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As the tittle implies, this is a very silly thing for me to ponder. But let’s face it, much of this hobby has to do with escape from reality of a day-to-day grind. My family has been under a lot of stress lately, and the way I usually deal with it is by planning future vacations.
One area of the world that has fascinated me for a long time is Costa Rica. Some of you may remember that in 2019 my husband and I almost went there, but our plans were thwarted by a hurricane. I’m not one to easily give up on a good idea, so I’ve been looking for a redo ever since. Of course, Covid has complicated things for the last two years.
But I’ve decided to finally visit Costa Rica in 2022 with my husband, barring some extraordinary circumstances. No more hurricanes, please! Of course, I intend to keep my plans as flexible as possible. Since I previously had a reservation in Nayara Gardens, that’s where I looked first. But then I figured why not upgrade the experience and treat ourselves to Nayara Springs, their adult-only sister resort.
The pros and cons of staying in Nayara Springs
Nayara Springs resort looks really special and gets amazing reviews on TripAdvisor. To me, the biggest selling point is having a private pool, fed by natural springs.
Screenshot taken from Nayara Springs website
How cool is that? Magnificent breakfast is included, and you can have it in your room if you want. The resort has a jungle-like atmosphere with views of Arenal volcano.
Naturally, all this fanciness comes at a price. For various reasons, we can only go during rainy season, and even then, the best deal I could find was $1,800 all-in, or $600 per night. And in order to get a refund, I would have to cancel a month ahead. Otherwise, you forfeit all of your money. Obviously, this isn’t ideal during Covid pandemic when things can drastically change in a matter of weeks.
Sure, I could buy travel insurance with cancel-for-any-reason option, but I would have to commit to specific dates. Plus, even then I would get 75% of my money back, which isn’t ideal. The thing is, I’m not normally into hotels that cost $600 per night. I’ve never paid that much in my life, though this isn’t a run-of-the-mill kind of resort. Still, we have a lot of travel expenses coming up, and I feel guilty dropping that much money on a getaway.
Then there is the drive from San Jose airport. It takes around 3 hours to reach this resort via private transfer, possibly longer during rainy season. Between driving to Orlando airport, flight itself, plus getting to Nayara Springs, we are looking at a very looong day. My husband won’t be pleased, that’s for sure.
Plus, if our Jet Blue flight is delayed, we would potentially have to spend the first night near San Jose, since driving to Arenal area at night is too dangerous. Even if a transfer company was willing to do it, I would refuse since my kids need their parents to come back alive.
I really do like this resort (a lot!), so I’ve tentatively booked a roundtrip Jet Blue flight from Orlando. If we have to cancel, I will get the points re-deposited at no cost, and should be able to use $140 travel credit from taxes towards my planned trip to DC.
The case for staying in Andaz Costa Rica
Andaz Costa Rica has been reviewed by many bloggers, including Nancy. Her family loved their stay in 2020, and I trust her judgement 100%. It really looks like a special place that I’m sure I would enjoy. One big plus is that it’s located only 30 minutes from Liberia airport.
Nancy’s photo of adults-only pool
The thing that stopped me from booking it in the past was the lack of decent flight options from our neck of the woods. We would have to drive to Miami airport (3.5 hours away) and spend a night before the morning flight. Plus, I never saw decent award availability via Avios (AA partner) for this particular route.
We have flown from Miami before, but it’s something I really try to avoid if at all possible. It’s a hectic city, and the airport itself is super busy. Fast forward to 2022. Frontier Airlines has just added a non-stop Orlando-Liberia route, and I’m intrigued. This could be a game-changer for finally booking a stay in Andaz Costa Rica.
I don’t have any Frontier miles, but I do have 50k Merrill points that have been sitting there for four years. In fact, just recently I wrote a post saying that I was thinking about cashing them out for $500. Instead, I could burn them towards two Frontier tickets, which right now run around $425 per person for my dates.
Frontier is a low-cost airline, but it doesn’t bother me in the least. What I mostly care about is having a direct flight with a convenient departure time. Plus, the flight is only three hours. There are some additional fees, but we will survive.
Andaz resort is totally different from Nayara Springs, so comparing the two is like comparing apples to oranges. The former consists of rooms instead of private bungalows, and only the most expensive suite has a private pool.
On the other hand, I like the Andaz setting quite a bit, since I’m a beach person. The biggest differentiator to me is the cost, since rooms in Andaz run at 17k Hyatt points per night during low season. This is a very good deal and surely beats $600 per night price tag. Plus, you can cancel Hyatt stay 7 days in advance without penalty.
Of course, Papagayo peninsula is nowhere close to Arenal, but maybe I can talk my husband into booking a day trip tour there. Even without it, I feel that Andaz would provide us with a unique/boutique experience, where we would be surrounded by nature and wildlife.
I value 17k Hyatt points at around $240, so this is obviously a much better deal compared to Nayara. Even if you add $60 for breakfast, it’s still half the rate. Is having a private plunge pool worth $300 per night? I’m not convinced that it is. Plus, I like to be able to actually swim laps in a pool.
Bottom line
Since our stay will take place sometime in the fall, I’m not quite ready to book Frontier flights just yet. If I need to change them for some reason, it will involve a penalty. And in the event of cancellation, I would be stuck with a travel credit voucher that will expire in 90 days. I did reserve a stay in Andaz via Hyatt points, since there is literally no downside to doing so.
Right now, I’m leaning towards this option for all the reasons I’ve mentioned. However, if you have stayed in both resorts, I’m curious to hear what you have to say.
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Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
Road travel in Costa Rica can be unpredictable particularly during the rainy season. I think the most rain is in September and October. You can quickly have washed out roads and travel time can lengthen dramatically (assuming there’s an alternate route). Just be aware. If it were me going only 3-4 nights, I would just stay in one place. Depending on how much it’s raining and what you want to do, your available hours to do things may be limited each day anyway. Definitely take a rain jacket and rent a 4×4 vehicle if you are driving yourselves.
Either way, I hope it’s a fun trip! Costa Rica is fabulous
@Tammie What you are saying makes a lot of sense! Unfortunately, I’m a crazy person, and REALLY want to stay in both resorts. I know it will be more of a “ sampling” trip, but that’s ok. I wanted to make sure my MIL can keep the kids 4 nights, and she agreed. We will start in Andaz ( close to Liberia airport) and then hire a transfer company to take us to Nayara. I don’t plan to do any tours, just hanging out at the resorts. Unfortunately, we will be going during Hurricane reason, but I don’t really have a choice. I bought travel insurance with “ cancel for any reason” option. Stay tuned!
I think a lot of us were disappointed and I still am why Hyatt moved together Andaz to a Category 5 from a Category 4! It’s definitely on my list to stay, although I’ve been to Costa Rica stayed in San Jose so feel like I didn’t see the opposite side of this beautiful county. Couple of questions.
What dates are considered off peak or find the Hyatt chart? Is the Nayara Springs part of Hyatt or another hotel chain? Is Nayara all inclusive?
@Boonie Andaz has been quite popular among points collectors. To be honest, I’m surprised it stayed in Category 4 as long as it did. Like you, I had it on my to-do list, but things never quite lined up until now. Actually, it was supposed to change to category 6, but pandemic has prevented Hyatt in implementing it. It can still happen, though. As far as off-peak dates go, there should be a calendar on Hyatt.com In general, Costa Rica has less tourist crowds in May through November, and that’s the only time we can actually leave the kids with in-laws. But even at 20k points it’s still a good value when you look at cash rates.
As far as Nayara goes, it can’t be booked via hotel points, unless you use UR currency via Chase portal. If you happen to have CSR, it’s worth considering. It isn’t all-inclusive, except for breakfast. Nayara property actually includes three resorts: Tented Camp, Nayara Springs and Nayara Gardens. The last one is usually quite a bit cheaper, but you have access to the amenities on all three properties. I’ve noticed that they have added bungalows with private pools to Nayara
Gardens wing, so that’s what I may end up reserving. Keep in mind, those are only listed on Nayara Gardens own website. I’m actually looking at trying to split four nights between Andaz and Nayara.
Spent 3 nights at Nayara Springs and 4 nights at Andaz this past December. Both were great stays, the biggest consideration is beach versus Arenal location. Both my wife and I are globalists so treated very well at Andaz with a nice suite upgrade.
That said, Nayara Springs is a truly special property and is my pick between the two if only choosing one (would recommend the newest Nayara Tented Camp for most modern suites with best Arenal Volcano views). Echo Jon that LIR is better to fly into for Arenal as well instead of SJO.
@Justin I really appreciate your advice. Yeah, Globalists get a ton of value in Andaz Costa Rica. Between free (expensive) breakfast and suite upgrade, it’s almost a no-brainer.
I’m an Explorist, so it’s not quite the same, though value is still decent, especially at off-peak rates. It’s interesting that you would pick Nayara if given a choice. Thanks to readers’ comments, I’m seriously contemplating flying to Liberia and staying in Andaz for 2 nights, followed by transfer to Nayara resort. Then we would fly out of San Jose via Jet Blue after spending 2 nights. Why choose when I can have both! I just hope my husband doesn’t ask for divorce afterwards.
I took my family to Costa Rica a couple months ago. We flew into Liberia and did 4 nights in a rainforest area that is closer than Arenal, and then 3 nights at the Andaz. For only 3 nights I would recommend the Andaz if you are primarily looking to stay on resort for a rest and relaxation style vacation. It is so close to the airport that you’d get a real vacation out of it. I personally just couldn’t justify $600 a night when the 1st and last days pretty much just travel days. Our more magical Costa Rica experience was the rainforest, but we only used our hotel as a base to get out and see nature.
That being said, if you are set on the Arenal/La Fortuna area you still are probably better off flying into LIR instead of SJO. It’s actually marginally quicker to drive, and you are coming from the lower traffic area. And if you are looking to do hot springs near Arenal and save money, the Tabacon Thermal Resort and Spa is a really well reviewed SLH resort where you can use Hyatt points. It looks like it is also just 17,000 per night in the off season. There aren’t private plunge pools, but the cascading hot springs look amazing.
And a final wrinkle is if you are looking for a hots springs experience, but perhaps can stomach nice but not luxury hotels, there are a number in the Rincon la Vieja area, only 45 – 60 minutes from LIR. It could also be done as a day trip from the Andaz pretty easily. And sorry if I only made the planning more complicated 🙂
@Jon I really appreciate you taking the time to share your insights! I’m torn as to what to do, though it’s a good problem to have. We are so lucky to have these kind of dilemmas. My husband said he is fine with whatever I decide to do. I’m actually a fan of fast paced travel, and get bored easily. My husband is a total opposite. So I have to tailor trips with that in mind. That said, a few years ago, we only had four nights for a stopover in Tahiti on our way to NZ, and I managed to stay in three places. And loved every minute of it! My husband enjoyed it as well, though he said he would prefer to stay the whole time on Bora Bora. I do agree that $600 per night tag is steep, especially if you don’t maximize your time in a resort. I did just notice that they added bungalows with private pools to the Nayara Gardens wing, and those cost $450 per night all-in. Still a lot, but much more palatable. Im actually seriously thinking about adding one night, and staying in both Arenal and Papagayo. Im crazy that way!
I vote stay at Nayara Springs. It’s in the location you really want and it’s one of your bucket-list experiences. Treat yourself! (Advice I probably need to take myself in view of fact that I still have yet to plan my own couples trip).
@Jennifer Haha! To be honest, to me either resort would be a treat. I guess I need to see where things stand financially later this year. One advantage of going to Andaz is that I would finally be able to burn those Merrill points.
The Intercontinental San Jose is very nice, very reasonable, and located next to a high end mall if you don’t mind spending the first night in San Jose.
@Steven Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately, adding an overnight in San Jose is a deal breaker. For various reasons, my husband and I can only leave kids for three nights, and going to Nayara for less amount of time would not be worth it due to effort involved.
You made a great choice! My wife and I stayed at Nayara Springs last fall and it was unquestionably one of the best travel experiences of our lives. Truly spectacular. You will have a terrific time! Happy to answer any questions and also provide recommendations for transfer companies, etc.
@ Doug Thank you for your insights. I’m still debating on whether to go to Nayara or Andaz. I guess we can always go to Costa Rica twice! Fortunately, I don’t have to make a decision now. Plus, it’s hard to say what the pandemic situation will be like latter this year. I hope things fall into place, so we can finally go.
@Leana that’s what I get for not finishing reading the whole post before commenting 😉 I agree with everyone else that either will be great if you are able to make it work. With that being said, Nayara truly felt like a once in a lifetime experience and the service was beyond exceptional. I’m already thinking about when we might be able go back 🙂
@Doug Oh man, now you got me rethinking the whole thing! Plus, just a few minutes ago, I got a text from my husband telling me he got an extra 2% yearly raise that we were not expecting ( on top of his normal raise). Hmm, is it a sign that we should go to Nayara!? I’m joking, of course. I just find it a bit painful to drop that kind of money on a hotel. But it does look special.
I just stayed at both of those resorts two weeks ago. Please reach out if you have questions, I’m happy to give insight!
@Josh Cool! The solution is to go to both. 😉 I guess my main question is whether Nayara is twice as good as Andaz, since we can only do one.
@Josh P.S. So, I wasn’t really planning on it, but your comment put an idea in my head. I will try to stay in both resorts as well. I asked my MIL about leaving for 4 nights instead of 3, and she agreed to watch the kids.