What Resort to Choose in Costa Rica
- lisa71541
- Mar 18, 2024
- 13 min read
Updated: Mar 21, 2024
Where should you stay when traveling on vacation to Costa Rica? There are so many resorts to choose from and they are so far away from each other? Do they offer great food options, activities, how is the pool and the concierge? Do any of them have animals on property? We stayed at two different resorts at Costa Rica and spent time researching the best luxury resorts to stay in. I will break all of that down for you in this post.
Transportation to Resort
I would ask your resort to assist with coordinating transport. We provided our flight information and they took care of everything, including watching that our flight was slightly delayed.
It is also helpful to set up the WhatsApp prior to your trip. It is very easy to set up and uses your existing phone #. I recommend this for any international travel.
Our driver communicated with us via the App the morning of our trip, before we had left Orlando. He was also in constant communication with us on the WhatsAp once we arrived at San Jose Airport and were going through customs. Even describing what he looked like and how to find him once we exited the airport. We described ourselves to him and he came and found us. This made it very simple and he was very professional. Once you exit customs you are met with swarms of taxi cab and other drivers asking if you needed a ride and it can get confusing, so prior communication is key. It reminded me of Mexico and all Carribbean airports.
My recommendation is always book your ride prior to your stay and never take a random ride from a driver at the airport. Better to be safe than sorry my loves.
How long was the ride?
The ride to Uvita was 4 hours from San Jose Airport. Don't let that deter you. One of the benefits of the resorts being so far way is less tourists, more authentic and a natural experience. Plus we were able to reserve any tour or hike we wanted once we arrived at our resort.
Along the way we saw small villages, stepped out of the car and got to walk across crocodile bridge.
The driver also stopped part way into our trip to allow us to use the restrooms. We stayed at Rancho Pacifico for the first part of our trip and their drivers are all employees of the resort. They speak English very well, are well educated and our driver was so much fun. He had so many great facts about Costa Rica as well as tips for our trip.
However, our driver back to the airport was a private driver reserved by Kura. He was very friendly but it was a very quiet ride. He did not speak English very well.
If you tend to get sick in the car on windy and bumpy roads, I would recommend bringing something with you on your car ride. The ride to the resort was not bad, but as soon as we got to Uvita the road up to either resort is 600 meters (2000 feet) above sea level to Rancho and 500 meters (1300 feet) altitude for Kura . The cars that head up those roads are 4x4 and have 4 wheel drive or they will not make it and I would say anyone not experienced on those roads would struggle. The road for Rancho was a bit smoother and the inclines were not as steep but my ears popped heading up to both resorts and I even felt a bit uneasy. They are narrow, windy and there are no guardrails. If you have visited Amalfi coast, the roads up to the resort are just as windy, even more narrow (they are not a 2 lane road) but you are off-roading (they are not paved like we think of in the U.S) and very steep.
Rancho Pacifico Resort
Here were some of my favorite things at Rancho Pacifico in Uvita ,Costa Rica.
1. Concierge & Service at the Resort
About a week before our stay we received an email from, Noelia, one of the concierge team checking in with us to confirm a few final pieces. As soon as the driver pulled up to the resort Noelia was waiting out front to escort us to reception. Which was in a beautiful outdoor setting where we could continue to watch the sunset while we were checking in for our stay.
She was a project managers dream for a concierge. Every car she coordinated for us during our stay arrived on time. Every employee was so friendly and fun and they knew your name and your room, without an introduction. The seamless communication that occurs behind the scenes was TOP NOTCH! They did not miss a beat and once I asked I never had to ask again, in fact, I felt like they could almost anticipate what we needed.
We never had to sign a bill for anything purchased. It was a nice touch to be able to walk away from the bar or dining table when we were ready without having to wait on anyone. At the end of our stay we were provided with a list of everyone that served us and we could leave individual tips for anyone or everyone.
2. The Views & Rooms in our resort
The villa we stayed in was called Villa Romantica and it was stunning. The two walls of windows from our bed was an amazing way to wake up. I also loved having a private plunge pool on our patio so we could have quiet time away from other guests when we chose. We regularly saw toucans as well as other birds on property and heard the howler monkeys every evening.
The large bathroom came with double sinks and double shower heads. It was beautiful and had a floor to ceiling window as well.
There were only two things about the room I was not crazy about. First, the minimal closet and shelf space for storing your clothes. Second, the air conditioner was located in the living room and it did cool the villa down but only when we closed the bedroom curtains by early afternoon and turned the temperature down before we headed to dinner. We learned this the hard way about our first night of not sleeping well. Anyone else prefer sleeping in a freezer? LOL
But the wrap around deck and private plunge pool were amazing!
We also had amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and Whales Tale beach from the dining area.
3. The Other Guests
We were very fortunate to have the best guests during our stay. The first night we walked up to the bar we met two other couples (not traveling together) that were chatting and laughing as if they had been friends for years. Dave and I quickly joined in. In fact, all the couples at the resort were so kind and a few were on their 3rd or 4th visit to Costa Rica and were a wealth of knowledge and recommendations on tours and other areas to visit. Had we not been on our honeymoon we probably would have spent a lot more time getting to know each of them.
All of the guests were very adventurous and spent a lot of time exploring and joining tours to make the most of what Costa Rica has to offer.
This was one of our favorite resort guests we saw daily. We were able to see the Toucans in the early morning and at dusk, but this little guy got very close one morning at breakfast. (pic taken by another guest)
4. The Bites (aka Food) at the resort
You all know I love breakfast, and Rancho delivered on breakfast. Breakfast is a la carte and is included in your stay. They offered a daily fresh juice (which was always yummy), several coffee options and about 10 menu items from savory to sweet to choose from.
They only have a handful of guests so, they do ask during your breakfast if you will be joining them for lunch and dinner and about what time so they can plan appropriately.
Lunch is $14/ person and is a la carte with a handful of options to choose from. The menu is same each day but they can easily handle any diet restrictions for any meal. In fact, this is one of the questions they will ask about prior to your visit in order to make sure they have any necessary ingredients on hand for you. Please get the tuna ceviche. It is life changing!
I love a variety of foods but every once in awhile I crave a steak or a burger. One thing I have noticed when traveling abroad, the U.S has excellent beef. A lot of other countries do not raise their cattle for beef, including Costa Rica. They have beautiful white cows, which were so unique. But the cows were very skinny. I ordered a burger for lunch at Rancho and although they prepared it very well, the taste of the meat is just 'different'. So if you love to eat a ton of beef, traveling is the perfect excuse to expand your pallet.
Dinner changes nightly and is a flat $49 set by the chef. The meal prices for the amount and quality of food are very reasonable. Each guest receives two appetizers and a dessert and then they are able to choose between two different entrees. The chefs take great pride in food preparation, presentation and flavor combinations. We enjoyed dinner. Although I love breakfast and lunch more than dinner during my stay. However, there is always a fish option and Dave loves fish and I do not. The dinners were good, I just loved the lunch options and breakfast much better.
5. The Property
One of the things that I loved about Rancho was the ability to exploring and hike without having to drive off property. They have two trails on property, one leads to a waterfall and one leads to a coffee plantation. Neither of which can be accessed by car. However, the trails are for advanced hikers . Other couples successfully completed this hike but recommended to go in the early morning when it is cooler as they said they struggled from the heat. We attempted to hike to the waterfall, which is 30 min downhill and then 30 min uphill back (the entire way). We turned back around just past the 1/2 way. It was so hot and the trail was very rocky and uneven. We slipped a couple of times. Although I am in pretty good shape (gym wise and I eat very healthy). I have a minor condition that makes me very light headed in hot sun and high altitude so I am limited from some activities, including these types of hikes.
Noelia actually said she did not recommend hiking to the coffee farm if we could not complete the waterfall hike as the coffee farm hike was a further hike and just as advanced.
kura REsort in Costa Rica
When our Kura driver picked us up from Rancho we asked how far away the resort was, as on a map it didn't appear too far. However, we had to go down the mountain and. then back up the mountain. What we found funny, was the same dirt road we took at the base of Uvita to get to Rancho was the same road to take to Kura we just went across the mountain and up a very windy and bumpy road with extreme inclines and declines. Which led us to a beautiful covered entry way. We were met with fresh cocktails and led upstairs to an outdoor seating area with another stunning view of Whales Tale beach while they checked us in. The check in process at both resorts was very simple.
Here were some of my favorite things at Kura.
The Resort & Views
The resort and property are stunning. It is also a similar but very different set up than Rancho. Rancho has their bar, concierge, pool and restaurant all in one area but each villa has it's own set of steps leading to it and they are all separate from one another which provides privacy to all of the guests.
Our villa was directly underneath the main part of the resort and our room was huge. It had double sink and double shower head. They do have a heavy sliding door that separates the bathroom from the living room. I do not know about you, but I prefer privacy while doing my thing in the bathroom so I felt like I was a bit out in the open with Dave just on the other side of a sliding door vs one that closed shut. There was a large changing room with lots of space to store your luggage and large closet with plenty of shelf space.
The outdoor space was large, with a hammock. We just did not have the vast views we had at Rancho. Although walking around the resort I noticed the other villas were in separate buildings and they looked like they had more of a view. We had walls on both sides of us.
Kura has it's bar, concierge, restaurant and pool all together as well but (other than the villa we stayed in) all the other villas are located on the same path but they are still each in their own building.
The spa at Kura is huge and has a Jacuzzi as well as a large shower and bathroom. It also overlooks the jungle with a beautiful view. I highly recommend booking a spa experience at one or both of the resorts. I had amazing massages at both locations. The ladies were wonderful. I did get a 50 min tired feet massage at Kura and I have to say it was the most magical thing and much needed after all of our hikes and exploring.
The Activities
Kura offers a different daily class at 2pm. Due to the heat in Uvita you will want to book your excursions in the morning, unless you are doing a night hike (which I recommend). We usually made it back to the resort between 12-1 just in time for lunch and a swim. We took two classes during our stay. One was a tortilla making class. It was harder than you would think, especially for two people that do not cook. LOL but Michael made it so fun. At the end they provided us with chicken, veggies, cheese and sour cream to stuff our taco shells. Yummy!
We also took a mixology class which was so fun! Alonso was a great teacher and made it look so easy. I highly recommend signing up for the classes. None of the other guests signed up so we had our own private classes. We were more successful as bartenders but, I think we will stick with our day jobs.
We found we were doing hikes or excursions in the morning and back by 1pm. Since I am not a sit all day at the beach or pool person, we found after a couple of days of relaxing we needed something else to do. It is very hot in Costa Rica during the day. The temps in Uvita are typically in the high 80s to mid 90s and there is humidity. The temps mixed with the altitude can wear you out quickly. So we enjoyed having something different to do during the mid afternoon. It broke up our relaxing time a bit.
Concierge and Service at Kura Resort
The wait staff at Kura and our driver from Rancho were the best!! So much energy and so nice. The concierge staff was a bit newer and we had a few challenges with follow up and communication, which we never experienced at Rancho.
Tip. If you stay at Kura be on the look out for Princess. The owners have a dog that wanders the grounds. Basically she is in charge. She is adorable and we loved greeting her each day.
The bites (aka Food)
The food was delicious! Breakfast is included with your stay and is delicious. Just like Rancho it includes a juice of the day, several coffee or tea options and the most delicious banana bread I have ever had. A crispy crust with a soft bread center and let's just say I never shared with Dave. It was so good! I loved the coffee at Kura. It tasted like the coffee I used to sell from Costa Rica. Lively with some acidity but incredibly smooth. Most days I ordered a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese avocado and a handmade tortilla wrap which was light and delicious. The last day I ordered blue cornmeal pancakes. We loved our breakfast.
Lunch and Dinner are a la carte with the same menu daily. The menu is limited but the food was very good. There were a handful of appetizer and salad options as well as entrees to choose from. We loved everything we ordered and we loved being able to choose what to eat.
Two things I loved about Kura, we were able to order room service. We had an early tour and so we asked for breakfast in the room so we could eat and hurry to get ready. They also have some appetizer/bar bites during the afternoon as well as smoothies while you are enjoy the pool. They offer the most amazing chicken/peanut and coconut egg rolls that I could not get enough of.
After our first lunch at Kura we got up from the table to walk off and they had to come after us to sign the bill. We had become accustomed to the ease at Rancho. They also did not know what room we were staying and we did have to introduce ourselves to everyone we met. Although everyone was incredibly friendly.
Comparison of Two Resort Stays
Note* I recommend having one meal off property in the local town. Ask your concierge for a recommendation. We did not do this but we had several other guests says they ate a meal in Uvita as well as visiting the farmers market and had a great experience!
Offerings | Kura | Rancho Pacifico |
Drivers | Offered a mix of resort and local drivers. All good but not all English speaking | Used primarily their own drivers and everyone spoke excellent English (including ride from airport) |
Concierge | Offered IPad to send direct messages too. Went out of their way to find us a driver for an excursion I had coordinated ahead of time. However, they were lacking in their communication and responsiveness with some newer team members. | We’re on-point for this project manager. Every ride was on-time. Their communication skills from one concierge person to next as well as across all employees was excellent. Things happened seamlessly behind the scenes. I worried about nothing. |
Rooms - Villas | Room was beautiful, huge bath and dressing/closet area for all of our things. Air conditioning unit was in bedroom so it was easy to keep cool. We stayed in the Infinity Suite, I believe other villas had better views with more trees for birds around them. | Stunning views from bedroom. Two story deck with private plunge pool was amazing! We were able to spend quiet time on our deck. Air conditioning was in living room and took longer to cool down the bedroom. We learned to close curtains in bedroom after we left for breakfast and turn air down before heading to dinner. Closet and drawer space was bit tight. |
Service | Staff was very friendly. We had a couple great waiters we got to know and bar tenders. We loved our driver from Rancho to Kura! We had to sign for all meals. No tipping at the end of the stay. So tipping occurred after each interaction. | Top Notch: Everyone knew our name without an introduction. We never had to give our room # they just knew us. We never had to sign after a meal or cocktail. It was all taken care of at the end. So as soon as we finished a meal we could leave the table. |
Critters | No screens on the one slider. We were very careful to quickly open and close our door. We never saw a flying insect but a very large spider at end of our visit was on Dave’s shirt. Could have been from housekeeping going in and out and leaving doors open? | The rooms had screened as well as glass sliding doors. We followed guidance to not leave lights on inside room if we were coming and going so bugs didn’t fly in. We only saw one flying insect inside the bathroom. Never any spiders or bugs. |
Location | Same at both | high in mountain 500 meters. Expect bumpy, 15 min ride of narrow road that is very steep incline. My ears popped most of the way. If you get nasceaus plan ahead of time. |
Excursions | I would wait and have your concierge plan your excursions. They will know best private guides vs touristy guides. They can also coordinate rides. Easy to get scheduled and reasonably priced. | Same at both |
Beach | Offers shuttle daily to beach for free. At request will pack umbrella and a cooler with snacks. | you can request drive to and from beach. About 25 min drive from either resort. Watch my highlights for what to expect at beach before you go. |
Resort Activities | Spa and daily at 4pm there are classes you can sign up for . We did a mixology and tortilla making class | Spa. 2 extreme hiking trails. one to waterfall and one to coffee farm. Bartender was so fun and we had a lively group each night and made some new friends |
Clientele | Seemed like an older crowd, half of the guests were European. We found one couple we spent some time talking to but otherwise everyone kept to themselves. | Seemed like a more adventurous crowd. Everyone was scheduling hikes and excursions. Very outdoorsy group that was well traveled to similar spots. We had a mix or guests from US and Europe. Made some fun friends at the bar each night. |
Room Service | Yes | No, but we brought stuff back to our room. |
Top Luxury Tourist Areas
I recommend the two resorts we stayed in Uvita, but if you are curious about other areas of Costa Rica, here is what i learned from other guests we spoke with during our stay.
La Fortuna /Arenal Mountain ( 2 hours from San Jose airport)
This is a beautiful area that overlooks Arenal Volcano.
I recommend staying at Nayara Resorts. This is a larger property with 3 resorts in one compound. We looked at this as a possibility for our stay, it was just the highest price of all the resorts I reviewed. The resorts are Nayara Gardens, Springs and The Tents. The Tents are supposed to be phenomenal according to a couple of other guests we spoke with, as well as one of the bartenders from our resort, that worked there previously. Very luxurious, lots of dining options, animals and a reserve on property and hot springs feed the pools. It is a large resort and requires a golf cart to get around.
Uvita (4 hours from San Jose airport)
Of course I recommend Rancho Pacifico and Kura. They are both small boutique resorts with outstanding service and only 7-8 villas so they are able to cater to each guest with more personalized service.
Monteverde Cloud Forest (75 min from San Jose airport)
One of the guests that stayed in Nayara Tents also stayed in the Cloud Forest, she said she loved having coffee in the clouds, but she felt Nayara and Kura were much nicer resort areas.
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