MindReachGetaways

Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo

A plateau between two Pacific beaches, with a cacao ritual and a wellness shala.

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Feel

The place

The plateau

About 97 metres up, a beach on each side. Peninsula Papagayo, Guanacaste.

Tsuru cacao

Exfoliation, a cacao and banana-leaf wrap, scalp work, then a tasting of Costa Rican cacao. Their description.

Wellness Shala

Cuesta and Creuheras. They say the form comes from the Guanacaste wind.

Virador

The beach club. Eastern Mediterranean cooking, barefoot, as they describe the recent work.

The course

Arnold Palmer's Ocean Course, par 72. The third hole is the one they say has a 270-degree Pacific view.

Our read

The plateau is the idea: two beaches, one on each side, and the day spent between them. The cacao ritual and the Wellness Shala are what they built when they wanted the stay to be more than golf and a grill. Papagayo is a peninsula, and the resort uses that geography.

Come here for

  • Two beaches from one plateau, 97 metres above the Pacific
  • The Tsuru cacao ritual, which ends with a tasting
  • Wellness Shala, built for the Guanacaste wind

Skip it if

  • You want a small lodge with one kitchen
  • A large family resort with golf, teens, and a marina is more than you came for

We’d rather send you somewhere else than send you somewhere that doesn’t suit you.

Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo stands on a narrow plateau at the tip of the peninsula, in Guanacaste, about 97 metres above the Pacific, with a beach on either side. It opened in January 2004. Brent Martin is general manager. They list 199 guest accommodations on 30 hectares. Ronald Zürcher was the architect. Paul Duesing Partners did the interiors. They describe guest rooms as a tree-house idea: hardwood floors, natural fabrics, outdoor living, local lava rock, stone, and caña brava. The spa has 18 treatment rooms. Treatments they name: a Rainforest Massage, and the Tsuru Cacao Ancestral Ritual, which ends with a tasting of Costa Rican cacao. Wellness Shala was designed by Luis Alejandro Cuesta and Javier Creuheras of Arquitectura Mixta. They describe it as shaped by the Guanacaste wind. Kitchens they name include Pesce for Italian seafood, Añejo for crudos and tapas, Bahia Grill, Nemare, Virador Beach Club for eastern Mediterranean cooking, and Palapita. Golf is the Ocean Course, Arnold Palmer, par 72, 6,788 yards. There are three pools. Book on fourseasons.com/costarica. MindReach does not take the reservation.

03 · Live here

How the days go

  1. Arrive

    Liberia, then the peninsula. The plateau shows both beaches once you are up.

  2. Feel

    Lava rock, caña brava, and wind. The shala was drawn for that wind. The beaches are below, on both sides.

  3. Live here

    Morning in one bay. The cacao ritual if you want the long treatment. Lunch at Virador or Bahia. The Ocean Course if golf is the day. Dinner at Pesce or Nemare.

  4. Stay

    One of 199 accommodations. Ask which building, and which beach you face.

  5. Go

    Book on fourseasons.com/costarica.

04 - Stay

Ways to stay

A room on the plateau

Tree-house rooms, in their words, between two beaches.

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Tsuru cacao ritual

The ancestral treatment they name, ending in a cacao tasting. Book it with the spa.

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Virador Beach Club

Eastern Mediterranean cooking on the sand. Reserve with the resort.

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05 - Know

Before you go

Written from what the property publishes. Not yet checked by hand. Confirm on their site before you book.

Liberia airport, in Guanacaste, then the road out to Peninsula Papagayo. The resort is at the tip, on the plateau between the beaches.

Open in Maps
Where is it?

The tip of Peninsula Papagayo, Guanacaste, on a plateau about 97 metres above the Pacific.

How large is it?

They list 199 accommodations on 30 hectares. Opened January 2004. General manager: Brent Martin.

What is the cacao ritual?

Tsuru: a body polish, a cacao and banana-leaf wrap, scalp and neck work, coconut oil in the hair, then a tasting of local cacao.

Is there golf?

Yes. The Ocean Course, Arnold Palmer, par 72, 6,788 yards.

How do I book?

On fourseasons.com/costarica. The reservation stays with the resort.

06 · Go

Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo

Guanacaste, Costa Rica

The plateau is the idea: two beaches, one on each side, and the day spent between them. The cacao ritual and the Wellness Shala are what they built when they wanted the stay to be more than golf and a grill. Papagayo is a peninsula, and the resort uses that geography.

Getting there
Liberia airport, in Guanacaste, then the road out to Peninsula Papagayo.
From where you are
Distance appears once we know where you are.

Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo

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