The Four Seasons is located in Guanacaste, a much hotter, drier part of Costa Rica. This has to be one of the more beautiful Four Seasons settings. The fact that it sits on a peninsula gives it a unique layout with a beach on either side....with the pools, lobby, main restaurants and bars in between. A recent remodel has made everything feel fresh, and the wildlife here was just as abundant as at the Peace Lodge, but different, with howler and white faced monkeys taking center stage, along with beachside iguanas, coatis, raccoons, parrots, hermit crabs and sea turtles.
We booked into a Canopy Suite and were fortunate to have been upgraded by the GM to a Canopy Plunge Pool Suite a few months prior to our arrival. The Canopy Suites climbed up the hills similar to the Seychelles FS and it seemed the higher you went, the better the view. Our suite did not have the water view we had requested, at least not from our deck, but being on a lower level it was an easy walk to the main resort if we didn't feel like waiting for a golf cart and there was a laundry facility close to our room which came in handy. The layout was perfect for our family with a separate bedroom, living room with pullout sofa, two very large marble bathrooms, plunge pool and spacious deck with dining table and daybed. We loved the new decor with bright colors and lavender highlights.
The Four Seasons was far away from Costa Rica's most popular attractions, but offered many complimentary and low cost activities on site to make up for it. Mr. Ericka and I did the Witch's Rock Canopy Tour which is an exhilarating zip line course close to the resort, and some stand up paddle boarding. With our four year old, we enjoyed the Trail of the Giants Tour (a scenic and safari like experience done via golf cart on the golf course), the Chocolate Experience (where you learn about local cacao and make your own fudge), mini golf, kayaking, and playing on the beaches and in the pools with the plethora of children's toys. Mr. Ericka also played the spectacular Arnold Palmer designed golf course while I had a Rainforest Aromatherapy massage in the spa.
We were able to take advantage of the Kids for All Seasons club, open for children over 4 from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Our son loved to interact with other kids for a few hours and to splash in the very shallow pool. He came home with little crafts he had made and established relationships with the nice women that worked there. By the last few days he was asking to go to KFAS.
Service here was of course very good with lots of staff members buzzing around, making things happen. It's a big place so we didn't expect a lot of name recognition, but over six nights the staff at our frequented areas knew us and the golf cart drivers got our shy little boy to give them high fives, etc. I loved that each time we ordered room service, they told us exactly when it would arrive...and that's when it came. At one point, while we were eating dinner at the Italian restaurant, one of the waiters invited us for a kitchen tour. They learned our son loved their croissants and showed him the next day's croissants ready to go into the oven. Our suite was immaculate too, with wonderful children's bath products, and our son's name written out on the shower glass. He was welcomed with a treasure map that lead him to a small treasure chest full of sweets.
There were three restaurants open on a rotating schedule, so we needed to plan ahead to experience all of them. We knew the Italian restaurant and steak house would be wonderful but we were pleasantly surprised by the Costa Rican dishes at Sol Y Sombra. All of the restaurants were child friendly with kid's menus, boosters, etc. and we had the added benefit of having a child under five who ate free. Our private beach dinner had a romantic canopied table with candle light, torches....and lots of hermit crabs!
While service at the Four Seasons was great overall, housekeeping missed our turndown on a night that we had a dinner reservation. This was probably just a one time problem, but we started to call for housekeeping just to make sure they got there at appropriate times. Also, on checkout, we had to tell the front desk that a round of golf was part of our package and needed to be removed from our bill.
Canopy Plunge Pool Suite Deck
Canopy Plunge Pool Suite Bedroom
Lunch on the Beach
Details
Birds at the Four Seasons, Too
Golf Course View
Hermit Crab
Pools
White Faced Monkeys
