Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort, Costa Rica Review

The resort is amazing. This is by far the most incredible vacation property that I have ever stayed at. The views from our ocean view room on the third floor were incredible during the day and at night. The room was well designed and the bed was comfortable. I highly recommend spending time at the beach house(Adrian and Martin take care of you) and the barista experience they offer was very fun and informative especially if you love coffee (Luis is the best). We will be coming back to this resort as much as possible!

Great food, amazing room and ultra friendly and efficient staff. The monkeys are pretty awesome and will likely wake you up early. Highly recommended!

In about a month there will be a remodeled wedding patio

Second time here and had a great stay, restaurants are expensive but the hotel is great, use the electric bikes and go around the golf course

Delicate touches. Beautiful environment. Attentive staff. One of the best luxurious hotel resorts I've ever stayed in with my family

Was here this past weekend and cannot say enough wonderful things. The pools were awesome, the rooms were amazing and the staff were so friendly. Everything I encountered at this resort was beyond anything I have ever experienced. Highly recommend staying here - everything from the food to the location to the hospitality was wonderful.

We had our wedding here and it was absolutely perfect. The design of the hotel is unique and beautiful. The food is great albeit slightly pricey. The beach house is very special, so make sure to take the shuttle over there. The beach at the actual hotel is not as nice, but the pools are lovely. The rooms are all wonderfully appointed. The staff is beyond helpful and friendly. Our friends and family had the most wonderful time and we hope to be back soon.

Very well done small and high end resort. Attention to detail and total satisfaction. Great setting and worth exploring.

This resort is heaven! There is always interesting things to do and all the staffs in the resort and so nice and helpful! We had a great time!

Food was nothing to write home about. First morning and saw the buffet I was upset I had nothing to eat. The next day I got a brekfast burrito rice egg guack
Umm $14! Staff was great friendly people. Get on the catamaran well worth it since your pretty much stuck here. If you want a beach this isn't the ideal place but over all a good vacation.

I'll share the real results of this resort for those that are thinking

This place is a nice place to be at but for the price point there is no true value behind the dollar. $18 for a pot of coffee or single iced coffee will cost you $7. The food is terrible, not filling and will cost a lot. Example, simple burrito that about the size of a woman's hand barly is $14. $15 per alcoholic drink or if you feel like being cheap $12 for a beer.

The place has lots of hills and they use go golf carts to drive you around the resort, problem is when you call for one "they might" show up. Leaving you to walk to one end of the resort to another quite often. This also makes it not kid friendly if you have young children. I brought my one year old and it was a nightmare.

House cleaning barly comes by and misses taking out the garbage and various other things. With a one year old, it's kind of important not to miss that. I've left the garbage out side my door now for 36 hours and they've walked by but never grabbed it. Don't bother thinking about buying any extra snacks that need to be in a fridge as the place comes with a small cooler but doesn't not refrigerate anything to keep cold.

For the price you pay there is no real value behind being here at all. Your least one hour away from anything if you want to leave the resort and if you try and book any tours here they come with an crazy mark up. Example, if you want to go to the DIANTE animal sanctuary which I give that place a 5 star, it's $38 to get in if you go by your self but booking through your resort if $250/person.

This place is good if your the type of person that will not leave the resort at all, sit by the pool with a fancy drink all day and do nothing.
Only thing this place is good for. You can get better relaxation in your back yard.

The spa is good however.

Exc buena atencion super limpio
Un perdonal de calidad

I arrive at the place because of my current job, but it is worth seeing that each hotel star represents them

Andaz Costa Rica is an incredible resort for many reasons; but chief among them is the obsession with excellence that the leadership, the staff, the service-workers, the chefs, the bartenders, the baristas, and the garden-crew all seem to share. It is the attention to detail, and the thoughtfulness toward that detail, that make this location stand out among the hundreds of places I have stayed. Simply incredible.

Yes, all the other comments are true. Amazing location. Great for the family. Romantic. Great beach. Great food. Great rooms. All of it. But what is worth paying attention to is the care that went into it all. The people that work here, and lead this location, are outstanding.

Pricy with limited options, I'd go with the Weston instead. Also, the bathroom doors don't close or lock, as they have no door handel

Friendly staff, beautiful vistas, and relaxing environment.

Stunning. hanging outside our window. The hotel is isolated so dining mainly at hotel.

Edit: after making this review they completed the agreed points. Overall a poor experience.

The room I paid for (king bed) was not available when I checked in. I was given a room with 2 queens, which is a cheaper price than the room I reserved. I was told I would be given 1 night in Hyatt points to make up the difference, this was confirmed with an email from Andaz. After over a month, I have not received the points, and have tried contacting Andaz multiple times. If this gets resolved then I will update my review.

Spent a week on this property. The staff was amazing, helpful, and 5 star quality. People like Eric Ramirez made our stay comfortable and enjoyable. He was so helpful in every aspect of a 5 star resort. Could not have asked for better service from dinning to swimming in pool. Thank you Andaz for making our stay great.

I recently stayed in the Andaz Papagayo Resort with my partner and experienced a week full of disruptions, below standard service, disappointments and unacceptable responses to our issues.

Whilst the resort and the region is stunning the Andaz property is not the 5* experience advertised. Newly opened it seems that staff and procedures were not well rolled out, ranging from issues with room cleaning services, unavailability of selected wines and beverages throughout the resorts restaurants and bars, unfinished landscaping, rooms with basic needs missing and a management team that is not present or responsive especially to our report of stolen property from our room.

Following our stay we wrote a detailed letter to the hotel which was not answered after 10 days. We followed up with another email and received an unacceptable answer that the return transfer to the airport was offered to us and it was more than fair.
$330 dollars compensation for a bill that reached thousands of dollars is not fair in our minds and only covers the stolen goods and not the ruined enjoyment and bad experience we had with them.

In an area where many other 5* hotels are available it is unacceptable for the Andaz Group to think what they have to offer is sufficient. Being a newly opened property does not excuse the experience we had. Having stayed previously in newly opened properties and also having stayed with their competitors around the world (W Hotel Group, ME Melia, Trump Hotels) we can vouch that the others offer a far superior level of service and experience to their guests.

Based on our first experience with the Andaz Group I am certain I would not recommend them to others looking for a luxury break and would not rebook in their properties in the future.

Great location! Unfortunately that's all I can say. If your idea of vacation is uptight staff with Very overpriced food and drink this is the place. Very disappointing

Excellent service from EVERY team member we had contact with. Great food and the place is very clean, great views and very comfortable! I would go back with ZERO hesitation!!!

The best beach hotel in Papagayo. The treatment is great, the food is spectacular and the rooms are incredible.
Amazing place to stay if you're traveling to Guanacaste!

It's a beautiful resort but it need little attention to details to call itself a 5 stars resort.
Staff were amazing, very polite, room and hotel ground were beautiful. Internet connection is pretty bad, we got disconnected every 5-10 mins also. Bought a spa package but every time we used the spa, they ask me to pay for the treatment. In the spa package we supposed to get 20% off on other services that we decide to use, also need to tell them that because they try to charge me full price. Everyday with breakfast also, when our room price is breakfast included.
Did bring these issues to the attention of the management and they did try to rectify it.

An exclusive and beautiful place with personalized attention of luxury!

Great Hotel. Good food. Good service. It's a little quiet after about 9pm but that can be good too I guess. Margoth was good to work with for our group reservation and party details.

Beautiful property! Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Service and food was excellent! Some of the best Mochachino I've ever had.

Excellent hotel, in a place of dream development, Papagayo project

Stayed at this resort in November 2017. Girlfriend and I have traveled quite extensive and we have never stayed anywhere the staff has been so bad. They were rude, slow and acted like you were an inconvenience. The 2 beaches the property access are poor by comparison to the rest of Costa Rica. Do yourself a favor and enjoy Costa Rica for what it is not what the Andaz wants you to think it is.

I have been fortunate to travel quite a bit and this is HANDS DOWN the best resort I've stayed at. Service is top notch, food is spectacular, and the views are breathtaking. Well done, andaz.

Best bartender we ever met and we've met a lot of bartenders!

I am in the service industry and I have to tell you these guys go over and above to make sure the guest is the most important thing about your trip. A special acknowledgement needs to go out to Harrison for paying attention when a guest was slightly perturbed and going above and beyond to make sure they felt valued. When my wife and I return we'll be staying here.

A beautiful hotel. The food here is outrageously expense though.

Amazingly beautiful hotel on Papagayo Peninsula, overlooking Culebra Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The property is naturally landscaped with an infinity "adults-only" pool and a separate pool for everyone. The rooms are quite large and nicely-appointed. The rooms have a large shower room, which looks into a comfortably large balcony and the tropical vegetation/Pacific Ocean. There are 3 excellent restaurants; the best being Ostra Seafood.
Employees are extremely helpful and customer-centric. Beds are very comfortable. I would highly recommend this Andaz and will be returning. The next time I will use the Liberia Airport, less than 15 minutes away.

Luxurious, good service, they got me where to charge my electric car

Here for a work trip. While the property itself is beautiful, the service is abhorrent. I travel and stay in over 200 hotels a year for work and I would never book this for a personal trip or vacation.

Issues:
Restaurant service was horrible. Difficult to find wait staff, rarely checked on you. Hotel calendar showed 50% off restaurant menu from 5 to 6pm. Got to restaurant and they claimed it did not exist. Showed them calendar and they offered to give us a "cheaper drink menu." Compared to normal menu there was no discount.

Breakfast food was overcooked, dry, and service again poor. Waited at hostess desk for nearly 10 minutes to get seated while there was only 12 people in whole restaurant.

Lunch service again poor. Staff seemed irritated we asked to pay immediately instead of billing to a room. I did this because the hotel couldn't figure out how to charge my personal card instead of the company card.

Overall beautiful physical structure but not one I would recommend for service reasons. Also, for the astronomical price, the food was average at best.

Just went for a day pass. Our first time visiting Costa Rica and we will definitely be staying at the Andaz next visit! Best drinks in Costa Rica as well!

Worst experience ever. Staff was kind but stuff costed way to much and being 45 minutes away from town was a piss off too. Couldn't do much exploring. The view was and wildlife was awesome though.

The staff here are so nice and accommodating! They will literally go to the ends of the earth to make your stay as pleasurable and memorable as possible. Be sure to ask about the ferry which takes you to their other beach toward the end of the bay!

We love this hotel and area of Costa Rica. It is the perfect place for family fun.

Its a beautiful place but food is really expensive and not so good.

Loved that the shower overlooked the water! Wish there was more privacy to the bathroom sink area ( like a door). The property is beautiful but requires a little bit of walk (can request golf cart pickup).

Great resort. Beautiful views. There's beach access, and a few complimentary pieces of equipment available for rental. The food is a bit pricey, but not out of line for a hotel or resort. Plenty of activities and excursions which will pick you up and shuttle you around.

The pass very well, good customer service and a lot of privacy.

Beautiful area. Friendly staff. Just a ways away from anything and expensive food on the resort . Overall it's been great tho!

Hotel of singular beauty. Recommended for a first honeymoon or celebrate wedding anniversaries. Surrounded by nature, exquisite decoration and attended very professionally. A 100

Amazing resort. The best I've ever known. Everything new and impeccable besides being in a privileged place has an exceptional service.

Absolutely amazing! I have been to Costa Rica many times and have experienced several hotels, beaches and restaurants. This was one of the best, if not the best resort I've ever visited. The service is professional and unpretentious. The food was delicious at all of the restaurants. The resort allows kids, but it never got annoying because they have designated areas and classes to keep them busy. Adult activities, such as hiking and cooking classes were a lot of fun and I am typically not into that kind of thing. The resort is beautifully designed and located in the wilderness, like you may bump into a bunch of monkeys, or giant iguanas, on your way to breakfast. Very relaxing and luxurious experience!

Nice view! But horrible hotel! Not worth the time and money!

The only reason it gets one star is because the views and the Land around the resort is gorgeous. Food on property was okay. It wasn t great especially for the high prices. Service at all the restaurants was extremely slow and usually forgot your orders. Service in general around the resort was lackluster at best. The pools are okay but small. The beach house was nice and secluded but food selection was again limited and pricey and average quality. Being right on the ocean, you would expect a lot more. The staff was either very attentive or or they would completely ignore you. Most didn t speak English so getting to restaurants and other resort attractions was challenging. There is nothing close outside the resort for shopping or food. You are very much stuck here. I would suggest for the price that you find another resort.

We stayed at the Andaz for spring break with our two teenage kids. Everything was great, the food, service, weather, and hotel. Beautiful golf course 10 minutes away.

Very relaxing, everybody was great. Food was certainly good.

The only vacation trip that relaxed me. I was reluctant and paranoid before because of how dangerous the wildlife was but they were calm and beautiful.

Incredible location, beautiful and well kept rooms. The views from anywhere in the resort are absolutely breathtaking and I couldn't believe the sunrise I woke up to every morning. Oh, BTW, the food is great, staff is extremely friendly, helpful and well spoken. Can't wait to go back.

This resort is top notch the staff is great I would have given it a 5 star if it hadn't been the only place that I used my credit card and then had fraudulent activity on it the day later. The breakfast buffet is out of this world the food is a little expensive but worth it

A beautiful resort! Everything was clean and very well organized. The staff was very friendly, and helpful. The resort is further away from the action and excursions, but this was a plus for me. I personally wanted a resort where I could go into town when I wanted to be busy, but then retreat at night to peaceful surroundings. I would definitely go back!

It is a nice and well located hotel ... in the Papagayo peninsula ...

Beautiful! Free transportation to the beach!
Nice! Free press transportation (bus) to the beach!

We arrived at the hotel at around 1pm, and were warmly greeted by the two bellhops. They took our luggage from the car and guided us to check-in. Andaz hotels has a unique check-in situation. Rather than going to a front desk, the agents walk around the lobby with an ipad and check you in that way. We were asked to relax on some seats and given a welcome lemonade drink as we checked in. The lobby of this resort is open and has great views of Papagayo Bay and the rest of the resort. Check-in took about ten minutes and at that time, we were shuttled along with our luggage to our room.

We walked into our room and were amazed by the size. The room featured a full master suite with bathroom, living room, working desk, and even a separate half bath. Prior to arrival, I had informed the hotel that we were traveling with a child and baby so they had already placed an extra bed and crib in the room. The finishings of the room were very luxurious, including high-quality material finishes, and the latest in light and sound-speaker technology.

The room also featured various gifts for you to keep including flip flops and very nice fedora hats. We were also welcomed with a basket of fruit, some delicious coconut cookies, and a mixture of popcorn. One unique aspect of Andaz hotels is that they offer free drinks and snacks from their mini-bar. This included a variety of juices and sodas, water, milk, chips, and cookies. The room also featured a coffee maker, a separate espresso machine, and another water boiler for tea.

The hotel also offered an amazing kids club. The staff were incredibly friendly and my daughter loved being there throughout the day. The club is open to kids above 4 years old and opens from 8am to 5 pm with a one hour lunch break in the middle. Again though, the absolute best part were the genuine and extremely friendly staff.

The main attraction of the hotel though is pool and beach area. The pools were spectacular. The main pool complex featured three pools on three separate levels. There was a separate adults only pool that we didn t visit. The salt-water pools were very comfortable to swim in and the water temperature was perfect.

This hotel has two beaches. The main beach area was around 100 meters in length. There were canopy trees on the beach that provided excellent shade during the day. There was also a vary nice breeze coming from the bay that made the setting excellent. There are numerous lounge chair and hammocks spread throughout and there were no problems securing a seat. Guests can also borrow snorkeling and paddle-boarding gear and can enjoy the water. The snorkeling was very easy and rewarding as there are large corals and creatures close to the beach including sea turtles, sting rays, starfish, and numerous groups of fish. The beach setting was so ideal, that we spent most of our days there. Even the monkeys enjoyed the beach.

The food in the hotel was excellent quality. We were impressed with all of the food we had. The waiters often also went above and beyond offering us complimentary fruits and drinks. We also ordered food at the pool and beach and found the food and service to be equally as impressive. One most have dish while visiting is the famous baked pineapple. An entire pineapple is brought to the table along with a huge assortment of toppings. For $12, it is a bargain that can easily shared by six people.

Throughout our stay, the service from ALL of the staff we encountered was absolutely amazing. We would be greeted by name throughout our stay. While walking throughout the hotel, all the staff will say hello and offer you a lift on their carts. The restaurant staff were all very friendly and extremely generous. The kids club staff was amazing.

I loved, loved, loved this hotel. The room was fantastic, the activities were numerous, the beach was the most practical I ve seen, the pools were amazing, and the staff were wonderful. I wouldn t change a single thing about the hotel. I highly recommend visiting the hotel and look forward to going back myself.

I had some very mixed feelings about this resort. On one hand waking up and having breakfast/coffee with the monkeys was quite enjoyable, but on the other there were a few missteps that really detracted from the overall experience.

Overall this was the most Americanized hotel we stayed at, which can be good for some people, but it wasn't really what we were looking for. It's definitely not the best way to experience Costa Rica, so definitely check out the nearby town/restaurants if you are able to (car rental would be pretty much required)

Our check-in process was a bit rough. During check-in they sat us down with some pineapple juice which was delicious, however, there was some really loud construction happening in the lobby area while we were checking in which made it quite difficult to hear much of what the lobby receptionist was saying.

Secondly, I found out that the hotel charges an upfront 'holding fee' at check-in for incidentals. This was COMPLETELY different than all of the other hotels we stayed at in Costa Rica and was quite irritating that they didn't inform me before taking my card. (It was a nearly $400 charge!) Supposedly this charge gets refunded on check-out, however, they again failed to inform me that using a debit card would result in a delayed refund. I made the mistake of complaining to the hotel about this and they called our room probably 5 times during our 4 day stay.

Thirdly, they have a third-party local tourism company trying to sell you trips while you're trying to relax on the resort's very own beachfront. I understand supporting local business, but why on Earth would you try and shove this down your guests throats while they're already paying you exorbitant amounts of money and trying to relax on a beach.

Lastly, the resort is so far removed from everything else in the region that they gouge their customers with ridiculous prices for food. ($21 for a hamburger!) The closest town/restaurant that is not part of the resort is a 20-30 minute drive - something to keep in mind before booking.

Overall it wasn't the worst hotel experience I've had, but when compared to some of the other hotels we stayed at in Costa Rica, it fails in multiple ways and there are better options available for those who want an actual authentic Costa Rican experience where they aren't being forced to pay an arm and a leg after already paying for the room.

Excellent service, breathtakingly beautiful. Incredible place to stay!

Best resort in Costa Rica
Can't wait to go back

Great resort. It's expensive, but it's worth every colon ( local currency). The service from check-in ( thanks Candy), to organizing our trips ( thanks Carolina) to just service at Rio Bhongo ( Thanks Adrien), tapas at Pesco ( great chicken and fish dishes...we tried them all) to Valentine's dinner at signature restaurant..Ostra. Great food, great service...over and beyond. Carolina arranged a driver for our rental when tour wasn't available ( thanks Obed from National) and a private tour ( thanks Raynor)...We managed to do the bueno vista trip and a day trip to Monteverde. Rest of the lounged at the Andaz beach house and pools. We also saw monkeys, iguanas and vultures on the property. Thanks to Maurice for his help.