Review: Four Seasons Costa Rica At Peninsula Papagayo (Adventure & Luxury)

Great review! Looks exactly the same as when I was there in 2021. You were definitely in the old part, but the rooms are still nice and the view is great. Did you get to see the newer Prieta Bay villas? They had just opened when I was there and they're gorgeous. Curious how they are holding up (albeit just a few years).

This review feels a bit high level and just a rundown of features rather than any unique insights or interesting opinions.

You also must realise if you’re on a comp stay at a hotel, and not one that’s for a press review, there is an appearance of a conflict of interest that means we can never be sure if there were significant issues or negatives.

These 4 Seasons reviews are such a weird direction for this blog to go in. You stress on every flight review you do how we can trust you because you pay for your own flights and have no commercial relationships with any airline.

Then for these 4 Seasons reviews, that standard is thrown out the window.

Is Ford pushing you to include more 4 Seasons coverage in order to win more business for his booking service? Surely you are making more money pushing credit cards than he would make on hotel commissions?

Maybe Ford could start his own sister blog "Four Seasons at a Time"?

@ James -- It's a 3,800 word review, so I feel like it can't realistically get much longer? And the intent of reviews like this is largely to give people a high level rundown of the features so that they know what they can expect. There aren't many reviews online about the property (or any property) that offer this level of detail, and that's the goal.

@ pstm91 -- Thanks! I didn't have a chance to see them in person, but I have seen pictures, and they look beautiful.

Nice review, but too rich for me. Given that this was your first visit to the country and it is (still) a points/miles site, I would have preferred a review of the Andaz.

Is it me or that bed looks pretty tiny for a suite?

@ Santastico -- Hah, it does look kind of small in the picture, but I think that's just because the bedroom was quite large. It was a standard king size bed.

Great detailed review, Ben. And as always, excellent pictures.

I had to say something being I lived in Coco for 5 months and I still live full time in Costa Rica. The Resort was built in an area that has the dirtiest ocean water and beach areas in the country. Also, Coco (the nearest town) is old, dirty, and a huge white colony of angry white Americans and Canadians. This Resort isn’t even fully open yet and this review was purely to start to get the word out and promote. I toured the resort and it is so overpriced and inflated for what it actually is. Out of all the 4 Seasons built around the world… this is a mediocre one and again… way overpriced. I’d write a good review too if I was her. What a joke!

I think the only real 'criticism' I have when you review a comped room is I imagine subconsciously you have more patience and overlooked minor things that might have gone wrong then if you shelled out thousands of dollars for the same room. However that doesn't negate your review but readers might want to keep that in mind,

Thank you for a well written review. We stayed there and had similar feelings. The walk though from the suites to the resort and back truly was great exercise. The howling monkeys and Quantis wandering the property were an unexpected treat.

Hi Ben! Thanks for writing this up! I was looking at this exact room category for a stay next February as it's the cheapest room with a private pool in the resort. Did you feel like this room is worth $6,100 a night to have access to the private pool? Or do you think it makes more sense to get a base room and take advantage of the public amenities available at the resort?

The reviewer is a dude.

Andaz feels like a better buy for me, but enlightening review! ($500 a night for a marginally better beach when neither are that special isn't worth it for me). In terms of four seasons, it's not the most luxurious.

Awesome review, Ben! We did Andaz off-peak award + Globalist benefits but spent some time (and had dinner) at the Four Seasons. There's a free shuttle to the Four Seasons from Andaz. Pretty incredible value to redeem points at the Andaz but still spend time at the Four Seasons.

Hang on here Lucky… I’m all for you staying places for free with disclosure. But looking at next January - this room is going for north of $9000/night! A far cry from the $1500 mentioned in your post…

I live in the Peninsula with the Four Seasons. If you could ever get that room for 1500 you should take it and find a way to arbitrage it. Even in the depths of off-peak (October) it’s still 3k a night and in March, November and Dec you’re looking at 5-6k a night. Not to take anything away from the review or the property - just know you might get a regular room for 1500 but def not a canopy one bedroom with a plunge pool 🙂

Ben: Please stop these comped reviews of Four Seasons. Your website says “All travel on this site is self-funded, and all airline and hotel reviews are done without notice or approval of the companies involved.” It also says “While we often enjoy the benefits of our earned elite status, we avoid press trips, and pay for all our own travel (with either cash or miles).” I pointed this out during your last comped Four Seasons review and you ignored the comment, but you keep on doing it - blatantly lying to your readers.

Looks like a past its prime Four Seasons resort that charges way too much money. There are many much nicer places to stay for that amount of coin.

Thank you for the thorough review. It looks like a nice resort for guest who would like to stay inside the resort and do not care too much about the cost. For me Costa Rica has much more to offer. I enjoyed two road trips and stayed at local Eco lodges, highly recommend those. Specifically I enjoyed the Pacuare Lodge (raft in and out!) and Lapa Rios in the very south.

Regarding the authenticity of the review, Ben made it clear upfront that that stay was part of a price for travel advisors. One can be sure that they know who is coming, both the advisor who should have a great experience to refer future clients as well as a well known blogger. Likely the room upgrade the the extend of the welcome amenity (four different items, all very nice) may not reflect the typical upgrade experience. However I trust that all the options expressed are Ben's own.

I second that. I follow you since over a decade, but whilst I think that you are a very objective person at hart, having a husband who works in hospitality for a living and does so amongst others for Four Seasons, makes it near impossible in my eyes for you to be objective. I thus would also appreciate these Ford @ Four Seasons complimentary stays to be way more clearly labelled as such and better still, make you clear things up as to the disclaimer of only self-funded travel you have on your website. To conclude, I initially didn't have an issue with these FS glowing reviews, thinking it was a well deserved and unique incentive for Ford, but now they seem to be too frequent for me to think they are fully neutral.

Any other reviews coming up from that Costa Rica tripß

No room anywhere is ever worth $6000 per night.

$95 annual fee without being told in writing. ??? Nor right.
Opened a world of Hyatt chase credit card to save on the first booking, all false information plus a charge for no reason. Customer service in the Philippines basically said too bad, closing account , which will decrease my credit Fica score just because I am disputing the annual fee and no help what so ever regarding the Hyatt stay, false advertising to the max. As a consumer with great credit, very dissatisfied, and disappointing.

I will say that I have booked Four Seasons properties given the positive experience Ben has had at numerous properties, and used Ford to book my trip. Albiet for a property that has not been reviewed here. And my expereince was absolutely excellent. In fact, having read the reviews on Ben's site, and the insight about the service at Four Seasons, it meant I could maximise the benefits of staying at a Four Seasons and it was the best hotel stay experience I've ever had.

I understand the perceived conflict, but there is no evidence that Ben is being overtly positive about a stay that was bad.