What a Costa Rica All-Inclusive Actually Costs

Published nightly rates, by tier

At the mid-market end, Kayak data recorded Hotel Riu Guanacaste at Playa Matapalo from about $183 a night as of July 2026 — the kind of figure that makes a Costa Rican inclusive week look comparable with Mexico. Planet Hollywood Costa Rica by Royalton, the Autograph Collection property on Playa Manzanillo with 292 suites and 611-square-foot junior suites, was listed on Expedia from about $358.

At the top of the inclusive field, the Westin Reserva Conchal — 406 rooms, nine dining venues, inside a private tropical-forest reserve — was listed from about $536 a night. The former Dreams Las Mareas, now rebranded as JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort & Spa, All-Inclusive after Marriott's acquisition, was averaging about $487 a night for two in aggregated data before the conversion, which is a useful floor rather than a forecast for the new property.

Above the inclusive field entirely sit the country's two best hotels, neither of which is all-inclusive: the Four Seasons Resort Peninsula Papagayo and the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo both sell rooms and charge for meals. A published guide's Four Seasons Guanacaste example at $650 a night is therefore not comparable to the Westin's $536 — one figure includes a week of food and drink and the other does not. That is the most common error in Costa Rica price comparisons.

Season moves the number more than the resort does

Guanacaste has two clearly separated seasons and the rate card follows them. The December-to-April dry season is peak: reliable sun, the highest rates of the year, and the shortest availability on the best properties. The green season that follows brings afternoon rain, lower rates and a visibly different landscape — published guidance notes that the December-to-April window carries higher prices, and the practical swing on the same room between February and September is large enough to change which tier you can afford.

This matters more in Costa Rica than in the Caribbean because the reason to come is partly terrestrial. Green-season rain does not ruin a beach week, but it does affect the drive to Arenal, the suspension bridges at Monteverde and the condition of unpaved access roads — so the saving comes with a constraint on the touring half of the trip rather than on the resort half.

If your dates are flexible and you want the dry season at green-season prices, the shoulder weeks at either end — late April and the first part of May, or late November — are where that trade exists. Our best time to visit Costa Rica guide sets out the season boundaries and the regional variation, which is larger in Costa Rica than most visitors expect.

The four things the plans do not cover

First, the transfer. Guanacaste's resorts sit twenty to sixty minutes from Liberia, and the long end of that range belongs to one of the best properties: Costco Travel lists sixty minutes from Liberia to the Westin Reserva Conchal, roughly three times the drive to the Papagayo cluster. Private transfers for a family are a real line item, and the JW Marriott at La Cruz in the far north-west is further still.

Second, the activities the resort itself charges for. The Westin is branded a "Golf Resort" and its course and driving range are listed as available for an additional fee rather than inside the plan — the single most surprising exclusion in the Costa Rican field. Spa treatments are chargeable almost everywhere, and at Planet Hollywood the Stars Kids Club closes at 5 p.m., which is exactly when parents want it, so evening childcare is a separate conversation.

Third, the excursions, and in Costa Rica this is the big one. Arenal, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio and the Osa Peninsula are several hours from the resort coast rather than afternoon trips, which means a driver or a rental car plus park fees plus at least one night inland if you want to do them properly. Budget them as a second holiday, because that is effectively what they are.

Fourth, gratuities — which vary by operator rather than by country. Secrets Papagayo's Unlimited-Luxury plan puts gratuities and taxes inside the rate, the strongest inclusion list in the country. Most of the rest of the field does not, and over a week for a family that is a meaningful number. Our luxury resort tipping guide covers the current norms.

How to price a Costa Rican week honestly

Build the number in this order: nightly rate times nights, plus transfers both ways, plus the excursions you actually intend to do with their park fees and driver, plus the resort extras you know you will buy — spa, golf, premium wine — plus gratuities where they are not included. Then compare that total against the same exercise for Mexico, where our Mexico all-inclusive cost guide gives current bands by tier, and against the Caribbean in the Caribbean cost guide.

Two Costa Rica-specific checks before you book. Confirm the rate basis in writing, because this country sells the same room three ways — mandatory all-inclusive, an optional plan, and room-only — and Margaritaville in Playa Flamingo is the clearest example of a property where skimming the rate grid can cost you a week of dinners. And confirm the property is actually trading: Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica, still listed as a top pick in plenty of published rankings, is closed for renovation with a stated reopening of April 2027.

Finally, treat every figure on this page as a snapshot. They are seller listings from 2026, they disagree with each other, and they will not be what you are quoted for a specific week — which is why the resort buttons on this site pull live pricing rather than printing a number that goes stale. Our Costa Rica all-inclusive ranking is the field, with the closures and rebrands corrected.