Luxury holidays in Costa Rica

It isn’t often the case that the more you pay, the more environmentally responsible your trip is, but in Costa Rica, a bigger budget can give your holiday a wonderfully green glow. Costa Rica has gone to enormous lengths to protect its natural environment while also welcoming tourists, and its luxury hotels and lodges have been pioneers of eco friendly accommodation for decades, displaying a huge commitment to the country’s priceless environment. It means travelling here on a luxury ticket does not mean compromising your conscience – or your love of comfort.

Places like Hotel Belmar in the Monteverde cloud forest, which has a wonderful restaurant, spa treatments and gorgeous rooms, while also holding the highest Certificate for Sustainable Tourism from the Costa Rica Tourism Board. At Pacuare Lodge, you’ll find plenty of pampering perks, but the buildings are made with natural materials, the water heating system is solar powered and rooms are electricity-free! Just to ice the luxury cake, these fantastic eco escapes are often found in the most secluded corners of the country – on private reserves, deep within a coffee plantation or high in the cloud forest, tucked between the trees. In Arenal, for instance, there is a hotel that can only be reached by a 75m walkway, so as not to disturb the dense jungle.

Costa Rica’s best luxury eco accommodation also supports local communities, employing and educating staff from the surrounding areas and working with local schools, farms and charities. The ethical practices of many luxury lodges extend to their guests, too, and educating visitors about the environment is often central to their offer.

One of the most obvious benefits of a luxury trip is the freedom to tailor it to your preferences, with no set departure dates. This is particularly helpful in Costa Rica, which offers such a dizzying range of adventures, activities and treats. Some luxury itineraries emphasise wellness, treatments and relaxation in top-class hotels and tasteful lodges. Others team superb accommodation with a more adventurous holiday that explores the volcanoes, cloud forest and wild Caribbean coast, often ending with some easy-breezy relaxation in the upscale resorts on the Pacific. All offer amazing flexibility – no tailor made itinerary is there to be stuck to, after all! So feel free to tweak your trip to suit your timetable and interests, making it more chilled if you’re on honeymoon, more active if you’re with kids.

Get yourself to Costa Rica and a luxury trip will take care of the rest. A private vehicle and driver will transfer you to your accommodation and domestic flights may also be included, despite the country’s modest size, to whisk you between San José and the Pacific coast or Tortuguero, for example. This trims out long drive times on often potholed roads and allows you to fully relax.

Dec-Apr is the sunniest, driest and best time for a luxury break in Costa Rica, although top-notch trips happen year round – as do showers, so pack waterproofs! The north Pacific coast gets the least rain and humidity, but temperatures can reach the mid 30°Cs during the dry months. The official rainy season is May-Nov, but in the cloud forest there are cool mists and frequent showers year round. Prices for luxury trips may be reduced during the rains, with Jun-Jul worth considering as they experience fewer showers. To see turtles nesting at Tortuguero, come Jul-Sep.