My wife and I spent twelve days in Costa Rica in the first half of December last year. It was the first time for us to visit this country, so we had no preferences on where to go. But we have the following objectives when planning the trip.

• Make good use of the Hyatt points we've accumulated over the pandemic years.
• Try several different properties and avoid sticking in any one for too long.
• Minimize the travel time between hotels because driving in Costa Rica requires full focus and can be dangerous due to poor road conditions and frequent reckless drivers.

Effectively that narrowed our selection down to three SLH properties located near, or on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

• Los Altos Resort (https://losaltosresort.com)
• Hotel Three Sixty (https://hotelthreesixty.com)
• Alta Las Palomas (https://thealtahotel.com)

Other hotels in the country did not make the cut. There's a Hyatt Place in San Jose (country's capital, also the city where the airport is located) but we did not expect it to be anything special, so we skipped it. The remaining properties were simply too far away and/or spread too widely. Moreover, the Dreams and Secrets resorts have not yet been added to WoH program back when we were planning the trip.

So, I think it makes sense to share my impressions of the three abovementioned hotels together in one thread, as it might be helpful for someone planning a trip similar to ours.

Los Altos Resort

This is a Category 6 hotel in Hyatt taxonomy, which makes it 21,000 points per night off-peak. Which is not a bad redemption in my book. However, given all the shortcomings listed below, I don't think I'd be happy paying 29,000 points in the peak season.

This hotel seems to have better press coverage than others. After going through the reviews online, we had high hopes for it. And it was one of the reasons we ended up staying for six nights here. (The other reason was that Hotel Three Sixty, our next destination, was not available on earlier dates of our trip.)

I'd say we ended up being a little disappointed. Well, everything from the reviews stood true, so it's not like someone has misguided us. The suite was incredibly spacious, the surroundings are great, and the views were spectacular (when seen.) So, it's just the little things which did not work out quite perfectly.

To begin with, it was the only hotel of three which did not offer us any upgrade even after we asked. In fact, they gave us, arguably, the worst suite. It was located on the lowest floor (out of eight), right above the lobby, so the view was mostly obstructed. (We did enjoy it from the pool and the restaurant, though.) In addition, the exterior night lights (which are intended to light up the outside green roof) made up for weird and unnatural visual effects when viewed from a short distance. However, that might be not a big deal for many people, or higher floors, I guess.

Pros

• Easily reachable via a fully paved, well-maintained road. You can get there by basically any type of car. (Which is not universal in Costa Rica as we figured out later.)
• Plenty of space. The only room type available in this hotel is suite. Each suite has no fewer than three bedrooms. On paper, you're not supposed to use the two bedrooms in the back if you're only checking in as a couple. (And more guests cost extra if you booked with points.) But in reality, the staff has no problem with you using any room as you please. We used them for extra privacy at times, or to dry wet clothes, for example.
• Full kitchen. You can cook (or at least heat) your own food if you have special needs or just want to save a few bucks.
• Nice bathrooms with spacious showers. (The amenities bottles kinda felt water-thinned, however.)
• Located in a well populated touristic neighborhood. For some, it might be a clear downside. But you can go out and easily find a café or a grocery store within walking distance. (We recommend Café Emilio which is just around the corner from the resort. They have friendly staff, great main dishes, but the desserts are simply top notch. Therefore, we used this place more like a coffee shop than a restaurant.)
• A few hiking trails on property. Ask for a map if you want to go there without a guided tour. The trails are of moderate difficulty and are not perfectly maintained, but are fun and totally walkable, at least when it's not raining. You can see at least two species of monkeys, sloths and numerous birds without leaving the property.
• A small private beach on property. It's not within walking distance (unless you are into hiking) but there's a shuttle service, and the beach is quite nice actually. They even serve drinks there. Beware it's mostly pebbles, not soft sand. But they put it right in the name—Rocky beach. We found the ocean water nicer and warmer than the resort pool. (See the notes on the hotel pools at the very bottom of this post.)
• There's a “turndown service” in the evening, which is in fact just a bottle of infused water and a few chocolates. A nice touch for sure, but nothing to write home about. Don't feel sad if you miss it on some days due to not being in the room.
• Overall, this hotel looks like a solid option if you're traveling with kids. There's simply more stuff to do on site compared to the other two properties. E.g., they have a dedicated game room filled with, well, kids' stuff. (On the other hand, it might be a downside if you're looking for something quieter and more private.)

Cons

• No upgrade even though I'm Hyatt Globalist, and the resort was seemingly not fully populated due to the low season. (But I guess it would be hard for them to justify an upgrade given that we stayed for six consequent nights.)
• The building was originally designed as a residential condo, and it shows in many aspects.
  • For instance, every suite has its own water heater. This makes sense for a condo (at least in some parts of the world) but is quite unusual for a hotel. Maybe it's no big deal in theory, but the one we had in our suite was criminally small (or underpowered.) We barely had enough hot water for having a shower one after another. We called the front desk; they came in with a maintenance person and checked the heater. So, it's not like ours was broken or set up incorrectly. Moreover, they told us that all the suites had heaters of the same size. I cannot imagine the kind of logistical nightmare if you're travelling in a larger group (say, with 2-3 kids) and need everyone to get ready quickly before leaving for an excursion early in the morning. (Sure, you can manage it, but that's not the type of headache you'd want to have on vacation.)
  • Another consequence of the building design is the elevator arriving directly at the suite hallway. This is absolutely fine (and feels extra posh, I guess) if you're in an actual private condo. But it hardly works for a hotel. There's no door to knock on, nothing to lock from the inside, and nowhere even to hang a “do not disturb” sign. Well, there's no such sign whatsoever. When housekeeping (or anyone else) arrives, the elevator doors open, and then they have to shout out loudly asking whether they're allowed to come in. It absolutely will end up awkward one day if you were there chilling in the living room in your underwear (or lack thereof.)
  • Now what feels weird even for a condo is no dedicated “work desk.” It might sound like I'm nitpicking, but c'mon, it's the 21st century, and everyone has a laptop with them. Even if you're on vacation, there are times when you want to, say, check on your personal emails, review the bill from a previous hotel or research the map for the upcoming segment of your trip. Sure, you can sit at the dining table or on the coach—and I have no problem doing so. But given how much empty floor space each suite has; it just feels stupid they had not thought of some dedicated and more comfortable place to properly sit with a laptop or papers. Most of the suites in all other hotels, including the absolutely tiny ones, had something along those lines.
  • Here's another weird thing about the floor plan, and this one cannot be justified even by either designing it as a condo or strictly focusing on vacationing. The main bedroom, while being very nicely laid out overall, effectively lacks any outside view. Sure, there's a window and even a small balcony, but it basically faces a wall right in front of you. There's barely any light, let alone any view. And it looks like every suite has the same problem, not just ours. (Secondary bedrooms, even though less spacious and not as luxurious, have proper windows, although everything they look at is the small patio.)
  • Speaking of windows (or balconies), they had no mosquito screens. Which means you either keep them shut all the time (and rely on AC to keep yourself cool) or cohabitate with bugs, flies, and other weird creatures in the room. We ended up running AC non-stop in the bedroom while tolerating the mosquitoes in the living room. I feel sorry for whoever checked in after us, though, as they might not have made the same life choices.
  • For a resort which seems family-oriented, it would be nice if at least one bathroom had a tub. But I guess, the choice of water heaters makes it impossible.
• Enough about the floor plan, though. The on-site restaurant is priced unreasonably high for what it has to offer. The food quality is okay but nothing to be excited about. The presentation is great, though. Again, if you go out a few steps from the resort gates, you'll find a wider choice of food, better tasting and for half the price or less.
• Other nitpicks like not having enough power sockets around the rooms, no big mirror anywhere (how you're supposed to dress out?), a fake tree in the bedroom (as if we were in a concrete bunker and not in the most biodiverse country on the planet), very few drying hangs for towels, and confusing indications on the waste collection bins in the kitchen (which one is for recyclables?) Each of these things sounds small, but altogether it gives the impression that the hotel is not very well thought of.
• There was construction going on at the property, and it felt quite noisy at times. It's unclear what they're building so far. But once finished, it will probably obstruct the views even further, which are already quite limited.

Hotel Three Sixty

This is another Category 6 hotel (21,000 points off-peak), which is pricewise on par with Los Altos. However, in many aspects it's the exact opposite of Los Altos. We stayed there for three nights, and we liked it a lot better overall. (However, this is of course entirely subjective, depending on your lifestyle and priorities, so keep reading.)

The hotel consists of about a dozen “villas”, each being a small, isolated building. They are densely located together, but each has its own, almost unobstructed view, thanks to the location on the top of a rather steep hill. If looking from the above, the majority of buildings are aligned almost in a circle—this is, I guess, where the hotel name comes from.

Villas are divided into three “tiers”, the lowest being simply called “deluxe”, then “sunrise premium”, and top tier being “sunset premium.” As far as we can tell, the villas are identical in size, floor plans and amenities, while the only difference is, well, the view. (Again, it's all in the names.)

As usual, the only option bookable with Hyatt points is the lower tier, deluxe villa which is supposed to observe “partial ocean views.” I sent a note to the hotel a few hours before arrival and asked for an upgrade, and we were granted a “sunrise premium” villa which is one tier up.

We're not morning persons by any means, but I'd say the view was spectacular any time of the day, and the best we could wish for. For instance, we adored the bird sounds from the wild rainforest that almost touched our balcony (with ocean in the far distance.) One day we walked around the property and checked out the surroundings of what looked like “sunset premium villas” and we did not like their view any better. (Some had more ocean and less forest, and vice-versa.) But even for the lowest tier, the “deluxe villas” seemed to have not a bad view at all. And even though our villa was not the best for sunsets, we enjoyed them from the restaurant/pool area.

So, overall, this looks like a great resort. Not without its own downsides of course, but we'll talk about that later.

Pros

• Even though the villas are tiny (especially compared with the spacious suites in Los Altos), they seem to be very well thought of. The building consists of just one room (or a studio, perhaps) with a rather spacious patio. The only door you can shut within the villa is to the restroom, so you'll get a little privacy at least there. However, every square foot (or meter) of space is used wisely. There's a sitting area with a sofa. There's a full height mirror in the dressing area. There's a small wooden table near the entrance door. The table was clearly not intended for sitting with a laptop, and there's not even a suitable chair anywhere in the room. But the fact the table is there makes things easily fixable. I asked for a chair, and they brought it in within minutes. Then I rotated the table perpendicular to the wall and facing the window. And it transformed into an almost perfect work corner for me. Of course, I won't sit there for a full workday, unless absolutely necessary. But it turned out (pun intended) great for doing emails while having your morning coffee or catching up with the world news in the evenings.
• Speaking of coffee, we had a proper coffee maker in the room. It looked and felt like a Nespresso machine, even though supplied by a local brand (Britt) serving their own coffee capsules. It was much better to my taste than standard drip coffee available in most of the places. (But overall Costa Rica has great coffee almost everywhere!)
• The bed, sheets and bathroom amenities were great. In fact, we consider them one of the best all up, not just among our limited selection of Costa Rican hotels. Needless to say, there was no shortage of hot water. (Even though you had to run it for a few minutes if you're taking the shower very early in the morning, and the system has cooled down overnight.)
• The restaurant is still very expensive, and maybe not fully delivering up to the price. But we liked the food better compared to the on-site food options in the other two hotels. Which is especially important given that you cannot reach any other restaurant unless by driving or calling a taxi.
• Here's another example of thoughtful design. Due to the location on top of the hill, most pathways around the property are quite steep. However, there's an alternative path available between the villas and the middle area (pool, restaurant, and the lobby) which makes it suitable for rolling luggage or even high heels. Again, this might sound trivial, but believe me, it's not something you take for granted in Costa Rica.
• They offer free laundry, up to two pieces per villa, per night. This means that in three days we could wash six pieces, which was a reasonable option to keep our hiking wear tidy.
• Overall, the property seems to be relatively new and better maintained than others. The staff is extra helpful and friendly, too.
• The hotel is adult-only, which means 16+. I guess the real reason for that is that the villas are so tiny, you cannot fit a third person there. (Unless you share the bed with them.) That was a plus for us, but maybe not for you. If you travel with a teen, they might find not a lot to do and nowhere to go.

Cons

• The only major downside for us was the road. Don't get me wrong, the location is fantastic, we loved the forest surrounding you from every side, and it was totally worth it. Even though we ended up seeing less wildlife than in Los Altos, the rainforest looked and felt much wilder, given the considerable distance from any other human habitat. But getting there was a whole challenge. The hotel website is quite honest in saying that a four-wheel drive vehicle is required. But of course, we did not read that until it was too late (and nobody warned us in advance.) We booked our rental car well beforehand, and back then we had no idea what it would be like driving in Costa Rica. So, we ended up with a compact front-wheel drive SUV. Long story short, we made it safely to the hotel and back. But that's only because the road was dry thanks to no (or little) rain in the past days. At times we felt like the car was really struggling, and the wheels were spinning. We even got a flat tire—thankfully, it was very close to the destination, and we had a spare in the trunk. But still, that's not something I would recommend to anyone. So, you'd either make sure you rent a four-by-four vehicle, and it better have good tires—ours were worn out. Or don't risk it and hire a transfer from the hotel.
• The resort is clearly focused on luxury travelers. E.g., you're not expected to worry about food leftovers. There's a fridge, but no microwave in the room. I get it when that's the case of a fancy hotel located in a busy city center, where you have dozens of dining options within reach. But it's a bummer for a resort on the top of the hill in the middle of nowhere, given that there's not a huge variety of dining options around. (Exactly one restaurant on site.)
• The property seems to be of a decent size, but there's only one hiking trail offered. Besides, there's no map, no signs, and the trail does not seem to be well maintained. A few times it was hard for us to figure out which way we were supposed to go. So, turn on tracking on your phone before starting (e.g., use AllTrails app), so that at least you can always go back. (Also beware it gets dark very quickly at about six in the evening.)
• No beach can also be a solid minus, compared to some other properties. But given the top of the hill location in the woods, it's well understood. Also, the pool was great.
• When booking an excursion, the offer said that transportation was included. However, it turned out, this meant transportation to the national park from some sort of gathering point (tour operator office) in the town and not from the hotel itself. You are supposed to drive all the way from the hotel to the town yourself. And based on the above, that would not be an easy task. I'd say, given unfamiliar conditions, and every excursion starting early in the morning, we would prefer not to drive even if we had a fully capable car—let alone our front-wheel SUV using a spare tire. So, we ended up hiring transfer for extra money. Granted, it was priced reasonably, so it was not all too bad. (You can forgo the “individual transfer” option and go with the “group transfer”. In our case, there were no other participants to pick up in the neighborhood, so we ended up having the full tourist van for ourselves anyway.) Also, the driver, James, turned out to be a great guy. (He works for the tour company, not the hotel.)
• If I were nitpicking, I'd say the Internet connection was not flawless (dropped for a second or two sometimes), and a door mat could help to keep the villa cleaner. Also, still no bathtub, given how tiny the villas are.
• If you plan to enjoy breakfast on the balcony more than once, the sunrise villa might be not your best bet. Or bring a lot of sunscreen with you.

Altas Las Palomas

The third and final hotel for us on this trip was not located on the Pacific coast. Instead, it is in vicinity of San Jose—the largest city, the capital, and the location of the biggest international airport in the country. So, it made perfect sense for us to stay there for a couple of days before taking our flight home. (We would rather not drive all the way from the coast to the airport early in the morning.)

The hotel is priced lower than the other two, it is a Category 5 property asking for 17,000 points per night off-peak. Which is totally reasonable in my opinion.

Pros

• The hotel is located in a gorgeous old house (almost a castle.) The floor plan is weird in some aspects, but it's easy to understand why. (Something you cannot justify for newly built properties like Los Altos.)
• After asking, we easily got an upgrade to a Master suite. Which, according to their website, is considered one of the best rooms in the hotel.
• I'm not sure I'd truly call it a suite, though. It was a decently sized bedroom with a balcony, a tiny coffee table with two chairs, and a small-ish working desk in it. Besides that, it had a wide strangely shaped hallway (beware the step!), a spacious walk-in closet, and a gigantic bathroom (with a large shower, a bidet, and—finally—a bathtub!) Overall, we had plenty of space for any kind of activity—and did I mention the desk? But still, nothing like a separate living room and/or a secondary bedroom. However, given that we originally booked a “Deluxe room” (the basic room and the only type bookable for Hyatt points) I'd count it as a plus.
• The location was great. We had an awesome view from our balcony, the hotel has a nice little garden and a spacious parking lot. Also, it was easy to find and easy to drive to. (Pro tip: there are normally no street addresses in Costa Rica. But if you use Wase, you'll get almost everywhere at the first try.) Note that we could not find time to visit the city center, even though we originally planned to. So, I cannot vouch for it, but I'd guess that the location is less than ideal if you are primarily interested in visiting the city.
• There's a nice patio with enough tables located in between the pool, the garden and restaurant entrance. Good for both having a meal or just sitting there with your laptop without anyone bothering you.
• The restaurant was nothing spectacular, but decent, and priced more reasonably than in the other two hotels. (Which makes sense, given the location in the city and therefore more competition.)
• The restaurant staff was super-friendly, too. One night I came down asking for a cup of hot water for making our own tea. Not only did they give me two cups (with plates) but also a small metallic kettle full of freshly boiled water.

Cons

• Despite having plenty of space available, the suite lacked several amenities one would consider standard. There was no fridge, no microwave, and no coffee maker. There is a coffee machine in the lobby, available for all guests, but it's kinda old, has an odd design and I frankly did not like it at all.
• Some things were broken or just not well maintained. For instance, one of the lights on the balcony did not work, and the room safe refused to lock. (But they seemed to be fixing a lot of things while we were there.)
• Overall, the property has a definitive and cultivated “old building” feel, almost like a museum. This is very subjective, you either like it or not. I, for one, appreciated it, but my wife was less of a fan. Let's just say it's not everyone's cup of tea.
• It's quite obvious that the building was remodeled multiple times, e.g., there's a number of light switches which seemingly do nothing. Maybe I'm nitpicking again, or just have an OCD, but they were bothering me probably more than they should.
• Keeping on nitpicking, it seemed odd that such an old building does not have a written history. They could probably spice things up by putting a small booklet or pamphlet in the room with some facts about the property. Not a huge deal of course, but feels like a missed opportunity for me.
• This is also entirely subjective, but after spending a week in the jungles, I felt like the room could benefit from having a few potted plants. (Maybe one on the balcony and one in the bathroom, given it has a window and plenty of natural light.)
• Last but not least: always check the bill! Upon checking out, they somehow forgot that the room was booked with points and asked for the full cash price. This was of course quickly resolved once I clarified that it was a points booking. Given that there's a Hyatt Place in the city, maybe they're just not too used to Hyatt travelers?

Finally, here are some common notes applicable to all three hotels

• Each of the three has a decent pool. However, it looks like that nobody in Costa Rica is heating their pools. It kinda makes sense given the country's climate year-round. In the high season, the outside temperature makes it not really comfortable to simply hang out in the street. But it would heat the pool really good. However, we visited in December, which is the very end of the low season, and it means relatively low temperatures. This made it very comfortable to be outside, hike and sail on a boat. But it was not enough to properly heat the pools. Most of the time, pools were not freezing cold (especially later in the day after heating in the sun, assuming the weather was good.) You could get in and swim for a while. But it was still not warm enough to hang out in the pool for long without actively moving. (Los Altos partially compensates for that by having two hot tubs at the pool area. But the other two hotels lack that amenity.)
• Nobody seems to know what a kettle is, so don't even bother asking. If you just want some hot water, e.g., for making tea, be prepared to use a coffee machine or boil water in a cooking pot (if your room has either.)
• Another commodity which seems to be non-existent in Costa Rica is a coat hanger at the door. I get it, you're in the tropics and nobody would be wearing, say, a fur coat there. But it rains sometimes, and in fact you would probably wear some sort of jacket when hiking. (To protect yourself from insects and from scratching yourself with tree branches.) So, you would appreciate some place to hang it when coming back, and there's no such thing. Granted, all hotels had some sort of closet, but it was in the bedroom, and normally you don't want to take your wet or dusty outwear there.
• Even though we spent Hyatt points for the stay itself, there were significant incidental charges in every hotel (e.g., tours, meals, laundry, tips and such.) Granted, if you're paying with Chase Hyatt card, remember that you're supposed to get four points per dollar spent in any participating SLH property. However, in our case, only the first hotel was automatically recognized as eligible transaction. The remaining two hotels were coded as generic travel and hence triggered a single point per dollar in rewards. A quick message to Chase support saved the day, but be mindful to double-check your transactions once you get back from vacation.