Just returned from an 8 day trip to Playa Conchal. I was a big fan of the resort overall.
Background
My girlfriend and I were there from 1/7 to 1/15. We are both early/mid 20s and what appeared to be the youngest people not with their parents. Our stay was a full award stay coming out to a total of 153,500 (86,000 for 5 nights of the regular room and for 3 nights 67500 points for Royal Beach room). I had the reservation split between the normal rooms and the Royal Beach rooms. I wanted to get into the Royal Beach for the full stay, but there was a convention for American Financial that had rented out the entire Royal Beach from 1/8 to 1/12. I knew, based on that, that there was no chance for an upgrade, but that didn't stop me from asking.
(The only time I ever ask for one is when I am travelling with girlfriend twice a year or so. Otherwise, on business I really don't care, but that is just an aside.)
The Airport and Transportation
We flew into Liberia airport and setup a shuttle transport through Eco Trans Costa Rica for 20 dollars a person. It was easy and they met us with a sign right at the airport. We schedule a pickup from the same company to take us back to the airport when leaving on the 15th. We received a confirmation email from them, but they never showed. We finally called them 15 minutes after our scheduled pickup and they showed up 10 minutes later. They are located very close to the Westin so are a pretty solid option and relatively inexpensive. We still made our flights with no problem. The Liberia has a brand new terminal, which was really nice. US power plugs everywhere, food, shops, etc. The food was ridiculously expensive at the airport. $15 for a slice of pizza. Absolutely insane.
Checking In
When checking in at the separate Platinum desk, I mentioned to the receptionist that it would be great if they could combine my two reservations into one all in the Royal Beach Club. She said that they normally do upgrade every Platinum guest, but couldn't do to the above. (I take that 'always' statement with a grain of salt, but at least they were aware of the policies.) Despite the lack of upgrade, she said that she can give us special bracelets that would allow us access to the Royal Beach pool and premium liquor such as Stoli and Johnny Walker. She said that they do this for all of the Platinum guests, so I would recommend asking for it even if you are not staying in the Royal Beach Club and you are a platinum. We were later informed by one of our unrelated tour guides, that our bracelets were normally for honeymooners. It was not our honeymoon, and although I was tempted to state this when making the reservation, I thought karma would not smile on me for this so I did not. The 'better' bracelets were shiny silver versus the standard green. We later saw that the rest of the Royal Beach people had shiny gold bracelets.
Regular Room
Our regular room was nice. It had a couch and a dining room table. Stairs led up to the bed. It was pretty large and I was a big fan. My two complaints are that there was no bath tub, which is lame when travelling with the GF and that there were a lot of mosquitoes in the room. Obviously it is Costa Rica so were kind of expecting that. Other than that, the room was solid.
The Property
The resort itself was huge and beautiful. We opted to walk everywhere and had no issues. Some people mentioned taking the carts, which are plentiful, but its Costa Rica. Enjoy the outdoors. The normal pool was nice, but a bit loud and crowded. The bar was never a long wait to get drinks. We spent three days on the beach, but would walk inside to get more drinks and take them out to the beach and there were no problems with this. The food was okay. The GF and I both agreed that the pizza was by and large the best thing we ate. We probably had 7 pizzas or so during the whole time. Seems like a lot, but we tend to eat breakfast and then dinner skipping lunch. So on a few occasions we grabbed a pizza for an afternoon snack and on another two nights we ate just pizza. They have it to go, which takes about 15 minutes and then you can go back to the pool or the beach and enjoy pizza with drinks. The restaurant food was mediocre. The Asian place was, in my opinion, terrible. The Italian, Mediterranean, French, and Latin American were okay and Breakfast was okay. I would have preferred to have real Costa Rican food, but it is obviously a large resort and I am perhaps not the normal demographic.
Royal Beach Club
On the 12th, we moved into the Royal Beach Club. The room was a bit disappointing. It was smaller than the normal room and considerably more 'hotel' like. The one plus side was the bath, which was slightly larger than a normal bath tub. I had read a few different places that there were actual jacuzzis, but this was definitely not the case for us. We had a nice little balcony, but it was nothing too extravagant. The biggest benefit of the Royal Beach Club was the pool. It was night and day difference from the normal pool. Much quieter with actual waiters that walked around. They also came around with sandwiches, french fries, ice cream, and Evian water body spray. (I thought the body spray was a bit crazy and did not ask to be sprayed down, but was very intrigued by the idea...) If you are looking to relax (or drink heavily) by the pool, I would definitely recommend going the Royal Beach route or pushing to get the Platinum bracelets. I am not sure the difference in price, but it is only 1000 additional points to get into the Royal Beach Club. I definitely think it was worth that.
Check Out
It was an award stay so no charges and I barely sat down before they said, "No charges, you are all set." I had been slightly nervous as this was my first all inclusive experience and all of the menus had prices for every item, which I still can't figure out. I also purchased internet every day with a charge to the room, but that was never even mentioned since I am platinum. (Much smoother than other hotels like the Westin Time Square where there are billing issues all the time.)
Let me know if anyone has any specific questions I didn't cover here.