r/LuxuryHotels

Just finished up a stay at Four Seasons Papagayo in Costa Rica. This property has been on my bucket list for quite some time, and I have mixed feelings about my stay.

Room (7/10)

I stayed in a Cielo Room, which is the top tier of the "room" options at the resort. Overall, the room was spacious, but it didn't wow me. It was nicely furnished, but overall fairly boring. The outdoor balcony is quite large and I thought that was appointed nicely - the big lounging sofa out there is really comfortable. They also have screens up to keep the balcony safe from bugs, which I really enjoyed, as it doesn't affect the view.

There are very few differences between the 3 room categories - all are the same size, it's just the location that differs. All are central in the resort, so I don't think there's a reason to spend more on a Cielo room vs a Terraza room. I think the resort is missing a category between these room categories and the next tier up, which is the Canopy Suites. More on this later.

Service (4/10)

This was honestly my biggest disappointment. I've stayed at over a dozen Four Seasons resorts and hotels worldwide, and I think this one had overwhelmingly the worst service. The service at the restaurants and at check-in were great, but the service at the beach and pools were horrible.

We had to wait for a long time to get anybody to come over to us and ask if we wanted anything to eat or drink. We had to flag them down. They weren't proactively helping at all. After flagging somebody down at the beach, I ordered food and they started walking away without asking my friend sitting right next to me if she wanted anything - things like that.

It wasn't what I've come to expect from Four Seasons and I was really disappointed.

Pools (8/10)

Overall, I really liked the pools here. I thought there was ample space and didn't feel like I had to fight to get a spot in my preferred area. They had two big family-friendly pools and one smaller adults only pool. The family friendly pools were large enough that there could be kids at one end and you wouldn't really even know it if you were at the other end.

My biggest gripe with the pools here was the adults only pool. It's gorgeous and overlooks the beach, but all the lounge chairs and cabanas at this pool are paid only. The normal lounge chairs (just like the ones at the family pool) are $95/each and only come with a mimosa and some fruit. The cabanas were $850/each and had more inclusions. Those make sense to charge because they were super nice, but the lounge chairs felt ridiculous to charge for. There were multiple staff members standing around in the nearly empty adults only area, while the service at the other pools and beach suffered.

Beach (7.5/10)

Overall, I thought the beach was nice, but for Costa Rica. By no means is it an impressive beach on a global scale, but compared to the other resorts in the area, I thought the beach was quite nice.

They have a beach on both sides, and I much preferred the Virador Beach side. It was a nicer beach, more chairs, and very few local vendors, as all beaches in Costa Rica are public. The beach chairs were very comfortable and had service (when they would come around!).

You also don't have to walk down a crazy amount of steps to get to the beach like you have to at some of the other resorts in the area.

The water on both sides was quite calm. The sand was soft, so overall I really enjoyed the beach.

Activities (10/10)

I think they have a ton of things to do, not only at the resort, but on the peninsula as well. I didn't do it, but I got a recommendation from another guest that the mangrove kayaking tour was fantastic. If I had more time, I would've done that.

There are complimentary shuttles that will take you around the peninsula for the different activities.

Food (8/10)

The food was good, but nothing out of this world. The breakfast (at least the FSPP breakfast) was both the buffet and an a la carte menu. The buffet was a bit smaller than some other similar resorts I've seen, but the a la carte menu made up for that.

The resort has quite a few restaurants on site, but also some of their own restaurants in other parts of the peninsula. You could use the complimentary shuttle to go to the restaurants at the other resorts and it was super comfortable and always available.

Summary

Overall, I think the resort would be significantly better if the service was improved. There was an incentive group at the hotel when we were there, but it wasn't busy to the point that it should have affected service as much as I thought it did.

The resort will be doing a renovation of the rooms later this year, which I think will be a great thing. I believe they're adding some additional suite categories, which are the categories I think they desperately need to bridge the gap I spoke about above.

Happy to answer any more specific questions about the resort, and hope they can improve service!!

Oomaki Onsen Ryokan in Toyama is not the kind of ryokan you simply arrive at by car or train. To get there, I had to take a boat through the Shogawa River gorge, which already made the whole stay feel special before even reaching the property. The ride is part of the experience, with quiet water, steep green mountains, and the feeling that you’re slowly leaving everything behind.

When the ryokan finally appears by the river, it really feels hidden in the middle of nature. There are no roads leading to it, which gives the place a rare sense of isolation. Staying there felt peaceful and almost unreal, like discovering a secret onsen retreat that you can only access if you know where to go.

If you want to stay here, you need book it on Rakuten as other platforms don't offer it.