Our Stay at the Nayara Resort

Ever been to Costa Rica? We just got back from an amazing 5-day vacation in this country, and we definitely could have stayed longer. We had the pleasure of staying at the beautiful Nayara Resort and Gardens near the town of La Fortuna. Everything about this resort was absolutely incredible, so I thought it would be good to recap our visit.

How to Get There

There’s a few different options in terms of getting to the Nayara Resort. There are two major airports in Costa Rica: Liberia and San José. We flew into Liberia and drove 2.5 hours to the resort. We did rent a car at the Liberia airport and drove ourselves directly to the resort. If you don’t feel like making the drive yourself, you can hire a driver or shuttle service to get you there. There were definitely some interesting parts of the drive, and it does require a little bit of time on unpaved roads. It was an adventure for sure!

You can also fly into the San José airport, but it is a further drive. We talked to another couple that did that and they said it was a 4+ hour drive for them. San José is the larger airport, so it might be easier to get a flight there.

Overall, it will take several hours to get to the resort, so plan accordingly! If you are making the drive yourself, I would try to drive in the daylight. It would have been way too dangerous to drive on those roads in the dark. Plus, the resort is tucked away on some back roads, so it is difficult to find if you don’t know where you are going!

Resort Overview

Overall, the resort is beautiful and extremely quiet and secluded. It really is the perfect couple’s retreat or honeymoon destination. You really don’t need to leave the resort if you don’t want to because there is so much to do and see around the resort itself.

There are two parts of the resort: Nayara Springs (adults only) and Nayara Spa and Gardens. The rooms over in Nayara Springs are a little bit bigger and have private pools attached. There’s a few other perks to staying in Nayara Springs like complimentary laundry and mini bar snacks.

The resort has three different pools and several different jacuzzis on the property. One of the pools is open to anyone and the other two pools are adults only. There is also a beautiful spa on the resort property.

Each morning, there is a complimentary breakfast buffet at the Altamira Restaurant. The breakfast was delicious, and they have a chef who can make fresh crepes and omelettes as well. My favorite part about breakfast was the green juice and fresh fruit.

Other than the breakfast buffet, the resort has about 5 other restaurants you can dine at for dinner. They even have a private dining option if you are feeling extra romantic on your vacation. Nayara also has a coffee bar where they serve fancier coffee drinks and gelato.

There’s plenty of activities offered at the resort like daily yoga or even bird watching. If you want to leave the resort for an excursion, the resort can help you with booking that as well. Plenty of people book other activities like horseback riding, zip lining, and ATVs.

The Room

First things first, let’s talk about the room! Each room is in its own building, otherwise known as a casita. Each room is very private and is enclosed within the rainforest. Also, each patio has a private tub and a colorful hammock to relax in.

Another really cool feature about the casita is the outdoor shower. You can shower outside in the middle of the rainforest! It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Of course, they have an indoor shower if bathing outside isn’t your thing.

Robes and slippers are included in the room and there is also a mini bar. They will charge you for the mini bar items unless you are in Nayara Springs.

One of the best parts about the room? The bed! Oh my gosh, that bed was so comfy. I think it was comfier than our bed at home. I never wanted to get up in the morning. I guess that’s okay on vacation, though.

Dining

The dining options at Nayara are absolutely incredible. I was really impressed with the variety and quality of all of the restaurants.

Each morning, there is a complimentary breakfast buffet with fresh coffee, juices and fruits. They have a chef that will make you whatever kind of eggs you like or an omelette. They also have local Costa Rican fare like fried plantains and rice. It was an amazing breakfast, and it will keep you full!

For lunch, we always ate by the pool. I was impressed with the menus by the pool. You could order a wide variety of items including tacos, burgers, sandwiches, salads, etc. It was really nice to be able to eat while sitting in the pool. No need to get up or dry off. They will bring you your food while you are in the pool relaxing.

For dinner, we went to a different restaurant each night. The first night we went to Asia Luna which was their Latin Asian Fusion restaurant. We ordered some sashimi, a couple sushi rolls and a shrimp curry. Everything was fantastic here and the atmosphere was great. We also ordered a bottle of sake with our meal and that paired nicely with the fish.

The second night we went to Mis Amores. This was another place with an amazing atmosphere (there really isn’t a bad place on this property). We really enjoyed this meal because we each ordered fresh fish and a couple of smaller starters. We also enjoyed a couple of really nice cocktails with our dinner. The menu has a wide variety, so this would be a great place regardless if you like seafood or not.

The third night we did the wine pairing dinner at Nostalgia Wine & Tapas Bar. When we saw there was an option to do a wine pairing dinner, we immediately signed up. Everything was so good and the pairings were unique. The server explained the wines really well, and I feel like we got just the right amount of each wine. It was a lovely experience in the middle of the rainforest, and I would highly recommend this if you are staying at Nayara!

The fourth night we went back to Nostalgia Wine & Tapas Bar to enjoy a more casual night with tapas. They have a really great tapas menu, so we enjoyed several small bites including Spanish tortilla, octopus, olives, and garlic shrimp. In terms of ordering wine, they have self-serve machines hooked up to several different bottles. You get to decide which wines you want to try and how much. If you aren’t sure if you want to commit to a glass, you can try 1 oz. of the wine. I loved how the wine was set-up because it enabled us to try so many different types of wine that night.

For our last night at Nayara, we dined at Amor Loco. We really enjoyed the vibe inside this restaurant. It was really dark, but the atmosphere was excellent. They also had amazing live music while we enjoyed our dinner. It was a very comfortable and relaxing setting. The staff that worked here were excellent and they even gave us a bonus cocktail since we arrived early during happy hour. This is definitely another “can’t miss” restaurant at Nayara.

Pools

One of the nice things about the Nayara Resort is that they have three different pools you can use. I like this because it never feels crowded. Two of the pools are adults only and that is where we spent most of our time.

One of the adults only pools was a quiet pool and there were never many people sitting there. The other adults only pool was more of the place to be, so we usually hung out in that pool. Plus, it had a nice view of the Arenal Volcano.

Each of the pools has a daily happy hour from 4-5 PM where you can get 2-for-1 drinks. We definitely took advantage of this deal! There are so many amazing cocktails on their menu, so be sure to try something new.

Another thing to note is that the pools were heated. It was really comfortable to just hop right into the pool and the temperature always felt perfect. This really did make it more enjoyable and we spent way more time in the pool versus sitting in a lounge chair.

The lounge chairs themselves were not the “normal” lounge chairs you find at most pools. The lounge areas by the pool were more like individual cabanas/couches. This was all included if you stay at the resort, so it was nice that we didn’t have to pay extra for that. The resort also provides sunscreen and magazines to read by the pool. I was so impressed with everything they provided for the pool areas!

Activities

The Nayara Resort does a great job with providing several daily activities. Each morning, they offer a yoga class at 8:15 AM right in the middle of the rainforest. It was a really relaxing way to start the day. Even if you aren’t into yoga, I would at least give it a try one day.

The resort does have a gym if you prefer to do something else for your workout. The gym was actually quite nice and had a lot of space. They had several treadmills, ellipticals, a rower, and a weight rack. They also had a couple of other weight machines for people to use as well. You definitely can stay in shape while at this resort!

Another neat thing about this resort is the trails and nature walks. They created a couple of different trails through the rainforest where you can walk and see more of nature. These trails don’t take you off their property, but it is a nice option if you want to go for a little walk that is more secluded.

The Nayara Resort offers a few other activities depending on the day. When we were there, we saw that they offered a coffee class where you could learn more about Costa Rican coffees and how to make fancy coffee drinks. I think they offer similar activities like cooking classes as well. They have a different schedule each day, so make sure to check it out.

Of course, the most popular thing to do at the resort is a spa treatment. Everyone that we met was raving about the spa, so it seems like it’s the thing to do! We never did schedule a spa service for ourselves, but it did look really nice. If we ever go back, we will be booking a massage!

Overall, the service and staff were incredible at Nayara, and I would love to go back someday. It really is the perfect couples retreat. If you ever get the chance to visit Costa Rica, try to stay here for at least a couple of nights. You will not regret this experience!

What do y’all think….is this a place you would want to visit? Let me know in the comments below! Also, let me know if you have any additional questions about staying at the Nayara Resort.