Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica

Located at the Peninsula with stunning views. All the activities are fun and family-friendly. What a pleasant stay.

Nice but too expensive!

We have had the opportunity to stay in many wonderful hotels and resorts over the years and I have to say, the Four Seasons Peninsula Papa***o ranks in the top five. It is rare that you come away from a trip and cannot think of any negatives. Every single employee we encountered was friendly and helpful- even the gardeners in the morning when I would take a walk would stop their work and wish me a good morning. From Kevin, our front desk attendant, to Cindy who took tremendous care for us at the adult pool (she would change our lounge towels any time we got up!) to the many golf cart attendants who ferried us up to our room to the dining staff, they were all topnotch and always addressed us by name. The suite itself was well- appointed; the bathroom was very spacious. We dined onsite for every meal except one. Again, no complaints at all on any of the meals we had. Favorites were Anejo, the Virador Beach Club (creamiest hummus ever!), and Pesce. We enjoyed the adult pool every day. Having the infinity pool steps from your chair was incredibly refreshing, especially in the daily 98 degree heat. We had no idea April was the hottest month of the year but that would not deter us from returning again. Laundry facilities onsite- a plus! Having the bay on one side and having the Pacific on the other- the resort has the best location. We are Ritz Carlton loyalists and saw the new RC that is under construction as well as the location Waldorf Astoria. We would choose the Four Seasons. Overall, tremendous experience all the way around. Just unpacked, but ready to go back!

The Papa***o Four Seasons is everything an elite resort should be. Beautiful, immaculate and well designed. The property itself pales in comparison to the people. My wife and I agree that our stay at the Papa***o Four Seasons was, by far and away, the best resort experience of our lives.

Best resort we’ve stayed at. Beautiful grounds and amazing staff. The pool and the beaches were awesome. I can’t say enough about this resort. We will be back.

I planned a very special evening here to celebrate a big birthday and was extremely let down by the Four Seasons staff. So much so, that I would seriously hesitate to stay at this property despite loving several other Four Seasons locations. Typically, one of the best things about the Four Seasons is the service. I’d had a dinner reservations booked for months when two weeks before the reservation, I received an email that the restaurant would be closed on the day of my reservation (I assume due to a private event). Super bummed, I emailed and went back and forth with a woman named Ana Ortiz who offered to still make the menu available at one of the resort’s other restaurants and promised to still make the celebration special. I was thrilled! But night of, we arrived, and no one knew seemed to know anything about my prior conversations — not the host, not the server, and evidently not anyone in the kitchen either after the chef presumably left for the evening. We were offered a choice of three mains from the other menu, but all the sides were from the Mediterranean restaurant we were dining at. It didn’t go. It was weird. And then the dessert we’d discussed from the beginning didn’t come, and in its place was a super dry piece of chocolate cake. Surprised, I tried to get up to discretely talk to the server in case it was a mistake and he was super rude. Best of all, they charged me for the dessert is neither asked for nor wanted. I had other options for the evening, but I chose the Four Seasons and it was such a mistake. When you’re paying over $350 for dinner for two people (with only two glasses of wine), these things really shouldn’t happen. And when I emailed Ana afterwards trying to understand what had gone wrong, I got no response. Beyond disappointed. This Peninsula Papa***o location is a far cry from the normal Four Seasons standard.

We took a mother/ daughter trip to Costa Rica while my daughter was on a gap year. We loved the facilities: our room was beautiful, the bar and restaurants had a great selection of food, cocktails and wines, the pools were relaxing, and the spa was wonderful! We would definitely go back! We found Gabriel who is super helpful in organizing planning your tours. Nomadtourscr He recommended us to do waterfall hike to La Leona Waterfall,Rain forest see sloth It was Nice experince the Driver and guides were super friendly We plan to return sometime later in the future.

This resort is perfect for families or couples looking for a quiet place to relax and reconnect! We travelled as a family of 4 . Our kids are 21 and 18. We had a canopy 2 bedroom villa. Totally worth it! Private plunge pool and the amazing view topped off the luxury accommodations! We felt like we were on our own private island. We ate at all the restaurants and they were all good. Highly recommend the half day boat excursión with nomadtourscr. We enjoyed that so much we asked him to book a private Leona Waterfall Tour, buena vista adventure, rain forest which was awesome as well. It was such a great family trip at a beautiful resort. I definitely would return to the four season for another family vacation!

We stayed at this Four Seasons in April of 2024 with my wife, nanny, and our youngest kiddo (2 yo). We are fans of the company; I insist staff read Isadore Sharp’s book on customer service when I hire them, and we have stayed at a dozen or so of their properties. We also have a family friend who worked in the head office, and she tells the story of how Sharp threatened to drop the staff health insurance provider if they didn’t cover her “experimental” trea**ent. I have deep affection for him and the brand; it’s my kind of place - usually. Despite this, I will not choose to go back to this particular Four Seasons (but note: my wife liked it and would like to go back, see below for personal preference details). First, the good: the staff are typically Four Seasons fabulous. They made our 2 year old feel like a celebrity, with team members I’m sure he hadn’t met calling him out by name. Our nanny reported that the children’s centre was great, and they went back repeatedly. The only exception are the folks who greet at the restaurants - I don’t know what it is about that job that invariably attracts (or converts to?) snooty people who are less about customer service and more about status. Here too, more than once we had to go looking for someone to seat us, and I had one unfortunate conversation with a young woman who was making it very clear I was not the right person to be at that venue (in fairness, I agreed with her - see below). The concierge was able to do some unusual planning for us, securing us a charter flight out of the jungle later in our trip to Costa Rica, and convincing the car rental company to collect the car at the air ***** if we left the keys in it - note that this is several days after our FS stay ended. They were often slow to respond to email, but otherwise awesome. About the hotel: the property is immaculate. We rented a “residence” for us and the nanny, and it was fairly well appointed, with B- furniture in terms of physical comfort. That’s about as good as it gets in my experience - in my entire life, at dozens of hotels, only the Four Seasons Silicon Valley has had comfortable chairs in the rooms. I’ve always assumed it’s like McDonald’s where they design it that way intentionally to get you out quickly (it’s probably more that they buy furniture which looks good in photos, but they don’t spend the extra for the actual designer brand that is both attractive AND comfortable). At least in our “residence” there wasn’t anywhere comfy to sit down for an extended period, but hey, get out to the beach, right? Despite this, the mattresses were fabulous (as always at FS), great night’s sleep. Could definitely have used some more lighting throughout, but that’s true at nearly all hotels, and I’d recommend adding some instructions (never did find the button to close the shades in the living room), and they messed up several items in our grocery order (residence includes a kitchen), but these are minor quibbles. I’d definitely go b