Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo

It’s no exaggeration to say that the Andaz Costa Rica Resort at Peninsula Papagayo represents a sort of quantum leap in Costa Rican tourism. This is a country that’s got eco-resorts aplenty, as well as the occasional full-on luxury hotel, and even some grand gestures by the local architect Ronald Zürcher. This, however, is all three: a member of Hyatt’s luxury-boutique Andaz line, it’s environmentally sensitive, swanky as all get-out, and visually inventive as well, its curvaceous Zürcher-designed villas taking inspiration from cocoons and seashells.

The location, in Costa Rica’s northwest, is the Papagayo Peninsula, a protected coastal paradise less than an hour from Liberia airport. This is, in the grand scheme of things, perhaps one of the country’s less wild corners — though the strict preservation efforts ensure that overdevelopment is a distant concern. You might not share your sun lounger with a family of sloths, but you’re still immersed in nature to a degree that most luxury hotels can’t hope to match.

Of course Andaz’s advantage is in the human element. This involves the staff, of course, who combine unhurried Costa Rican chill with well-drilled Andaz professionalism — many of whom are specialists in art, surfing or other local interests. And it includes the visitors as well. This is the sort of place where barricading oneself in one’s room, while certainly comfortable enough, would be missing the point a bit — the bars and restaurants are social spaces, and the buzz of activity lends the Andaz much of its cachet.

Rooms and suites spill down the hillside toward the beach. Standard rooms are large and luxe, warmly decorated in a modern style, with plentiful use made of local wood. It’s worth booking a bay view, or even a suite, if you can swing it. But if not, don’t fret — the spa, the restaurants, the pools and the beach are equally open to all comers.