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JW Marriott Guanacaste, Costa Rica [Master Thread]

Old Jul 23, 2017, 7:41 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Songer5
crparadise.com is a good company to arrange transport to/from hotel, as well as tours. Hat tip to VickiSoCal (12/12/20 Update: I just called the number on their website and the phone number is disconnected. I used https://liberiaairportshuttle.com/ instead and was very happy with their communication/service/professionalism.)

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JW Marriott Guanacaste, Costa Rica [Master Thread]

Old Feb 16, 2017, 9:55 am
  #31  
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
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Got an award ticket out of SJO.

Should I fly from LIR to SJO on the day of departure on a separate ticket or make my way to SJO and see that for a couple of days.

Any interesting stops along the way?
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Old Feb 16, 2017, 11:47 am
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by beachfan
Got an award ticket out of SJO.

Should I fly from LIR to SJO on the day of departure on a separate ticket or make my way to SJO and see that for a couple of days.

Any interesting stops along the way?
If you decide to stay a few days in San Jose and have category 5 certificates, you better make a reservation now before the Marriott goes up a category next month. Right now it's a 5. It's also 100,000 points for 5 nights.
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Old Apr 30, 2017, 1:29 am
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by azepine00
How does JWM compare to Andaz? (family travel prospective is most useful)

Normally i would go for Andaz but i have travel package cert which i can perhaps upgrade to use at JWM - with a car we should be able to find enough to do for 6-7 days...
I'd like to know that too.
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Old May 11, 2017, 10:12 pm
  #34  
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Looks like I'll be checking this property out next month. Has anyone taken a shuttle service from San Jose to here?

I've driven thousands of miles in Costa Rica over the years, but it's not always the most relaxing.

I first came to Tamarindo in the 80's when there was barely a dirt road there.
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Old May 12, 2017, 4:08 pm
  #35  
 
Join Date: May 2017
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You are much better off flying into SJO airport in San Jose and staying at the Los Suenos Marriott and the West Central area of Costa Rica in general. There is a lot more to see and do in the Los Suenos, Jaco and Hermosa area than any other part of the country, and tours, excursions and activities are very close by.

We have been in Costa Rica for over 10 years and have know every part of the country very well. I am always happy to offer the best and most accurate travel tips to those seeking to travel here. There is a LOT of bad information on line, and I can t tell you how many times a day I just shake my head in disbelief at what some people write online about traveling here. Pura Vida and enjoy Costa Rica. It is truly a magical country!
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Old May 16, 2017, 9:08 am
  #36  
 
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Originally Posted by CostaRicaPro
You are much better off flying into SJO airport in San Jose and staying at the Los Suenos Marriott and the West Central area of Costa Rica in general. There is a lot more to see and do in the Los Suenos, Jaco and Hermosa area than any other part of the country, and tours, excursions and activities are very close by.

We have been in Costa Rica for over 10 years and have know every part of the country very well. I am always happy to offer the best and most accurate travel tips to those seeking to travel here. There is a LOT of bad information on line, and I can t tell you how many times a day I just shake my head in disbelief at what some people write online about traveling here. Pura Vida and enjoy Costa Rica. It is truly a magical country!
It may be too late by the time you read this, but we are looking at maybe visiting Costa Rica next week and I'd love any input. Please PM if you can. Thanks!!
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Old Jul 22, 2017, 8:12 pm
  #37  
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We returned a couple of days ago from spending 5 nights at the resort. The third night was our 25th wedding anniversary. I let the concierge know of this when they sent the pre-arrival email.

Transportation- We flew in to Liberia and arranged a private driver through crparadise.com. Our driver's name was Felix and he was great. He was waiting for us at the airport, and also drove us to 2 tours during our stay and to the airport when we left. Our cost for all four trips was less than just the airport transfers would have been via the hotel.

Arrival/room- Check-in is in a small room off the entrance portico with air conditioning and seating. Fruit juice or water is offered. They do a very good job of going over the resort map and telling you about where everything is and explaining the other amenities like the pool club. We were offered the platinum gift or points, we chose the gift. We stayed on points and were upgraded from Garden view to Ocean view. We were in a 53x room and were very happy with the upgrade. In our room there was a card congratulating us on our anniversary and 6 chocolate dipped strawberries.

Pics of room, view and arrival treats.
Attached Images     
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Old Jul 22, 2017, 8:30 pm
  #38  
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Food:

We ate breakfast and dinner at the hotel every day as we did not have a car. We ordered off the menu for breakfast at Mansita, the hotel's main restaurant, rather than the buffet. Although this hotel is open all day we did not eat any other meals there. Mansita, actually all the restaurants, has a very limited number of tables for two. Get there early if you want to sit inside.

We did not eat at the pool bar or order room service.

We ate dinner at Tamarine (Asian fusion/sushi) twice. It was good but the "spicy" dishes such as the Thai curry were not very spicy. This restaurant has very limited seating inside. We had reservations one night, another we did not and were seated outside.

We ate dinner at the lobby bar Nau twice, it has burgers and the same sushi menu as Tamarine.

We ate at the steak restaurant Sabanero on our anniversary. They decorated our table and brought us a special dessert as well as complimentary champagne. The steak was on par with a mid to high end place in the US. The local Costa Rican beef is grass fed and very good.

10% service charge is added and a 20% Platinum discount is applied to every bill. Check carefully as sometimes the server forgets to manually add this. We also tipped some of the servers an extra 5-10% as they were especially good.

As there is no resort fee and we booked no activities via the hotel, our entire bill was food. In total 5 dinners for two with 2-3 drinks (husband only as I don't drink), 5 breakfasts with coffee/tea and a trip to the gelato bar as well as a couple of snacks/drinks from the market totaled 620 USD.

Pics of steakhouse table and cake, and of the view from the balcony at Nau.
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Old Jul 22, 2017, 8:33 pm
  #39  
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I don't think that's a real oceanview room. We had a slightly better view, and did not pay the $40 a night or so Oceanview upgrade.

Nice info on the airport pickup.
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Old Jul 22, 2017, 8:48 pm
  #40  
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On site amenities:

Pool- the pool is gorgeous. I believe it is the largest pool in the country. They have tons of seating. The infinity edge is perfectly suited for just hanging out and watching the beach as well as the many butterflies, hummingbirds and lizards that visit the planters around the pool.

Beach- immediately in front of the pool is very rocky, you'd want beach shoes to wade in. Walk right 2 minutes and there's a sandy area where you can wade out then begin swimming although it is still too rocky that I would be comfortable body surfing or boogie boarding. For that go to the beach club or walk about ten minutes to the left.

There is a free shuttle to the beach club on the hour. Call ahead to reserve a spot. Bring towels and cash or a credit card, because while JW guests have access to the pool and beach chairs you cannot charge anything to your room.

Hacienda Pinalla, the private land the resort is located on also has mountain bike trails with bikes you can rent on site, golf, horse back riding, and zip lining. We did not get a chance to try any of these.

Picture of the more swimmable area of the beach and of the infinity edge of the pool.
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Old Jul 22, 2017, 9:02 pm
  #41  
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Off site activities. We booked two tours through crparadise.com

Felix picked us up at the hotel for both and then met us at the end of the tour to return us.

A 2.5 hour Tamarindo estuary tour, where we saw crocodiles, mangroves, too many different kinds of birds to mention and howler monkeys.

A 5 hour sailing trip (1 to 6 pm) on the Anteres. Really good food, best I've ever had on a trip like that. A very relaxed and eclectic crew from all over the world.

In addition to those two, like the poster above, we also did a couples spa day at Los Altos de Eres. 500 dollars per couple includes pickup/drop off at hotel (its about 20 minutes up to the spa), choice of 3 treatments per person and a spa lunch. I'm not a big spa person, but the view alone was almost worth it. Glancing at the prices at the JW and what we saw of the facilities there, if you are going to Spa, go for LADE.
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Old Jul 23, 2017, 7:42 am
  #42  
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Vicki, thanks for the detailed trip report w/ pictures. Much appreciated. And happy anniversary!

Cheers.
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Old May 12, 2018, 11:16 am
  #43  
 
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Looking at a last minute trip .... interesting to see this posting at the top of the page: "Please note - Marriott Rewards upgrades based on availability at check-in. Upgrades are granted to next room category not to suite"

Gee ... I get the availability, but amazing someone will publish that they don't follow program rules.
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Old Aug 3, 2018, 4:46 pm
  #44  
 
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I just returned from a 5 night reward stay at this property. Not much to add to VickiSoCal’s excellent review, but thought I’d mention a couple elements that may be helpful:

-We were upgraded from pool view to ocean view at check in. While technically we could see the ocean, the pool was directly in front of us with the ocean behind it. I was fine with it -the pool is gorgeous and beautifully lit up at night. They offered an oceanfront suite for an additional $90 USD per night. If we had others with us, this would have been a great option, but for the two,of us it wasn’t necessary.

-Though Costa Rica is certainly Latin America, CR costs more than most other LA countries and the JW doesn’t come cheap. Food on property was a little less than US resort properties. If you consider the prices already include taxes and standard (for CR) 10% tip, then it is actually pretty good value.

-We usually tip a couple $/day for housekeeping as a courtesy. It was not anticipated, but we found they gave us 2-3 X the coffee and bottled water that would otherwise get replenished. It was sincerely appreciated by us.

-Service was very pleasant; nothing but people who genuinely wanted us to have a great experience; which we did.

-The spa slid a promotion under our door for a couples massage (60 mins) for 2 people priced at $209. We enjoyed this very much and was quite a savings over the normal spa rates.

-The hotel is quite remote. Airport transfers our very expensive; I am sure Vicki’s website she listed is the way to go. We ended up renting a car for a little over $100 over the 5 days and it worked out great. I do recommend checking into insurance coverage packages before you go. Driving was very easy in CR, though a couple roads have serious pot holes.

-Lastly, we booked a day tour to a national park for $139 / person. It was called the Mega Combo Tour through Swiss Travel (they have an office at the hotel). It included round trip transportation, a 45minute horseback ride, zip limes (7 lines), natural spring baths w/ volcanic mud option, and a crazy water slide that was about 1/3 mile long. The guide was terrific and we all enjoyed it. We were also completely exhausted by the end of the day, so while I recommend it for an active tour, it will wear many people out.

i haven’t posted here for awhile, but check in from time to time and will try to share more.

Cheers,
Kevin
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Old Aug 3, 2018, 7:53 pm
  #45  
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Thanks for the details & recommendations. Much appreciated.

Cheers.
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