The author and his family were provided a "friends and family" discount code for their stay at the Westin Reserva Conchal Resort and Spa. This review has not been approved or edited by anyone at Marriott.
Introduction
With summer vacations happening for families across the U.S, and airfares bucking the macroeconomic trends and starting to fall, more families are identifying exotic locations to take the kids with the time off school.
My wife and I did a similar exercise in May for our anniversary, and we scoured Latin America for some far-flung country we hadn't visited yet. Where we landed was something special, taking advantage of the biggest all-inclusive resort in the tropical hideaway of Costa Rica’s most beautiful beaches.
With that, let's talk about the Westin Reserva Conchal Resort and Spa in Costa Rica. Here's our full review.
How We Booked
If you've read anything on this site, you know I'm locked into the points and miles game. However, after scrubbing through my go-to portals for an all-inclusive resort in Costa Rica (10x points on the Capital One Travel Portal with my Venture X card anyone?), I remembered that I had a friend who worked for Marriott!
Marriott hooked me up with the friends and family promo code discount via my buddy, which cut nearly half off of our total cost. However, we did have to book the hotel via Marriott's official website, killing our points and miles earning potential. Coupling this with us staying at the beginning of Costa Rica's "rainy season," and we managed to snag the biggest all-inclusive resort in the country for a steal.
With the friends and family discount code knocking ~40% off our booking, we ended up paying a total of $2,761 for a 4-night stay. I paid with my American Express Delta Reserve Card as I was working towards my sign-up bonus and continued quest for Delta Platinum Medallion Status, which netted us 2,761 Delta Skymiles, $276 Delta Medallion Qualification Dollars and 27,610 Marriott Bonvoy points.
We considered this an incredible deal, especially considering that the all-inclusive is for everything except the heavenly spa and championship golf course (tips included!).
Getting There
Again, readers of this site will remember that I've been blessed with the ability to fly direct anywhere in the world, thanks to living in Atlanta, Georgia, the home of Delta Airlines. Delta has direct flights into Liberia Airport, the international airport servicing the northern half of Costa Rica. Booking Main Economy seats with Delta cost us $798 per ticket, but we paid another $500 per person to upgrade to First Class for the three hour and thirty minute flight. A good deal? No! But it was our anniversary, and it ended up paying off when we got stuck on the tarmac for 90 minutes prior to takeoff.
Once we landed at Liberia Airport, we grabbed our bags and headed to the previously reserved private shuttle to get to the resort. Herein lies the main issue with the northern part of Costa Rica - the airport is pretty far from the coast. And these transfers aren't cheap.
We paid $140 each way for the 75-minute private shuttle that took us out to the hotel, and it was slow going. The airport is only 35 miles from the Westin, but Costa Rica doesn't have highways, which means you're going 30 miles per hour the whole ride. The positive? You get to see a beautiful part of the country! The negative? It's a very bumpy ride.
Check-In and The Campus
Checking In
Pulling up to the Westin Reserva Conchal is beautiful. Situated on a hill, the long driveway from the road splits in two directions: one headed to the Westin and one headed to the newly constructed W Hotel, an excellent choice if you're not into the all-inclusive lifestyle.
Beyond the gates is where it starts to get confusing. Thanks to us staying in the adults-only part of the hotel, we had to technically check-in twice. The first check-in, located at the top of the hill, was a quick formality where we unloaded our luggage for bell services to take to our room. We then had to wait on a golf cart (more on that in a moment) to take us to the Westin Club check-in, the designated area for adults-only customers. But while we waited, we got to take in the local fauna, including an animal that was completely new to me called a Coati! We also heard rumors of their resident sloth, and even a pack of howler monkeys, but we never ended up seeing these tree dwellers. However, if you're in the market to see some iguanas, you won't be disappointed!
The Westin Club Lounge was beautiful. Air-conditioned (incredibly important thanks to the 98-degree weather and 90% humidity), updated and full of liquor and Costa Rican coffee, this was the area where Westin Club guests could get a briefing of the hotel, and wow is it a briefing.
The Campus
The hotel's campus is huge. From the first check-in area to the beach is about a 20-minute walk, not including the on-site 18-hole golf course, which is why the hotel has a comprehensive network of golf carts to help you get around. They also have phones at the front of each building that are connected to the golf cart manager, who can deploy them in a matter of minutes to pick you up.
We were staying at the previously mentioned Westin Club, right in the center of the action. The Club rooms are the only rooms in familiar hotel-style towers, as all other rooms on the property are suite-style and meant for families. The Club towers are situated on either side of the adults-only pool, which also includes a restaurant and swim-up bar, along with seating for around 100 and private cabanas you can rent for an extra charge. This meant that rolling out of bed and into a pina colada took about 90 seconds, which couldn't have been more ideal.
The Room
Thanks to the Marriott discount, we were able to pony up for the Westin Club rooms, the wing of adults-only guest rooms. And thanks to my Marriott Gold status and lack of occupancy during the rainy season, we got upgraded! What we got was spectacular.
Entering the room, you're immediately greeted by a full bathroom just off the main hallway, complete with a sizeable stone and tile shower with a rain shower head. Further down the hall is a living area with a couch, high-top table and chairs, and a minibar stocked twice per day of water, fruit juice and beer, along with local snacks. Above the minibar is a smart TV where you can connect to Netflix.
Off the main living area is the bedroom, containing a king-sized bed and beautiful light-up marble headboard (this was despite the listing in the booking noting "double twin beds"). The bedroom also has a chaise lounge couch in the corner, another wall-mounted smart TV and access to the balcony on the other side of the room. Beyond that was the bathroom with a two-sided shower, double sinks and a separate vanity area with makeup mirror.
Outside, we had a full porch with two chairs in a seating area, a hammock swing and an outdoor bathtub. The only thing missing from outside, we would discover, were fans. When the humidity jumped during rainstorms, the balcony would become nearly unusable due to the stifling heat.
This room layout is dramatically different to the family junior suites which comprise a majority of the other rooms. These suites include multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, including double beds or bunk beds, king beds and a living area. Some suites on the ground floor also include patios with lounge chairs overlooking the interior of the resort's campus.
Dining
There are no shortage of restaurants across the wide-spanning campus, which isn't much of a surprise as the hotel is designed for families with kids, so there's plenty for everyone. Each restaurant has its own specialty and cuisine, as well as some unexpected flair. They also have "Eat Well" menus, aimed at healthier eaters as Costa Rica is a "Blue Zone," known for some of the longest human lifespans on Earth. As such, Costa Rica leans heavily into the health and wellness vibe, and you see that across the organic food and healthier food options at each restaurant.
The overall review? Apart from the rare miss, we had consistently good food the entire time, and took advantage of the unique restaurant feel that each area of the hotel contained. This was a pleasant surprise as the reviews I read prior to booking indicated that the food was the weakest part of the resort.
Making Reservations
Before breaking down the restaurants, it's important to note that booking these ahead of time is critical. Restaurants open for reservations the Friday before you dine there, and they fill up extremely quickly. I had the app open and ready to book and still couldn't get dinner reservations to Faisanella, so the concierge in the Westin Club had to assist in snagging that one for me. Keep this in mind, especially if you have a larger party, because most of these restaurants don't accept walkups. This means you could be eating at Mitra Market more than you bargained for.
The Restaurants
The main restaurant area is Mitra Market, an open-air buffet with both local and more "traditional" options. When we visited for breakfast, they had options ranging from made-to-order eggs benedict to frittatas and local sausages. Everything was fine, but the semi-outdoor nature of the market meant most of the food was room temperature-to-warm when it probably wasn't supposed to be. It's mostly akin to a hotel continental breakfast on steroids, with 14 separate food counters spanning across the dining area.
Next up is Faisanella, a Costa Rican spin on Mediterranean, specializing in fish and seared meats. The honey and lime salmon, as well as the octopus toast, were big hits for dinner. This is also the restaurant that caters to the adults-only crowd at the pool, so their poolside tacos and sandwiches, while not fancy, hit the spot.
The next dinner we tried was Spirula Trattoria, the complex's most bipolar restaurant. During the day, it served as an outdoor pizza kitchen where you could get poolside flatbreads. At night, it turned into a luxurious Italian with what turned out to be the best food we had at the resort. The pasta was excellent, and the seafood tasted extremely fresh, especially the calamari appetizer. The lowlight of the meal was the Panna Cotta, which was terrible.
The only lowlight was Bamboo, the Asian restaurant. The food and drinks were just OK, and the air conditioning was broken inside the restaurant, meaning that the temperature inside was sweltering. We also tried the resort's room service during our first morning on the trip, and it was fine. Turns out that "Costa Rican breakfast" is code for "lots and lots of pastries," but the banana bread was my wife's personal highlight.
Other reviews of this resort we read before we booked indicated that the food here was pretty bad, and that really wasn't our experience at all. I understand that this resort underwent a bit of a renovation in 2022, so it's possible the dining was also looked into by Marriott, but we had a pretty good dining experience!
Amenities
As this is a hotel geared towards families, there's something for everyone at the Westin Reserva Conchal. The extensive campus means that there are activities across the resort, from family play areas to the Westin Kids Club to sports areas like basketball and volleyball.
If you're here without kids, there are two sports bars that open later in the day. This was a great area for my wife and I to sit with a cocktail and watch the NBA Playoffs while sweating our asses off in the extreme heat. There are also two gift shops located near the beach where you can buy locally crafted wood and ceramic figurines, as well as locally sourced coffee and espresso beans. Inside one of the gift shops is also a coffee shop where you can purchase craft coffees, though these are not included in your all-inclusive package and are an additional charge.
As mentioned before, there are several pools across the resort that cater to different groups. The adults-only pool, located in between the two Westin Club towers, is quiet and serene. The main pool area, located closer to the beach, is the opposite. The family pool had DJs playing during the day, music pumping from speakers at the poolside restaurant and constant activities like table tennis and even a "Michael Jackson Tribute Night" where your children could dance to Michael Jackson songs.
Finally, the hotel opens up to Playa Conchal, Costa Rica's only soft-shell beach. The beach is very unique in the sand's look and feel, and is nestled between two mountain ranges creating the most stunning shoreline I've ever seen in person.
Keep in mind that all the beaches in Costa Rica are public, meaning they are rife with vendors trying to constantly sell you anything from airbrushed t-shirts to drinks in a coconut. One vendor I did try out was a beachside massage, which was spectacular.
Finally, we have to talk about the golf course since this is an "all inclusive golf resort & spa." The golf course is just a short walk from the main pool, and is stunning. Designed by Robert Trent Jones II, the Westin golf resort is a top attraction for corporate conferences in peak time for the region (aka, not the rainy season when we were there).
Tours
The Westin has partnered with Swiss Tours to help you escape the confines of the resort and explore the country. As such, they have a laundry list of possible tours for you and your family, ranging from full-day to half-day, and from relaxing to adventurous. We scanned through everything from rainforest hiking to a rum factory to even ATV tours through the jungle, but eventually landed on a sunset catamaran tour.
This was the absolute highlight of our trip. We were picked up from the lobby around 1:30pm and took a shared shuttle 20 minutes to the local marina, where we were ushered onto our own catamaran. After everyone boarded, we sailed 90 minutes around the northwest coast of the country to an inlet on the other side of the Parque Nacional Santa Rosa. After a full lunch, snacks and drinks on the boat, we got to snorkel for another 90 minutes around a protected reef in the Gulf of Santa Elena, before heading the 90 minutes home during sunset.
Transportation, open bar, lunch, snacks, snorkeling equipment and tips for this trip totaled $130 per person, an absolute bargain for a 5-hour tour of some incredible coastline.
Conclusion
I went into this vacation hoping for the best, but expecting a middling experience. The reviews I'd read ahead of time indicated that maybe this wasn't the best all-inclusive experience...and boy were they wrong.
We had an absolute blast here, and that's even with me getting ill from some iffy Delta food on the way there. Our room was gorgeous, the beach was spectacular, the amenities were great, and the restaurants were way better than expected! Not to mention the previously mentioned highlight of our trip, the sunset catamaran tour.
I would recommend this hotel in a heartbeat to anyone looking for a non-traditional all-inclusive vacation, or someone looking to find a beach that isn't Cancun. Westin Reserva Conchal, we will be back.
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