On a recent trip to Central America, I had the chance to stay four nights at the beautiful Westin Playa Conchal, located on the northwestern coast of Costa Rica in the Guanacaste Province. As the only all-inclusive Starwood property, this property remains one of the most popular points options in Costa Rica. Award nights cost 30,000 SPG points per night, but covers all expenses, including food, drinks (alcohol included), beach activities, entertainment, internet, stocked mini-bar, and all gratuities. While nightly rates regularly top $600 for 2 guests during peak season, if you're visiting during the off-season you're better off saving your points and paying cash. On this stay we combined cash and points, paying points for 2 nights and cash for the others, for a grand total of 60K points and ~$800 - not bad for an all-inclusive vacation.

Getting to the Westin is one of the only drawbacks of the property, though that's true for most resorts in Costa Rica. We flew into Liberia (LIR), about an hour away, but limited service means that many fly from San Jose (SJO), which is a good four hours away. We flew out of SJO on our return flight and would recommend using LIR if at all possible, even if it's more expensive or less conveniently timed.

Overview of property

With direct beach access, the resort offers gorgeous white sand beaches, water sports, and beautiful sunsets, as well as two large pools and a number of other amenities, including tennis and volleyball courts, as well as an 18-hole golf course.

As SPG Platinum members, we received access to the upgraded "Royal Beach Club," which is an adult-only pool and spa area with its own bar and lounge, but since food is all-inclusive, we only used the lounge once. The pool was large and quiet, making it a great option for relaxing in the afternoon with a piña colada. The main pool tended be a bit louder, with a good number of children throughout our stay. It features a zero-entry pool and a swim-up bar.

Zero-entry family pool, one of two on site

Room

Other than access to the Royal Beach Club, platinum amenities are relatively limited, though we did receive a slightly upgraded suite location (the base room is a junior suite). The property is made up of ~30 two-story buildings, each with 2 units per floor. Our room included a living area, open-concept bedroom, and beautiful marble bathroom, complete with standard Heavenly Spa bath amenities. The mini-bar is kept fully stocked for free and complimentary 24-hour room service is also available.

Dining

The property offers 11 dining options, with a variety of table service and buffet-style options for breakfast and lunch, and 5-7 upscale rotating dinner options each evening. Over the course of our stay we enjoyed dinner at the Italian, French, Japanese, and Costa Rican restaurants, which we found to be surprisingly good given that all-inclusive expectations are generally low (see: cruise ship dining). While the sushi offering was by no means Tokyo-level quality, we liked most meals, and particularly recommend the French option, Cauri.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the dining experience was the service. A common theme throughout our trip, the staff at the Westin truly went above and beyond to see to our every need. From proactively arranging a special birthday celebration for us to personally seeing that our bottle of wine was properly transferred to our next restaurant, they were among the best I've experienced at a hotel. We've even kept in touch with our waitress and remain Facebook friends.

Exploring Costa Rica

Of course, as much as we liked the property, the reason we'd come to Costa Rica was to enjoy the natural beauty the country has to offer. We spent our first day beach-side, sipping daiquiris and reading, interspersed with jet-skis and paddle boating. The Westin provides non-motorized water sports for free (including snorkeling, kayaking, and paddle boating), but jet skis and other motorized options were available for a very reasonable $50 per half hour. We went twice over the course of our stay and had plenty of time to explore the cove and shoreline.

We spent the second day zip-lining in the nearby forests. Fun fact: Tropical rainforests are located in the southern and eastern parts of the country, while tropical dryforests dominate the Guanacaste Province. While this means we didn't see any sloths, we did find monkeys, parrots, and crocodiles. We used a hotel-recommended tour company, which drove us 30 minutes to a nearby forest with a 2-hour zip-line course. Flying through the forest (even a dry one!) was exhilarating, and one of the best parts of the trip. As a bonus, we stopped at a nearby monkey habitat and had the chance to make a few new friends.

View from high above the forest while zip-lining

We wrapped up our final day with a jungle river cruise, offering views of crocs, more monkeys, and unparalleled views of the natural landscape. We'd highly recommend this to anyone planning a trip. (Swiss tours provided both our zip-lining and jungle cruise.)

To the point

Overall, our stay at the Westin Playa Conchal was one of our best trips to date. With numerous dining options and fantastic service, we had everything we needed throughout our trip. While a bit of a trek from the nearest airports, the property was beautiful and ideally located for zip-lining and nearby ecotourism. Two thumbs up!

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