Las Catalinas Collection

Our family visited Las Catalinas in August 2025, and unfortunately, our experience was disappointing. Before our arrival, our villa was changed. Upon entering the new villa, we found several broken items, and to make matters worse, we were charged for a dishwasher we never used and didn’t break. The exterior doors didn’t lock properly (which we had to have fixed as this created a security concern) and daily construction took place right outside our front door from morning until night. Additionally, the villa we were moved to did not include access to the pool club, which caused confusion. It's important to note that pool access isn’t automatically included—you have to purchase a membership if your villa doesn’t come with it. On the positive side, the property itself is uniquely beautiful, and the pool club (once you gain access) is lovely. The town is very walkable, offering modern conveniences and a great selection of restaurants with excellent food. However, be aware that there is extensive construction happening throughout the area, which can impact the overall experience.

The beach was lovely. The sand was somehow soft. The water was wonderfully warm. The town is just being built. It's very nice but limited in restaurant/commerce options. As a result it's overpriced. If I didn't think about it and just enjoyed what it was, it was great. But in reality, we were supporting deforestation and that saddened me. Our actual "hotel/apt" was ok. There was no cleaning service to even empty the garbage can or sweep out the sand. But it had a comfy bed and great a/c.

The condo rooms are absolutely beautiful. Great service from the front desk. Great scenery and beautiful beaches. Views from the rooms are amazing. Highly recommended only down side is there are ALOT of steps to get to the room. All in all 10 out of 10

We had the most AMAZING time at Las Catalinas! We went the first week in April, 2024 and the temperatures were between 97-102F each day. The staff was phenomenal! They all greeted us by name at the restaurants and were VERY polite! They have many delicious restaurants to eat at and the beach and grounds could not be more beautiful! We were also there for a wedding and worked with Mariela. She was the reason that everything went seamless! She was incredibly attentive and knew every single detail before we had to say anything. 10000/10 would come back again!

The most disappointing stay we’ve had in a long time. We are a family of four (two teens), who rented Casa Piper via Marriott Bonvoy homes and villas. We arrived on Easter, and spent the day at the “beach club” until the villa was ready. The beach club is actually not on the beach, but there is a view of the beach. It’s about a ten minute walk down a steep dirt path to get to the beach. The club itself had two pools and one hot tub. Each pool had eight lounge chairs. Eight!! And anyone can use the beach club, not just owners or guests. Suffice it to say, it was difficult to find four lounge chairs for our family most days. When we finally got checked into the villa is when we realized that even though the property was advertised as having a pool as a “house amenity”, there WAS NO POOL!! All four of us had tears over this one. This is a huge miss! I immediately contacted the concierge services who told me I misread the property description. I copied and pasted the link that still shows the house as having a pool. They still argued it was my mistake. So I walked to concierge to see them face to face, and one person there agreed with me and finally got the manager to understand this is false advertising. Having said that, Marriott was closed on Easter, and the concierge couldn’t do anything since I booked through Marriott. The whole thing was a total cluster. And it didn’t get any better in the 3 nights we were there. When we checked out, I got a bill for $325 for 2 days of homemade breakfast by the “house mom”. $325!? Are you kidding me???? She purchased items that we never asked for, nor ate, and yet we still had to pay for them. I argued with Daniella, a manager about this, and she said she would look into it for me, and subsequently sent me an email saying all items bought were necessary and were used. I told her they weren’t, but she insisted, so now I will dispute the charges with my credit card company. I could go on and on about other issues, theft, etc., but I think you get the drift. Super disappointing for a “luxury” and costly property. It is a beautiful area. The architecture and scenery is gorgeous, we were very sad the service was so poor. It’s also very isolating, unless you have a car, there is really no where else to go.

Las Catalinas is a very interesting area with European style architecture and a car-free experience adjacent to Playa Danta in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Everything you need in Las Catalinas is "right there", including several restaurants, shops and a boutique (pricey) mini-market. There is a bike rental shop and surf shop right at the edge of the beach. The surf shop serves coffee, empanadas and gelato too. The horseshoe shaped beach (Playa Danta) is large and didn't feel crowded to us even though we visited during US "spring break". We enjoyed the variety of restaurants (including a nice breakfast at Pots & Bowls and a great Spanish tapas dinner at Pascual) that are very close together. We also enjoyed walking the winding cobblestone streets with interesting stairways and fountains in very cute courtyards. Relaxing at the beach front bar/restaurant Celeste and listening to the surf over a great margarita was a highlight too. Some may feel a little confined in Las Catalinas since it's away from the hustle and bustle of other nearby beach towns but I thought it was great for a relaxing getaway for a couple of days. In general, everything in Las Catalinas could be considered a bit expensive but I think it's a good value considering the overall experience.