Review – Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort, Costa Rica
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- Gorgeous Purple Van greeted us at the entrance of the hotel
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- View from our balcony
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- View from the bedroom
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- Culebra Bay
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- Monkeys came out daily to check out our fruit selectionj
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- Gorgeous bar at the Ostra Restaurant
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- This just made me smile
My husband and I were able to make a quick trip to Costa Rica last fall, using Hyatt points to stay at the Andaz Papagayo Resort.  We have always wanted to go to Costa Rica, but between work and kid commitments, we could never get our schedules to work.  We had a long weekend magically open up and I had some points to burn from my Chase Hyatt credit card, so we booked the trip!  If you don’t know about this credit card, check it out. Among its many perks, you get a free night per year.  Plus, you can use your points for other free nights or upgrades.
Getting There
We had a direct flight from Houston (IAH) to Liberia (LIR) and I had arranged transportation to the hotel ahead of time. Less than 45 minutes later we were greeted at the hotel with cold towels and cocktails!
Since our room was booked on points, it was a standard room overlooking another section of rooms, but for our short weekend, it was just fine. Â Had I done a little research, I would have figured out that is was still rainy season during our visit. Â Although it didn’t rain during our days there, we did hear the rain at night and it was actually kind of peaceful. However, the mosquito’s were insane at sunset, so we were grateful for the cans of bug spray that the resort has readily available.
The Resort
The resort is gorgeous and huge! Â The staff was happy to pick us up in golf carts if we were going from one side of the resort to the other, which was nice after dinner when it was raining. Â We are normally beach people, but because of the rainy season, the beach just wasn’t….well, pretty. Â I’m sure it is much better during different times of the year. We stayed by the adult pool where the cocktails were perfect and the monkey watching was fun.
A Typical Day
On Saturday afternoon, we ventured into Guanacaste to watch the Ole Miss vs Alabama football game.  Kid #3 goes to Ole Miss and was in the front row of the student section during that game.  It was pretty cool to see her on TV while watching the game in a Costa Rican bar!
For dinner, we ate at Chao Pescao’s restaurant at the resort.  This restaurant claims to have ‘small plates’, but we found them to be quite large. We were stuffed both times when we rolled out of there.  The service, food and live music make this place a wonderful addition to the resort.
We used this quick trip kind of as a fact-finding mission to see if Costa Rica was a place where we’d like to spend a longer vacation and it definitely was. Â We knew we wouldn’t have time to see any volcanoes or other Costa Rican sites on this trip, but on a longer vacation, we’ll be sure to see more of the beauty that Costa Rica offers.
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