Pura Vida: A Week at the Westin Reserva Conchal in Costa Rica

Pura vida, meaning pure life, is somewhat the Costa Rican version of aloha — a greeting, a mantra and a way of life. Our trip to Costa Rica and our stay at the Westin Reserva Conchal embodied just that, a week of Pura Vida.

The Westin has a little bit of something for everyone. The beach is gorgeous and secluded, full of natural beauty. There are even families of monkeys in the trees along the beach — but they are not pests — they mostly keep to themselves and show up for sunrise and sunset. Included with your stay are watersports that don’t require a motor - think paddleboards, kayaks and snorkel equipment to go out in Brasilito Bay. You are also able to rent a bike for free to explore the giant area of the Reserva Conchal. The resort also provides running and hiking maps to see more of the reserve at your own pace.There are scheduled activities throughout the week for kids and adults alike — our particular favorites included a coffee tasting and sunset stretching, but there are several planned activities per day to participate in! The resort has its own app, which you can use to sign up for activities and make dinner reservations. It’s very easy to use and we had it as a pocket reference for the whole week. The Westin also stands out by being one of the only resorts in Costa Rica to have an on-site golf course, let alone a Robert Trent Jones II - designed course. I did not personally play, but my husband did and said it was an amazing course to play in an absolutely unique setting. I spent that time exploring the beach, which is more my thing.

The resort has so many restaurant options for dinner that we didn’t even get a chance to try them all over a week! Our particular favorites included La Sabana — a traditional Guanacaste steakhouse, Cauri — a tapas bar that overlooks the mountainside and Faisanella — a mixed Mediterranean. For breakfast, we mainly stuck to the main hotel buffet, Mitra Market. We were pleasantly surprised by everything we ate from Mitra, especially the typical Costa Rican food. Each morning we greeted the day with fresh fruit juice, local coffee, fried plantains, handmade empanadas, pico de gallo, salchicha sausage and queso fresco. There were a ton of options, including fresh & personalized omelets, shakshuka, oats, fruit, cereal, bacon, scrambled eggs, you name it — but the costaricense breakfast was our favorite by far. For lunch, we split our days between Mitra Market and Caracola, the poolside grill with fresh fish and healthy choices like salads, quinoa and sandwiches. There is also a daily lunch BBQ and plenty of kid-friendly options like chicken tenders, fresh oven pizza and burgers, but we gravitated to the fresh local seafood options. I think I ended up eating about a gallon of ceviche over the course of the week.

Within the resort are two main guest areas — the bungalows and the adults-only Westin Club.The Westin Club was our choice for our honeymoon, and it was a fun way to get a little bit of a more elevated experience. Westin Club guests have the benefit of a Westin Club-only pool, which is a little calmer than the main resort pool. As well as exclusive use of the restaurant Faisanella for breakfast and lunch. We enjoyed watching Sunday football at the pool bar Nautilus and consuming many Imperial beers (the official beer of Costa Rica!) and passionfruit mojitos. The staff at the Westin are second to none. Everyone that helped us was friendly and excited to help make our stay exceptional.

We did take a couple trips off-campus. One was a full day up to Rincon de la Vieja — a national park which encompasses an old volcano and surrounding hills. After getting picked up from the Westin, we spent the day ziplining, trying traditional methods of processing sugar cane, enjoying hot springs from the volcano, and I even rode a horse for the first time! It was an amazing way to get some adventure and some culture in one day. We also spent an afternoon on a 40-foot catamaran that departed out of Flamingo Marina, just up the coast from the Westin. We sailed for an hour, parked in a cove and had an opportunity to snorkel, paddleboard and kayak. After this, we sailed back to the marina after enjoying the sunset and some cocktails.

Overall, we loved our stay at the Westin Reserva Conchal for our honeymoon and I’d highly recommend it to Fora clients. Our time there left us wanting more and planning our next trip back as we were on our way back to the airport. Pura Vida, my friends!

Westin Reserva Conchal is a perfect getaway for adults only or groups with kids! With plenty to do on site for just about everyone, anyone can have a great time on the beautiful Costa Rican Guanacaste coast.

For more inspiration and insider recommendations, visit our Costa Rica page.