While looking to redeem my 5-night Category 5 Marriott certificate, I knew that Kath and I wanted to spend some time at a warm-weather resort. The options on this side of the world for Category 5 Marriott beach resorts were limited, but luckily I came across the JW Marriott Guanacaste. A secluded beachfront resort about an hour’s drive away from the Liberia airport, it was a perfect destination to relax and enjoy the sun for a few days.

Booking

As mentioned, we booked our stay using a 5-night certificate from Marriott that no longer exists. If we were using cash it would cost ~300 USD. When we went it was just at the end of Costa Rica’s off-season; comparatively rates during peak season are roughly 350 USD.

Another way to book this hotel would be using Marriott Reward Points. This hotel is a category 5, and therefore 35,000 points per night (Note: As of March 2020, this hotel will move to Category 6, costing on average 50K Bonvoy points a night). If you and a significant other signed up for the Marriott Bonvoy Card and hit the required spending on the card, you would have enough points for three nights at this hotel.

Getting to the Hotel

One of my most positive takeaways was that the JW Marriott Guanacaste was secluded - this hotel isn’t near anything in particular, and therefore I highly recommend grabbing a rental car while you are staying at the hotel.

It took us about 70 minutes to get to the JW Marriott from the Liberia airport. The drive is mostly smooth until you turn into Hacienda Pinella, when the road turns from a two lane paved highway to a messy, pothole ridden, off-road ride. Although we heard that the road would be fixed as soon as rainy season was over, locals told us it doesn’t take long before the potholes come back. While a 4x4 is not required to get the hotel, it is useful to have when exploring the area and will give you piece of mind driving through the potholes.

Once you get to the gates of the property the road is much better and it’s about 15 minutes of smooth sailing through the property to get to the JW Marriott.

From Tamarindo, the hotel is about 30 minutes away the times that are on Google Maps are pretty accurate in this case.

Checking In

Arriving at the gate of the property, the attention to detail is noticeable, with well-manicured lawns throughout. When we pulled up to the front entrance a member of staff was ready to help us with our luggage, which made the process and navigation easy. Although valet is available for $10 a day, we opted to park ourselves as the walk was no more than 200 metres from the parking lot. The check-in process was smooth, and as a Marriott Gold member (through my Amex Platinum) I was upgraded to a water view room on arrival. The staff were very friendly, and we were taken with our luggage to our room.

Our Room

As you can see, our room was large - with the open concept tub connecting the room to the wash facilities, it made it feel massive. Upon arriving, we noticed that we were facing the outside of the hotel, which we liked because it’s quieter though in reality, the whole resort was quiet. The view was soothing, especially coming from Toronto in November.

Inside the room, the amenities didn’t particularly stand out, and we were missing a robe and had to call down for another one.  There was a king bed in the middle, with a desk in the corner and a TV above the small fridge. We called the front desk to inquire about getting the fridge employed and although they mentioned they would be happy to, it was never taken care of by staff. We also found the air conditioner to be noisy – when it was on it constantly made a humming noise that wasn’t the best for sleeping.

Overall the room was great and it met all of our needs, but there was nothing to classify it as exceptional.  

The Grounds, Facilities and Pool

Although the ride into the property is rough, the grounds of the property are top notch. The lawns and gardens are manicured and the various areas within the property are Instagram worthy including the most amazing white crochet hammocks. The Spa was also beautiful and although out of our price range, had an extensive services list. People we talked to, however, mentioned that the spa as one of their trip highlights.

We did use the air conditioned fitness centre and the facilities were fantastic for a resort, with free weights and a barbell to go along with a large selection of treadmills. My favourite touch were the cold towels at the entrance to the facility, that had some sort of essential oil blend (maybe eucalyptus) and were great after a sweaty workout.

The pool is MASSIVE – it’s the largest in Central America at 23,000-square-feet. All of the chairs line the pool so we had no problem nabbing one, though we were there in the off season, so there could be more competition during peak times, like spring break and Christmas. The pool is an infinity pool overlooking the ocean and the perfect place to come catch the incredible sunset with the wait staff readily available to take your order for another drink or even a quick bite. Towels were readily available at the activities desk located adjacent to the pool but there were no showers near the pool.  

There’s also another pool attached to the Azul Pool Bar, but it is much smaller and we didn't see a point to using that one vs. the main resort pool.

The Beach

The beach at the resort is as private as it can get in Costa Rica, where all of the beaches are public property. It’s in the middle of the resort therefore it takes at least 20 minutes to walk from outside the resort along the beach to get to the JW Marriott.  

Although it is private, it is quite rocky and not perfect for taking a quick dip. The beach has a small area that is ok for swimming, all other areas are signed off mentioning it’s too dangerous to swim. That being said, there are places within a 15-20 minute walk, like Lolas, where it’s safer to swim, surf and the pool is absolutely stunning. We personally used our car to go to different beaches and took advantage of the pool while we were around the hotel.

Dining

Personally I prefer to explore the area for different places to eat rather than sit around a hotel for the week, but we were able to sample the affair at the different restaurants on the hotel site, the Azul Pool Bar, Azul Grill, Nau Lobby Bar, Manisita Restaurant, Sabanero Steak House, Tamarine and Waves and Cream. We managed to check out all of the resort restaurants but we personally had room service because we wanted a chill night in our room.  Sabanero and Tamarine are the ‘fancy’ restaurants that require reservations for the evening whereas Mansita is the more casual restaurant that is open for all three meals during the day.

The JW Marriott Guanacaste serves a breakfast buffet for just under $30 dollars per person and the spread is impressive, with several different stations with western and local options. Although we didn’t have the buffet, the spread looked expansive and fresh – although it’s expensive for the area, if you were to eat the breakfast as a brunch it would easily last you until dinner.

We took a look at the room service menu and we were shocked at the prices – they were much more aligned with what we would be spending in Tamarindo than expect on a pricey resort. We each order a meal and the food was good, but not great, and the service was prompt.

Overall

What We Liked

-    Service

-    Atriums and overall design of the hotel

-    Highly rated spa (based on the word of mouth)

-    The Sunset – one of the best sunsets I have ever seen

-    Large, amenity rich room

-    Quiet place to relax – far out of town

-    The private beach – but you could walk along the beach to other facilities

What we didn’t like

-    The loud air conditioner

-    The food was good, but not great

Have questions? Email me or leave a comment!