JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort & Spa | Costa Rica’s Newest All-Inclusive, and How to Position It

You know the client who likes what all-inclusive solves: breakfast is easy, drinks are covered, the kids have plans, and a beach day can stay a beach day.

Their hesitation is what happens by day four.

JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort & Spa, All-Inclusive just opened in northern Guanacaste, and it’s built to answer that hesitation directly. Every accommodation is a suite with a terrace, where some open straight to a swim-out pool. Griffin Club offers clients a more private experience within the larger resort, and dining moves between Costa Rican, Japanese, Italian, seafood, Mexican, and market-style concepts, enough range that a five- or seven-night stay doesn’t start repeating itself.

From above, JW Marriott Costa Elena sits tucked between forested hills and the bright blue Pacific: low-rise buildings step back from the beach, with pools and gardens filling the space between the sand and the hillside.

Outside the resort, northern Guanacaste opens into another picture: small bays break up the shore, with hills rising close to the water. Costa Elena itself spans 3,000 acres and 10 miles of coastline, adjacent to the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, the UNESCO-listed protected region that extends across dry forest, coastline, wetlands, and marine habitat.

For clients who want Costa Rica without changing hotels every few nights, this new opening gives advisors a fresh reason to bring it up, and the geography matters as much as what’s included.

Will the Dining Hold Up for Five Nights?

Dining is often where a client’s hesitation about all-inclusive shows up first. Meals being included sounds easy; eating some variation of the same dinner for nearly a week doesn’t.

At Costa Elena, the restaurants feel different before you even get to the menus: Casado catches the warmer part of the day with pale stone, woven chairs, palms, and soft sculptural forms overhead. After sunset, Luciano goes darker, with timber arches, a wall of wine, and greenery between the tables. Boga brings in deep green seating beneath a bright pink installation, while Puerto Limón opens toward the pool, with blue water visible past the dining room.

One evening can stay rooted in Costa Rica, with Casado drawing from local cooking and fire or Mercado Central taking cues from the country’s traditional markets. Another can have seafood by the coast, Japanese and Asian flavors, or Mexican cooking. JW Market offers more casual options for in-between meals.

For a longer stay, choose a few dinners your clients will want to look forward to, then leave the rest flexible. One night may call for Luciano; another may end with drinks by the pool and room service back in the suite.

Choosing a Suite at JW Marriott Costa Elena: View, Swim-Out, or More Room?

Every accommodation is a suite with a terrace. Start with what your client wants from the room: direct pool access, tropical greenery, or a view toward the Pacific.

Warm timber runs overhead in the Junior Suites, with woven headboards, pale walls and stone, and green foliage filling the windows. Swim-out categories put the water directly off the terrace; Master Suites have more room inside, while two-queen Junior Suites give families an option without automatically moving into a much larger category.

Family Area and Mindfulness Junior Suites are alongside the standard, swim-out, and Master categories. Confirm where those rooms sit within the resort and what each designation means for the stay before recommending one.

The view deserves more weight here: greenery fills some windows; in the ocean-facing categories, the eye keeps going toward the Pacific. For the client who wants the landscape in front of them every morning, that outlook may be the upgrade that matters more.

For couples, the choice may come down to one thing: the view or direct pool access.

For a family, bedding and location may matter first.

For clients who know they’ll spend more time in the suite, the extra room in a Master Suite may be worth the upgrade.

When Is Griffin Club Worth the Upgrade?

The Griffin Club is Marriott’s hotel-within-a-hotel experience, with dedicated lounges, private spaces, personalized attention, curated culinary moments, and its own suite categories.

Think about Griffin for the client who wants everything Costa Elena gives them but would rather experience it from a more private corner of the resort.

The spaces feel more residential too: low cream seating sits beside cane chairs and warm wood, while deeper green drapery pulls in the trees outside the glass. In the larger accommodations, separate living areas and dining tables give clients more places to spend time than the bedroom and terrace alone.

From there, match the category to what matters. Griffin Club Master Suite Ocean View puts the Pacific directly in front of the terrace. Griffin Club Master Swim Out gives them direct pool access plus separate living and sleeping areas. The Presidential Suite adds substantially more indoor and outdoor space at the top of the collection.

Before you upgrade, ask: does your client want more space, or would they value a more private experience within the resort?

Can Parents Have a Vacation Too?

A resort can call itself family-friendly because it has a kids club. The better test is what the rest of the family gets to do while the children are there.

The JW Family Club is listed as complimentary and open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. There’s also a children’s pool, water slide, family programming, and included non-motorized water activities.

Inside the club, the palette changes completely: a soft blue carpet, an orange slide, rounded windows, and muted greens overhead stand apart from the creams, timber, and stone used elsewhere in the resort.

That gives families room to split for a few hours: children can have their own plans while adults go to Spa by JW, book yoga or a fitness class, or use the 24-hour fitness center within the resort’s 16,000-square-foot wellness area.

At Spa by JW, stone runs underfoot, curved cream walls and seating soften the room, and tropical greenery comes in through the glass. The yoga space stays light and simple: sunlight falls across mats and bolsters, with softly arched niches along the wall. Hydrotherapy, a steam room, a therapy bath, and separate lounges are enough to build a few hours around, not just a single treatment. Services for younger guests are listed too.

Not every family day needs to be planned from morning to night. Some can stay close to the pool: shaded wood cabanas sit among palms and garden planting, with loungers set out on the lawn. Leave part of the afternoon open here; use other days to go farther into Guanacaste.

By dinner, everyone can meet again without having followed the same schedule all day.

How Much of Guanacaste Should Your Clients See?

A day out in Guanacaste should feel different from a day at Costa Elena. One morning can stay around the bay; another can take clients into the national parks, to a waterfall, or out for horseback riding or an ATV outing.

Marriott points clients toward Santa Rosa National Park and Guanacaste National Park, along with many other experiences across the region. For days that stay closer to the coast, non-motorized water activities are already included.

For a five- or seven-night stay, be selective: give one day to more of Guanacaste, keep another near the Pacific, then leave enough time for Costa Elena to justify choosing an all-inclusive in the first place.

A beach morning, lunch at Casado, a few hours at the spa, and dinner somewhere completely different don’t need another excursion attached to them.

If your client is picturing Arenal, cloud forest, several regions, and a new landscape every few days, keep building the larger Costa Rica itinerary.

But listen for the client who says, “We want Costa Rica. We just don’t want to keep packing.”

Which Costa Rica Request Fits Costa Elena?

Costa Elena makes the most sense for clients who want one base but still expect Costa Rica to be part of the week: time on the Pacific, tropical dry forest, and a few days exploring Guanacaste. They just don’t need Arenal, cloud forest, and several regions packed into the same itinerary.

Families have plenty of options to split up their days without planning every hour separately. Children enjoy the Family Club, pool, water slide, and water activities; adults can use the spa and wellness facilities or keep part of the afternoon open.

Two-queen suites and swim-out categories give you different ways to place them depending on how much time they expect to spend around the room.

Couples can build another kind of week: a view toward the Pacific or a swim-out suite, several dinners worth planning, time at the spa, and a few days around Guanacaste can fill five or seven nights without requiring several hotel changes. If they want more privacy and service, move the conversation to Griffin Club.

Be more selective when the client already sees Costa Rica as a journey through several landscapes. If Arenal, cloud forest, multiple regions, and changing hotels are central to what they want, Costa Elena shouldn’t replace that itinerary.

Costa Elena fits the client who wants one good base, fewer moving parts, and enough choice that staying put doesn’t become repetitive.

Build JW Marriott Costa Elena With UJV Tropics

Before you book, there are a few calls to make: how much of the week belongs at Costa Elena, how much of Guanacaste should your clients see, and whether the room should prioritize a swim-out, more space, or Griffin Club.

UJV Tropics can help you make those decisions first, then coordinate the accommodations, air, private transfers, and experiences around the stay.

The hotel and destination should be planned together, with enough time at Costa Elena to enjoy what’s included and enough of Guanacaste around it to still feel like Costa Rica.

Build it with UJV Tropics.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is JW Marriott Costa Elena all-inclusive?

Yes. JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort & Spa is an all-inclusive resort in northern Guanacaste. It makes sense for clients who want much of the week handled in one place but still want enough dining, activities, wellness, and time around Guanacaste for several days to feel different.

What types of suites are available at JW Marriott Costa Elena?

Every accommodation is a suite with a terrace. Options include Junior Suites, swim-out categories, Master Suites, two-queen configurations, Family Area and Mindfulness Junior Suites, plus Griffin Club accommodations.

Start with what matters most to the client: direct pool access, more room inside, the outlook, or greater privacy and service.

What is Griffin Club at JW Marriott Costa Elena?

Griffin Club is the resort’s hotel-within-a-hotel experience, with dedicated lounges, private spaces, personalized attention, curated culinary moments, and its own suite categories.

Consider it when the client wants more privacy and service, not simply a larger room.

Is JW Marriott Costa Elena good for families?

Yes, especially for families who want time together without spending every hour together. The resort has a complimentary JW Family Club, children’s pool, water slide, family programming, non-motorized water activities, and two-queen suite options. Adults also have the spa and wellness facilities for the hours when children have plans of their own.

How many nights should clients spend at JW Marriott Costa Elena?

For many clients, five to seven nights gives enough time to enjoy the resort while still planning selected days around Guanacaste.

If Arenal, cloud forest, several regions, and a new landscape every few days are already central to the request, keep building the larger Costa Rica itinerary.

Can clients explore Guanacaste from JW Marriott Costa Elena?

Yes. Costa Elena sits in far northern Guanacaste, where tropical dry forest reaches toward the Pacific. Santa Rosa National Park and Guanacaste National Park are among the destination options, along with waterfalls, horseback riding, ATV outings, and time on the water.