After passing through the guarded gate, travelers enter this lush 2,400-acre paradise, a world unto itself, conveniently located between Flamingo Beach and the surfing city of Tamarindo. The property borders the pristine white-sand Conchal Beach.
This 11-year-old Member of The Leading Hotels of the World contains the multi-award-winning championship Reserva Conchal Golf Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. Laid out amongst this property's many tropical gardens and fountains are a village of shops, lakes that draw waterfowl, even spoonbills, and a lagoon-style swimming pool—the largest in Central America.
The spacious reception lounge of marble and wood with tropical decor is in a three-story open-air building at the end of a grand landscaped driveway and behind a huge parking lot. Arriving guests receive a bracelet of the color designating which of the all-inclusive packages that they have selected, and they are given a map of the vast property that is now at their disposal. They are relieved to learn that shuttles run nonstop from the main lobby to all parts of the resort.
Scattered throughout the property are six bars (two swim-up); seven a la carte restaurants, one snack bar, and two buffet restaurants. Guests can opt for Asian fusion cuisine at Spices,
dinner only. For Northern Italian cuisine, it's Faisanela; Agave Azul for Mexican; Cavri for international.
Mitra, featuring an international buffet, is open for breakfast and dinner and provides the setting for nightly musical reviews. Golfers enjoy breakfast and lunch at Hoyo 19. Spirula Snack Shop serves a lighter fare at lunchtime, and snacks up until midnight. The new Gabi Club—bar, pool, and restaurant serving Continental cuisine, is in the new exclusive adults-only Royal Suites complex, primarily for business guests.
Other offerings include The Spa downstairs from reception; a fully equipped gym in a building of its own; four lighted tennis courts; watersports offered at the beach by independent concessions. Children are entertained in The Kid's Mini Club, babysitting services are available, and, for pre-teens, there is a minidisco, table games and movies. Guests opting to venture off the property are taken care of by a 24-hour taxi service, car and bike rental desks, and a tour desk.
But there is plenty to do on-site at the village-style commercial center, which features gift shops, boutiques, and a 24-hour Internet Cafe, with wireless Internet access, where guests pay by the hour to use one of the 10 computers and a printer.
A well-appointed exclusive business center and lounge is located in the Royal Service complex, near the Convention Center that features five meeting rooms and congress halls that can accommodate up to 600 guests. Royal Service guests also receive private check-in and checkout, personal butler services and private transportation throughout the property.
The just-completed extraordinarily well appointed Royal Service accommodations, in two new three-story buildings each with porte-cochere entry, have set a new high bar in luxury for this already luxurious resort, where there are no standard rooms. The least of them are junior suites. At inspection, all accommodations other than Royal Service, were being renovated, to be completed in 2009.
Royal Service rooms sparkle with gold-accented floors, curtains and sofas, set off by rich mahogany furniture. The centerpiece of the classic design is the tall headboard with a large rectangular piece of onyx in it that can be lit up. Amenities include comfortable beds (king sized in suites) with new mattresses; feather duvets, full-length mirrors, walk-in closets, large plasma TVs, coffeemakers, well-stocked minibars, irons and ironing boards, robes and slippers, hair dryers, digital safes and phones with voice mail and data ports. In Royal Service rooms, only Internet cable connection is possible. Wireless Internet access is available in all of the other 
rooms and in the public areas.
Equally well-appointed baths feature wood floors, deep tubs, separate showers with rain showerheads, large counters with bowl sinks and Caswell Massey Sandlewood toiletries. One suite shows Balinese decor; another features a private balcony with outdoor whirlpool; and the largest suite offers two baths and an oceanfront view.
Security is excellent, with hotel-employed guards making sure that everyone on the property is wearing a designated bracelet. There are smoke detectors and sprinklers in all of the rooms and public spaces. Most rooms are smoke-free; four are wheelchair-accessible. Same-day laundry service is available. Room service answers non-stop.
The staff provides more royal service for the Royal Service guests, but every guest is well attended to. For travelers seeking luxury in the popular province of Guanacaste, this resort is the most conveniently located of its main competitors—the Hilton Papagayo and the Four Seasons Costa Rica, both of them on the isolated northern shores of the Gulf of Papagayo.
