Hi everyone,
I have a couple of friends who want to go to Costa Rica in July... I was excited to give them advice but my experience is with the Nicoya Peninsula and the Southern Coast, and I think they'll most likely head to the northern Guanacaste coast. Also - I am more of a budget traveler, but they require super clean, on the luxurious side... I feel out of my league in terms of helping them.

Other things they are looking for: a relatively easy transfer from either SJ or Liberia (they would prefer not to rent a car, something I have always done). They would prefer a pool, and beachfront or at least short walk (preferably not across a road) to the beach.

Their other big thing is beach and town cleanliness, and safety - in the south this is a given from my experience, but what I've read about the north (ie Tamarindo) is that it is polluted and not pristine, and there is a lot more crime. I know Tamarindo is not the only place to go, and that like anywhere, there will be nicer and not so nice parts... please do set me straight! : )

I have looked into Samara, Carillo... but without personal experience I am afraid to make a recommendation to them.

Finally, they will probably stay in the same place for 5 nights... so location where they can easily taxi to excursions would be great. They are not averse to an all-inclusive, they aren't picky about eating at the same restaurant every night, and mostly are just looking for a place to chill out and not do much but relax and maybe be pampered a little.

I thought I would throw it out there and see if anyone could recommend their favorite place... Thanks everyone for your help and opinions!
-Amy

There's always the Four Seasons in that area. We stayed there a couple of weeks ago and it met our expectations that were similar to those of your friends. For a much shorter transfer, it would be better to fly into Liberia rather than SJ. Here's the website for the Costa Rica Four Seasons....

http://www.fourseasons.com/costarica/

if 4 seasons a budget buster

www.occidentalgrandpapagayo.com

very nice also Hotel Ocotal

beautiful vistas great diving

for me both more cost-effective

luxury 30 min or so from Liberia.

Thanks so much for these recommendations! They had already looked at the Four Seasons, which is indeed out of their budget... I'm afraid when I told them we had stayed in a beautiful (even by their standards I think) beach front place for less than 150 a night they got their hopes up... but that was in Malpais (that was the most we ever splurged). I will let them know about the Papagayo... does anyone have other recs in the 150-250 per night range? Many thanks!

Hotel Sugar Beach in Potrero--they need a car, but that said, it would be a great area. Also, a little easier to get to, but same area is Bahia del Sol.

Personally we like Flamingo Beach Resort. Not what I would call luxe, but a very good value with a great beach.

Tamarindo (or next door at Playa Langosta) is a very nice B&B--gets excellent reviews. Sueno del Mar.

www.sueno-del-mar.com