Costa Rica is thought to hold five percent of the world's biodiversity and by building a $30 million conference center, the country is prepared to get a significant proportion of the world's meetings, too.
Here is a selection of hotels with a variety of meeting spaces on both sides of the country, San Jose, the capital city, in the Central Valley, and Guanacaste, in the north bordering Nicaragua and the Pacific. Each of these properties has different features to offer. If your event absolutely has to have a private reception on the beach be aware that all beaches in Costa Rica are open to the public so choose a hotel like the JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort and Spa where rock formations deter day trippers, or the Four Seasons at Peninsula Papagayo where the peninsula makes the beaches hard to reach. If authentic food is your priority, the Costa Rica Marriott San Jose asked the staff to contribute family recipes for the menu and hosted an event for the winning grandmothers to teach the chefs how to cook their specialities. The Westin Playa Conchal is an all-inclusive resort that can comfortably accommodate families as well as business travelers and El Mangroove Gulf of Papagayo is a sophisticated boutique hotel with new facilities. The InterContinental Costa Rica at Multiplaza Mall has its own convention center and 600-space parking lot for your guests—just warn them that the parrot-laden trees may throw a different kind of shade!
