Over the past few months, my fiancée and I have been searching for the perfect location for our wedding. At the beginning of our search, we thought of having a destination wedding and stumbled upon Hotel Punta Islita in Costa Rica and we booked a trip to check it out. Unfortunately, in the meantime, we were convinced that such a secluded location may not be the best location for our wedding due to the logistics of getting everyone there. So we went on the trip anyway but with it scratched off as a wedding location.

The hotel is located in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica and is a 5 hour drive from SJO or a 2 hour drive from LIR. The hotel also has an airstrip on their property which is about 6km from the main resort. Traveling this time of year, flights to LIR were limited, since it is just on the tail end of the busy season. We found a good fare for a flight into SJO arriving at approximately 1pm on Saturday. The issue we were faced with at this point was getting to the hotel. The flight to the hotel’s airstrip left in the morning, which meant we either had to stay a night in San Jose or rent a car. We chose to drive it since our trip was short and we didn’t want to spend the night in the city or out by the airport.

I reserved an mid-size SUV with Hertz. Of course, on arrival Hertz didn’t have my vehicle available Hertz walked us over to National and we were told we would receive the same rate for a comparable vehicle. Both companies insisted I pay for third party liability insurance (even with the rental coverage of my credit card.) I used my bargaining skills and kept pushing National down on the price of the rental and ended up essentially getting the insurance for free. I was also able to rent a GPS for $8/day (Hertz didn’t have Neverlost available at this location) which turned out to be one of the best decisions I made on this trip! Finally, we were on our way around 2:15 pm.

At first, I was a bit nervous about driving in Costa Rica. The reading I had done had me thinking the roads and drivers would be terrible, I could expect flats (where people would then try to rob us) and I should also expect to pay off some police. That all turned out to be only partially true. Driving on the main road, the Pan-American Highway, from the airport to the outskirts of the city it moves like a small highway would in the US, albeit with a max speed of 80kmh. As you move further outside the city the road often slows down quite a bit and is typically just a 2-lane road. The road condition itself is moderate.

The biggest rate-limiter at this point are the tractor-trailers – the road snakes around quite a bit and runs up and down hill – not ideal for the trucks. The truck drivers realize that they are slowing down traffic and will turn on their left turn signal indicating to the driver behind them that it is safe to pass ahead ^ I noticed that drivers here will pass with much less space available than we may be used to in the US, regardless if the road shows 2 solid yellow lines. By the end of the trip, I was doing the same

Speed limits tend to be 80kmh outside towns and 60 or 40kmh in towns, unless it is a school zone, in which case it is 25kmh. Driving through one town, I was cruising along at 80 and saw a sign for 60, so I slowed down and then saw a school zone sign for 25 and hit the brakes pretty hard. I wasn’t sure if school zone speed limits were always in effect or if it was just on school days and knew that the police on that road have a tendency to watch for tourists speeding. Of course, this was when I was pulled over.

The officer walked from his car on the side of the road to the middle and indicated for me to stop. I did so and lowered the window. The officer came over with a smile on his face and shook my hand. He said in Spanish that I was going 80 then slowed down to 25, that is why he stopped me (fortunately my fiancée speaks Spanish and was able to translate) and then he asked me to pull over to the side of the road. I was fuming at this point figuring he wanted some cash but maintained my cool. He then explained that the school zone speed limit is only on weekdays so we didn’t have to slow down. He complimented my fiancée’s Spanish, shook my hand again and wished us a good trip ^

As we got closer to the hotel the roads worsened. They were bumpy and not well-lit but overall no big deal. We tried not to make any stops since we knew we should try to get to the hotel before dark, which is when the driving could potentially be more dangerous (rarity of street lights, guardrails, sharp turns, etc.) The last stretch before the hotel was a dirt road. We were a bit later than expected due to the car rental mix-up and hit the dirt road when it was dark. Now the adventure began since we had about 45min to go.

Continuing on we hit the part that worried us the most – we had to cross a river in the vehicle. No, not cross a river over a bridge, actually go through the river. We get to the river and it is pitch black. I am maneuvering the car with the high beams on to try and see the best way to cross. Finally, I spot a way that appears to lead to the continuation of the road on the other side and we head through. The water was pretty deep but we made it across. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it across to the road! Turning the car around was difficult, since we pulled up onto the wrong area. After a couple minutes we spotted the road and made our way to it along the side of the river. I still maintain that I found the best route across at the time!

We pulled up to the hotel at just about 7pm. They checked that we had a reservation at the gate and we drove up to reception. We were met in the parking lot, our bags were taken and we were shown to check-in. Check-in went fine but we were told that our room upgrade wasn’t available on Saturday night (we booked with a Virtuoso agent) but that they should have one the following day for us, since a number of people were checking out on Sunday. We were then shown to our room.

The deluxe king room was itself was pretty standard but the outside area was what made it (my fiancée enjoys the L’Occitane bath products too.) You enter through a private gate (pic1) to your room and walk around to the door. Outside in front of the door is a patio and hammock overlooking the Pacific (pic2). There is a lawn area and lots of colorful flowers (pic3 pic4). It really is beautiful.

When we checked in we asked them to make us a dinner reservation at 8pm so we had time to clean up and change. The restaurant is open-air and overlooks the main pool with the ocean below. There is a nice breeze and plenty of overhead fans so you stay pretty comfortable while dining. Service was friendly and at a relaxed pace. If you are in a hurry be sure to tell them beforehand. The restaurant offers no daily specials, which was a bit of a let down. The starters were nothing special. For my main course I had beef tenderloin with wild mushroom sauce that wasn’t great. The sauce was a too thick – the kind of sauce a place would use to cover up an inferior piece of meat and that was indeed the case. The quality of the meat was not very good. Overall, it was edible but not something I would get again. My fiancée had a wild mushroom risotto that was pretty good. We were tired from a long day of traveling so skipped dessert and went to bed.

Sunday morning we woke up early (6:30am or so) made some coffee and sat out on the patio before breakfast. It was a gorgeous morning and super-relaxing to sit in the hammock listening to the waves crashing below while enjoying my morning coffee. The in-room coffee actually is pretty good, one of the better ones I’ve had.

Next was an early morning walk on the beach. The beach is about a 10 minute walk from the main resort. The hotel offers regular shuttles but we decided to walk. The beach was totally empty and the tide was low with mist rising off in the distance (pic5 pic6 pic7). The beach had dark sand and was super-clean, though rocky. We took a quick wade into the water – very warm and only light waves.

Around 9 we went up to the restaurant for breakfast. Breakfast options included in the room rate are “continental,” “typical American,” and “typical Costa Rican.” “Typical American” is 2 eggs, hash browns and bacon or ham. “Typical Costa Rican” is 2 eggs and a rice & bean dish. Coffee/tea and juices are also included and there is an a la carte menu. I had the “typical American” breakfast (which I ended up having every day) and the eggs can only be described as weird. I didn’t like them, though the following days they were good – must depend on who is cooking.

After breakfast we went to the front desk to make spa and activity reservations and also inquire about our room upgrade. We made reservations for massages at 11 followed by baths (will explain further.) and then the “Monkey Quest” the next day. We were also told that they had assigned a new room to us, that it would be ready shortly and that we could put our bags together and they would move everything for us. We already had our stuff packed and now had about 45 min to kill before the spa, so we sat out on the patio again. At about 10:30 the phone rang and a porter was at our gate to move our bags – the new room was ready.

We were then moved to our casita and the room was just great. Significantly larger than the previous room, with a sitting area (pic8) and 4-post bed (pic9). The patio was larger and we had a plunge pool and lounge chairs in the grass (pic10). We were really happy with this move and would absolutely recommend one of the casitas over the king deluxe room. The one problem was the air conditioning in the casita. As can be seen, the a/c is on the wall in the sitting area. Even with it running all day and with both ceiling fans on, the air doesn't circulate well enough into the sleeping area, making it noticeably warmer.

We arrived at the spa about 10 min before our scheduled appointment, filled out the questionnaire and had some cold drinks. We booked a joint room and the room was very well done and tastefully decorated. It was like a log cabin construction with high ceilings, the front of the room opened up and there was lush vegetation and 2 outdoor showers. I had the “cappuccino massage” which is like a Swedish massage with chocolate/coffee and my fiancée had a hot stone massage. The cappuccino massage was awesome – I was so relaxed and my skin felt great afterwards. She enjoyed her hot stone massage but afterward questioned herself on getting a hot stone massage while in a tropical climate, it was a little much.

We were then ready for the bath after I had then showered but apparently there had been a miscommunication between the front desk and the spa when we had made the reservation. They didn’t know we were supposed to have the bath but would be glad to prepare it if we didn’t mind waiting. We were led to the front of the spa where they had 2 whirlpools, one with warm water and one cool and we waited there. While we were waiting and chatting, we decided to make another appointment for the next day since everything had been so great.

The bath was ready and we were brought back to the same room we had the massage in. There was a large, tiled, round tub sunk into a corner with candles and flowers around it as well as 2 glasses of champagne. The tub itself was scented with orange and honey, had light bubbles and perhaps a hundred tropical flowers floating in it. Very relaxing and very romantic, highly recommended.

Next up was lunch down by the beach. The beach restaurant was nothing spectacular though the service was good. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool and beach having some drinks and I enjoyed a nice cigar. By late afternoon it looked like it was getting cloudy so we went back up to the hotel (this time we took the shuttle, the walk didn’t look too fun after a few drinks) to hang out by the main pool. We hung out for a bit and it soon began to downpour.

The rain ended after an hour or so and we went back to our room. I asked the bartender if we could bring our drinks back and he said, “Senor, this is your home, you can do whatever you please. Also, if there is anything we can do for you – if you want dinner from the restaurant menu and not the room service menu, we’ll take care of you.” Perfect answer, extra tip for you! In fact, we thought that was a good idea and decided to order dinner to the room from the restaurant menu. It arrived quickly and there was only a small delivery fee ($8) to which I added a bit. We had dinner hung out on the patio and in the pool for a bit and went to bed early, tired from a long day.

Monday morning we again rose early and spent some time outside before breakfast. Had a quick breakfast and went to the “Monkey Quest” tour at 8am. It is a 3 hour tour (which I thought was ominous) going from the hotel through the town of Islita (school: pic11), then over by the airstrip (pic12), into wooded areas and ending on a quiet, deserted beach. We ended up seeing numerous howler monkeys (pic15 pic16 pic17), some perched vultures up close (pic18), and a few bats which was kind of interesting. It was a fun tour and there was only one other couple that went at the same time. The beach we visited at the end was beautiful and much better than the beach at the hotel (pic13 pic14).

Back to the hotel we had a quick lunch at the main restaurant before heading to the spa. Today I was having a deep tissue massage and she was having the cappuccino massage which we were following with a “chocolate bath.” My massage therapist really worked out some knots I had and I was so relaxed that I think I fell asleep for a bit. My fiancée really enjoyed her massage as I thought she would. Today the bath was ready for us when the massages were done but there was no champagne, but iced tea today The rest of the afternoon was spent at the main pool, hanging out, having a few drinks (pic19).

That evening we had booked the “romantic dinner” which is a 3-course dinner for 2 at a private table setup on the beach. When we got down there the table was setup with tiki torches around it and flower petals on the table with candles (pic20). We had already placed our order when making the reservation so the food service began shortly thereafter. Our waiter waited off in the distance watching and being as un-obstructive as possible. We had a perfect, clear night made more interesting by storms that were off in the distance (we could see the lightning.) The dinner was much better than previously. I had another tenderloin dish and the beef itself was a higher quality. During the main course a guitar player came over and sang for us. We didn’t expect that and it definitely brought smiles to our faces. Overall this was a fantastic experience – just watch where you step! (pic21)

Tuesday morning we had to check out, to make it to SJO for our flight at 2:30pm. We had a fast breakfast and went to check out at 7:30 am, figuring that would give us plenty of time to make the flight.

At checkout, I give my card to the woman and it is taking a long time. I ask if something is wrong and she tells me it is being denied. I thought this was pretty strange (I told the card company I’d be traveling) but was also a little unsure since it was a new card. I pull out my cell phone to call them and my phone has no service. We try calling from the hotel and it isn’t working either. ... I’m thinking?! Then I look up the ATT Access Direct number from Costa Rica, figuring we should be able to get through via ATT…nope, ATT not working either. Now a supervisor is there and I give him another card – still not working. I look at the card machine and see that it isn’t being declined, the machine clearly says communication error The supervisor then tries calling a local bank to authorize the card – call doesn’t work. At this point I say, “Look, your phones obviously aren’t working. Here is a sheet of paper with my name, card information and signature authorizing you to charge $XXXX. I have a flight to catch and I’ve just wasted 45 minutes here.” Upon checking my card when arriving home I see they were able to make the charge eventually.

The wasted 45 minutes at checkout actually made it really close to catch our flight. We made it but it was tight, making it through everything with just 20 minutes before boarding. At that point duty free wouldn’t sell to us since there is a 1 hour cutoff for liquids before boarding We tried the next duty free and they made it work for us but we had to buy quickly

In the end we had a great trip though I wish it was a bit longer. We lost a lot of time on the road and while it was interesting to be able to see the country that way, I would have like to get to the rain forest, volcanoes, etc. The hotel was relaxing and secluded with great service and rooms and I would recommend it to any couple looking to get away.