kind people, and Joe was super helpful setting up tours and he really cared that we were having a nice time - even having a bottle of champagne delivered to our room for our anniversary. As another reviewer said, "just go," so just go and we'll see you there as we're planning our next visit already.