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The Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Resort is a category 4 property and one of best points-value hotels in Hyatt’s portfolio, since rates at the resort start at about $380 or just 15,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points per night in May. You can also earn two free nights after you spend $1,000 within the first three months of opening a Hyatt Credit Card account or get the points you need for a free stay by transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt Gold Passport.
I paid for my hotel stay, as per TPG policy, and booked a standard Andaz King room for $575 per night. However, I was also able to use one of my four Hyatt Diamond Suite Upgrades to get bumped up to an Andaz Suite, which would have cost me $250 more per night. My Diamond status was the result of an elite status match that was available for a limited time for Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum members — it usually takes 25 eligible stays or 50 nights to earn Diamond.
The beach there was kind of small and it’s much more of a pool resort, but within an hour or so you can do a lot of different activities — like zip-lining and horseback riding — and it’s just a great place to recharge. The food was amazing with the highlight being Ostra’s ceviche bar, which was out of this world, and they had this delicious octopus ceviche that we quickly became obsessed with.
It’s also pretty easy to get here from the US — you can catch year-round nonstop flights to Liberia International Airport (LIR) from Atlanta on Delta; Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines; New York (JFK) on JetBlue; Houston (IAH) on United Airlines; Miami on American Airlines; and Houston-Hobby (HOU) and Los Angeles on Southwest Airlines. You can also get added benefits when you book a trip to the resort through JetBlue Getaways, which allows you to bundle airfare with your hotel stay, car rentals and any excursions, all while earning TrueBlue points.
It was really fun visiting Costa Rica with some of my fellow travel bloggers and friends — like singer/songwriter Felippe Biatti, TPG Senior Points and Miles Contributor Jason Steele and Angelina Aucello of Angelina Travels — and I can’t wait to go back!
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Source: thepointsguy.com