# Costa Rica



## Jimster (Jan 21, 2014)

I am considering a trip to Costa Rica.  While I have traveled many times to asia and europe, I am a novice in travel to central and South America.  What are the best resorts in Costa Rica?  I will probably use award tickets to get there.  What are some good air awards and airlines?  I have lots of miles in many programs I can  use.


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## Dojan123 (Jan 21, 2014)

I stayed at the all inclusive Hilton Double Tree in Puntarenas. I enjoyed it for the nearby zip lines and horseback riding. It is not the best beach since it is lava sand. The food is so-so at the hotel and surrounding area but I would go back. There were few North Americans staying at the hotel but staff spoke wonderful English.


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## suesam (Jan 22, 2014)

We went to Costa Rica for our 25th Wedding anniversary in 2013. It was amazing. The country is so incredibly diverse....I am wondering what you region you are considering. We stayed in the cloud forest, the rain forest, near the volcano and on the beach....all so amazingly unique. I would not really call any of our hotels "resorts" though. 
Where we stayed:
Rain forest: Tortuga Lodge
Cloud Forest: El Silencio Lodge and Spa
Volcano: Arenal Nayara Hotel and Gardens
Beach: Hotel Capitan Suizo. 

All were amazing and very very nice. Arenal Nayara and El Silencio were very upscale to my standards....stand alone cabins, private hot tub. Hotel Capitan Suizo was on the beach so wonderful. At Tortuga the howler monkeys woke us up every morning at 5ish. 

I would do the entire trip again. Amazing. 

Have fun! 
Sue


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## myoakley (Jan 22, 2014)

I traveled on a tour to Costa Rica in 2012.  We spent 2 nights at the J.W. Marriott in Guanacaste on the Pacific Coast.  It is a gorgeous resort on the ocean, but you will need to rent a car if you want to do any sightseeing.


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## Jimster (Jan 22, 2014)

I appreciate the informaiton and I will probably combine some hotels stays with my vist, but I would really like more info on timeshares and airline awards.  I know LAN and US Air fly there but I have no personal knowledge of how they are booked or any sweet spot award bookings.


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## Poobah (Jan 22, 2014)

Delta flies to Costa Rica in season from MSP and I assume from MEM. From MSP they fly to the San Jose airport.

Cheers,

Paul


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## akp (Jan 22, 2014)

Frontier is a great option to Costa Rica.

If you have their credit card and book an award ticket, you get 5000 off a companion's award ticket.  This is good on one ways, so you can get 10,000 off the companion's ticket by booking as two one ways. IIRC, Costa Rica is 30,000 RT so you could get 2 tickets for 50,000 plus fees.  

Their award availability is generally pretty good, and their credit card currently has a 40,000 point bonus after spending $500.  

Frontier is also a transfer partner of Amex.

As for timeshares, before we went I looked at the options in RCI and II and wasn't terribly impressed.  If I were traveling with a family I might still focus on timeshare, but if just a couple, I'd research free nights in hotels via credit cards.  Lots of options.  For example, the new Andaz Papagayo looks awesome.  The Hyatt credit card gives 2 free nights after meeting the minimum spend. If you and your travel partner each got the Hyatt card, you'd get 4 nights for $75 each (the annual fee is non refundable).  You can get more free nights by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt.

PM me if you want more details off-thread as I probably won't remember to check back to this thread.

Anita


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## easyrider (Jan 23, 2014)

I have looked at RCI and II for trades to Coasta Rica and can usually find something using my worldmark. The problem is most of the resorts are going all inclusive. These 3 have no all inclusive fees yet.

RCI  Nov and Aug 2014 2 bed	 Condominio Vertical y Horizontal Miramar (#C518)

RCI  lots of date 1 bed   Condovac La Costa (#0131)

RCI lots of dates 1 & 2 bed   Geo Group at Pueblo Real (#2883)


Bill


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