Surely one compensation for having to stay put this year is thee opportunity to save this year’s holiday money and to put it towards, and plan properly for, that dream holiday of a lifetime for 2021. Make up for it all by going somewhere breezy in its natural setting, life-affirming as a result of the wonderful range of animals to witness and with an upbeat and charming population to attend to your every need.
Up on the Pacific side and close to Nicaragua is an area of Costa Rica called Guanacaste. It means ‘elephant-ear tree‘ and became incorporated into mainstream Costa Rica when the Inter-American Highway was built in 1954. And when Liberia Airport was built in the mid 1970s, bringing with it an 80% influx of Americans, this remote and once poor province, formerly owned by farming families from Cordoba in Spain, had turned into the next luxury hotspot as it moved away from fishing and agriculture to tourism and hospitality.
You can fly direct from Miami, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Charlotte Douglas and Chicago .to Liberia Airport in Guanacaste or else take a charming short flight from San José, capital and largest city of Costa Rica.
The luxury resort area of Guanacaste is Papagayo, said by some to be shaped like a fire-breathing dragon and means parrot (rather than the often quoted father rooster). I loved exploring this peninsula which, along with two prestigious hotels, has beautiful villas and developments that have become vacation homes and residences to the wealthy looking for sustainable luxury, along with all that it entails: peaceful, unspoiled nature and wildlife, beauty and excitement.
It is very much an American conceit with its buggies the most common form of transport for visitors. The 18-hole golf course, designed by Arnold Palmer and with Ernie Els as its ambassador, has games played out on ‘paspalum’ the sumptuous carpet-like grass. Near the main entrance there’s a marina to dock 355 slips where boats for cruising, yachting and sport fishing, particularly for both the black and blue marlin.
It’s all beautifully landscaped as a semicircle of large palm trees welcomed me along with sculpture by Jorge Jiménez Deredia who uses organic shapes that reflect the country’s pre-Columbian heritage. These Diquis stone spheres in particular act as a timeless metaphor of Costa Rica’s deep-rooted egalitarianism: seamless and edgeless and possessing a notion of wholeness.
Papagayo has a number of exquisite beaches. Playa Nacascolo, which was once an area of commerce in pre-Colombian times, is the longest while Playa Jicaro is the most remote on the southern side. In the north, there’s Prieta Beach Club, a perfect day out with its Olas Lounge an ideal spot for lunch in front of waves strong enough for me to body surf. Indeed the ocean laps at three sides of this peninsula, in coves and inlets and there are 31 beaches along 15 miles of its coastline. The water is calm and as stiff as an ironed tablecloth one moment and rough and rippling as a scruffed up napkin the next.
There is a good number of trails both leisurely and exacting along the coast and inland. The one from Playa Blanca to the top has 800 steps and the one going between Playa Virador and Playa Prieta as many as 1000. The first I found challenging and the second fully bracing amongst mountainous terrains of tangled, sunless, tight-knit forests, as giant leafy ferns and vines encircled the trunks of massive trees.
Situated at the end of the peninsula and being in itself a peninsula, and jutting out to the Pacific similarly to Manuel Antonio’s Cathedral Point is the prestigious and stunning Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica www.fourseasons.com/costarica. It’s very evidently the pre-eminent hotel in the region and even has its own kiosk at Liberia airport.
The bay side (Playa Blanca) and ocean side (Playa Virador) have a different feel and, I allowed myself to believe, almost a different climate. Eco friendly electric buggies went at a relaxing speed and it was such an important first scene as the rounded shape of the foyer was truly receptive and embraced me with its open arms, luring me into its golden mosaic fold.
The New York based boutique Meyer Davis Studio has completed a recent extensive reimagining of the resort reflecting the natural beauty of Costa Rica. I savoured the airy indoor spaces moving from the lobby to the guest rooms, restaurants and lounges. Like an unfolding journey I discovered each space organically flowing with its ambient music into the next and creating a sense of casual luxury as well as effortless sophistication. The stunning new design plays with space, form, texture and light and weaves together natural colours and elements, local woods and indigenous art.
There are Residence Villas, Resort Residences and even Estate Homes. The Canopy Suites offer real privacy and have rooms with triangular interior roofs and rounded sofas to offset the square dimensions while the veranda railings echo the shape of the branches. The outside of the standard Guest Rooms have three-pronged buttresses that also echo the branches of the surrounding trees. The colours are consistent throughout and blend organically with their natural surroundings. The earth-toned stucco exteriors were computer-generated from actual dirt samples to replicate the deep browns, oranges and reds of the soil and the roots of the land. The roofs are designed to resemble the interior architecture of the conch shell and blend into the background like the backs of the armadillos, turtles and butterflies that inspired them.
Breakfast boasted inventive mixes of juices and smoothies, but the real treat was the avocado flatbread with egg white scrambled bites, chipotle aioli and mixed salad leaving an aftertaste with a lovely contest between the differing herbs and spices. A real explosion of flavours. The chia pudding with caramelised pineapple and the acai and tapioca combinations were also rather memorable though less in conflict with each other. I experienced the unobtrusive yet attentive service of a characterful staff who enjoyed, and appeared proud of, their jobs.
As Isadore Sharp, the Canadian founder of the Four Seasons Hotel Group, rightly says: “some of life’s fondest memories are made around the dinner table” and for the most typical guests who get to stay a week at the resort it’s wonderful that there’s a healthy choice of restaurants. The three main ones are all side-by-side. Añejo, the Asian fusion with Costa Rican food was casual and informal both inside and out, with tapas including salmon tostadas and charred tuna wonton tacos, ‘lomo salteado empanadas’ and ‘hamachi tiraditos’.
I enjoyed the live music of an upbeat local trio at the Bahia Grill that overlooks the Playa Blanca and, along with succulent steaks and fish offers interestingly charred eggplant dip, wood-fired roasted cabbage, roasted cauliflower, grilled avocado and asparagus. And for my last night, at Pesce an Italian and Costa Rican fusion offering pastas and risottos, I chose the delicious local produce ‘lattuga del giardino’ salad to go with my lemon-crusted red snapper. I couldn’t get enough of this delightful country. I have to go back. Whenever but soon.
Adam Jacot de Boinod was a researcher for the first BBC series QI and is an author of three books including ‘The Meaning of Tingo’
