Right, no club lounge here, so need to be Globalist for free breakfast. Last time we were here, we paid around 20 for the continental buffet, which was plenty of food and excellent, but that was a few years ago before covid. You could also just order off the menu.

Hope you are enjoying your time. Curious to see how things are!

I'd also be curious what the weather is like and if that impacts ones enjoyment. This seems like not a great time of year to go to Costa Rica as it's rainy season.

Regards

Also looking forward to hearing about the latest. Heading there the week of Nov. 6 for 6 nights.

Makes sense. Thank you for sharing the info!!

if you book through AmexFine Hotels or with a Hyatt Prive. Agent breakfast is included

Ok, short summary of our 6 night stay we just got back from.

1. Amidst it being the rainy season, weather was not a big detractor. I'd say it did rain 4-5 of the 7 days there, but always in the afternoon and usually just for an hour or two.
2. Due to it being the off season, the resort was empty. Probably about 20% occupancy most of the nights. That mostly was a perk, given we could more or less do anything with no crowds, wait times and we got even better service I would say, since the workers were not as busy.
3. The biggest downside (which I'm still not sure trumps the pros of it being so quiet) was some activities and restaurants were unavailable. Beach House was closed for renovations, the Four Seasons as a whole was closed, so we couldn't go to any of their restaurants. The golf course was closed and a few of the activities we wanted to do, like the hotel's Zipline'ing, was closed for maintenance.
4. I believe all suites, rooms and now the residences (which you can rent as villas) were open, minus 1 last residences/villas building they are finishing up construction on.
5. I used a SUA for the Andaz Suite and they did upgrade that to the Andaz Bay View Suites. Suite was excellent, would happily stay in it again. And that was with my wife and I + a 1 year old and 3 year old. They both slept in the main living area, one in a crib and one in a rollaway.
6. The Nalesco beach, amidst the Beach Club being closed, was still awesome. They had some servers there and you could order from a limited menu of drinks and a bit of food. And they still had Explorers there for SUP, kayaks etc.
7. Cambi kids club was great, our 3 year old loved it.
8. Babysitting service worked well too.
9. Food was solid overall. Rio Bhongo was good, breakfast was quite nice. We thought Ostra was good but thought Chao Pescao was especially good.
10. Activities: we did the on-property 8:30am daily hike with our kids, would recommend. We did the Monkey Tour around the peninsula, also with our kids, would recommend. My wife and I did the Magical Mangroves on a Hawaiian canoe, would also recommend. The Mixology Class at Chao Pescao was awesome and would HIGHLY recommend. Were bummed we couldn't do the zipline'ing (since it was closed)

Overall, we had an excellent stay. Staff was generally amazing and went above and beyond at times (like when my son got sick, wife got sick) and overall, service was pretty consistent with a few standout employees. Love the peninsula, the resort, the marina etc. I believe this property caters to a wide variety of people of different ages and family situations and offers no shortage of a variety of things to do between the activities, the pools, the beaches, live music etc.

Let me know if anyone has any additional specific questions, happy to share more. Well done with this property, Andaz.

Thanks very much for the follow-up. Good to know the rain didn't have much impact on your stay. Nonetheless, I'm always a bit hesitant to visit places during rainy season as it can be so unpredictable but on the other hand the low occupancy is very attractive to someone like me. Food for thought I guess. This property certainly can be challenging to get into during the non-rainy season...

Regards

We just returned from a brief stay and I agree - the property and the staff are both simply amazing.

The only drawback was our dinner at Chao Pescao. Service was friendly but otherwise inattentive and slow. The food was not as good as I expected for the price point. eg the "pork belly tacos" which I think were $18 were just a $6 plate of 2 shredded pork street tacos, in my opinion. Nothing else we had wowed us or made us want to return. (I realize it's not out of line for resort food pricing, but my expectations for value had been set for a few days by the Rio Perdido hotel restaurant)

Feedback on Diving near Andaz
 

Hello wondered how the diving was and which sites you went to ? Did they pick you up at the Andaz? Andaz is promoting a company called BA divers ? Any reason you choose not to dive with them ?

We are going to the resort after xmas for 10 days. Anyword on if the new Beach House will be open on time after Nov 15th?

Would love to hear any recommendations for hikes, places to visit within up 2 hours, recommendations on surfing near by at Tamarindo or other beaches? Scuba diving recommendations ?

Any hot springs places closer then Arenal ?

Best zip line tours up to 1 hour + away if have own rental car?

Thanks

Went to monkey's head and 1 other dive site, but I forgot the name. Traveling with a 3 year old, so most vacations I only do 1 dive trip these days. Deep blue divers will pick you up on the beach at the Andaz, which I found to be very convenient. For 2 dives, rental equipment and the beach pickup I paid about $160. Not sure why I originally booked deep blue divers, but that is who I dived with my first trip to Andaz back in 2017 and have stuck with them on each trip

Has anyone seen any reviews of the new residences? Booked in for end of Jan so can report back then

Going to answer a couple questions quick.
I'm staying 18-26 - Got word it will not be ready to maybe Dec 15. Will report what it looks like when I'm there.
Would love to hear any recommendations for hikes, places to visit within up 2 hours, recommendations on surfing near by at Tamarindo or other beaches? Scuba diving recommendations ?
You can get easy surf lessons at Tamarindo. Never done any scuba. Have done some boat tours with Go South Tours to fish/wakeboard/etc.

Any hot springs places closer then Arenal ?
You can do one of the combo tours that includes hot springs. Haucienda Gauchapalin is one we did with Zip lines, horse back riding, river tubing, and hot springs.

Best zip line tours up to 1 hour + away if have own rental car?
Mega Combo or Hacienda Gauchapalin both good.

Seems like hotel plays games with suites. I0 day stay shows it available but a 7 night using dates within that range shows nothing.

any idea if this can booked at all?