Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique

Writing this on the plane after finishing a 5 nights stay at the property. Disclaimer, this year, I had stayed at WA Bangkok, WA Platte Island, and this was the third WA we stayed this year. I’m excited to experience the familiar signature WA services, considering this is the newest WA resort in the Hilton portfolio. We did receive pre-arrival email and phone call from our concierge, Freddie. We mostly touched based through whatsapp, however upon arrival at 5pm, at check in we were not offered any welcome drink. We did notice another time when we were hanging out on the lounge, they do gave a welcome drinks upon checked in. Other than that, check in was fast and efficient. Lobby was very sparkly and had an amazing view of the bay. Once we arrived in the room, we found that there were still swimwears in the closet from previous guests, which raised a major concern from the housekeeping and cleanliness stand point. There are also some stains on the carpet that, for a relatively new hotel, is quite disappointing to see and certainly does not meet a Waldorf Astoria property standard. Called the housekeeping over the phone, which for some reasons, phone kept ringing and no one picked up. Ended up calling guest experience, which came to the room promptly and took away the swimwears. The next day, Loreana from Guest Service director met with us, apologized for the cleaning mishaps and offered a comped coffee tasting experience at the coffee shop. Angel lead the session and he was very knowledgeable and passionate about his craft. We really enjoyed this experience. We had dinner at Tico Tica, and ordered a t-bone steak as per recommendation of the staff. We ordered medium rare, but it came out blue and cold … They took it back and put the meat backed on the grill. comped us 50% for the steak. I did saw another reviewer having the same experience. Servers at the pool, Tico Tica, peacock alley, was amazing. Shoutout to Ho Wah and Edwin always on their toes to help us during the breakfast service. We love the Iced Matcha Latte which we ordered daily, however, they had an off day because they had a different bar person. The next day Edwin remembered and brought us a new one with the recipe written for us as well. That was a nice touch. Upon checked out, we were checking at the portfolio and found a charge from the gift shop which is not ours. Explained it to the front desk, which called gift shop. Front Desk explained that she’s not able to do anything, because the gift shop explained that the purchase was completed by a person, matching our description, Male Asian. If we have any issues we need to go and dispute it with the gift shop. Keep in mind, this was at check out, we have a flight to catch, it takes 1 hour drive to go to the airport. So we took the golf cart from the lobby to the gift shop, spoken with the shop assistant. She said that, one of our friend came and purchase a hat. I told her, we don’t have any other ‘male asian friend’ staying with us. She insisted that theres nothing she can do, because the said ‘friend’ had provided our room number for the purchase. She wanted to show the video camera recording however her supervisor was not there to access it. We told her that we were at breakfast at the time stamp on the receipt, which they could see it or asked the staff at the restaurant. All of this work for a $30 gift shop hat. At the end, front desk took off the charge while they ‘investigate’. This was a bitter farewell on an otherwise a memorable trip We did still had a great time at the property, however the services can be a hit and miss. It is a very big property with 8 buildings spread out. Some of the buildings are still not done yet, and even not at full capacity, you can see services and staffing level are a pain point tor this WA.

This hotel is brand new and the design is impeccable. Set on the hill side, it resembles a larger version of the Cape (Cabo hotel if you’ve stayed there). They offer golf carts to transport you throughout the property if you do not want to get your steps in. The interior design is beautiful as well. It’s about 30-40 mins from the airport and we used the hotels recommended transfer company which was wonderful. Our concierge was Adon who assisted us for everything start to finish. He reached out to us via WhatsApp around a week before to ensure we had everything we needed. While on the property he was extremely responsive and made our stay flawless. Food: Dinner and Tico Taca was delicious. We are BIG foodies from Chicago and this meal did not miss. We got the smashed potatoes, salad, tomahawk, amongst other things. Everything was delicious! Order the tomahawk you will not be disappointed! Peacock ally, just love the design. Cocktails were perfection as well! Great small plates. Breakfast at Tico Toca was fine as well. Love the fresh coconut water each morning. Coffee shop my husband took advantage of every morning. They have various different blends to recommend and brew their own kombucha. Servers were all fantastic wherever we ate. Beach: all the beaches in Costa Rica are public however, given this resort is in a cove there are not too many people trying to heckle you. We took a private charter out for fishing, snorkeling, and jet skiing. Was able to see sea turtles and various fish. Saw videos from locals of the whales during whale season, it looks like they come right in the cove at times. Monkeys can also be see right off the beach. There is a little rope that they use to travel across the trees on both sides of the beach. Get up early to see them. Spa: again beautifully designed. Massages and therapists themselves were great. Tried the sand and quartz which was nice. Little recommendations: In comparisons to some of the other WA properties like WA Cabo, would have loved to have seen a complimentary beach bag. For the cost of the hotel rooms and food, figured this would have been the norm. We also didn’t get a consistent evening amenity. I think two nights we got two beers complimentary to the room, but did not get chips and dip like our friends did 3 rooms down. Just small inconsistencies. They have balcony tubs as well, but no bubbles or any kind of amenity set up to use it. For comparison the WA Cabo has a super cute “honey” bubble bath set up to use. Again, small things, but something that would have added to the luxury of the resort. Turn down service was fine but no chocolates, aromatherapy, or any other type of extras see at comparable properties. You do get a lovely welcome amenity of their local spirit to bring home or endluge in there.

The property is managed by Andrés whose leadership is reflected in the positive attitudes of the staff. Esau and Randell were always around to give us a ride and made sure our car was ready. The property is very clean and easily walkable (in my opinion). The “WOW” factor is definitely 💯 held by the staff. Great people everywhere, always felt safe, smiles felt sincere, and hospitality felt honest! PURA VIDA! Muchas gracias por su excelente hospitalidad! We were most impressed by the staff at the Waldorf who really elevated our experience. Adonay, our concierge prepared for our arrival and went above and beyond to accommodate our every need. Valerie greeting us at check in and made sure we stayed hydrated every time we left the property (we rented a car). On our first day we ate in La Finca; greeted by Catalina and Edward was our server. He recommended we make reservations for the tasting + wine pairing for our anniversary. We did and it was well worth it!! The Chef and his team created the most delicious farm to table meals! Roy introduced each plate and Henry paired it with the perfect wine. Tanya and Catalina shared additional history of Costa Rica including some dancing 😉. Each morning for breakfast we were greeted by Adriana in Tica Toco and served by Oscar and then Omar. Omar was our culinary maestro; introducing us to the region’s sauces and the chef brought us a traditional Costa Rican breakfast!!! DELICIOUS! Daniel turned our rained out kayak into an adventure. And although we did not utilize the spa Manuel shared history on the indigenous peoples, customs, and vibes of the stones. We got in ALL the pools, had ice cream, and met a really nice couple who joined us for a great time ATV (arranged by our concierge).

My family and I stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica over Thanksgiving week and had a wonderful vacation overall. The resort is still working through some understandable growing pains, so I’m glad we used points for our stay, as paying full cash at this stage might have felt a bit tough given a few issues we encountered. The property itself is gorgeous—thoughtful architecture, lush landscaping, and a relaxing luxury atmosphere that made the entire week feel special. Every staff member we met was warm, friendly, and eager to help. Service at the pool, restaurants, and concierge was consistently quick and attentive. Our personal concierge, Josh, was especially fantastic—responsive, proactive, and incredibly efficient with everything we needed. As a Hilton Diamond member, I received an upgrade to an Ocean View Room, which was spacious, modern, spotless, and featured a beautiful view. One design choice that didn’t quite work was the bathtub on the balcony. While the idea is visually appealing, the lack of true privacy from higher floors, the pool area, and possibly even the beach made it something we never felt comfortable using. The lighting controls in the room were also not very intuitive, making it difficult to tell which switches controlled which lights. The food across the resort was excellent. Despite only having three dining venues—Vida Pool Bar, Tico Tica, and La Finca—the quality was consistently high. Our final dinner at La Finca was a standout. We did the tasting menu and were given a behind-the-scenes kitchen tour, met the chefs, and even visited the wine cellar. It was personal, memorable, and one of the best dining experiences of our trip. Because the resort is new, a few operational issues did come up. On arrival day, we waited quite a while in the lobby without any greeting or welcome refreshments. At our first lunch, the system showed we had no room charging privileges, which caused confusion until it was resolved. Housekeeping was generally good, but restocking items like shampoo and shower gel was inconsistent. No one mentioned the complimentary beers included in the welcome amenity—we discovered them by chance later. We also had a recurring service issue where my wife would ask for lime with her water. Even when the staff acknowledged the request, the lime rarely arrived. It was a small detail, but it happened multiple times throughout the stay. Additionally, we had an issue with a broken door sensor, which caused the room’s temperature control to stop working until maintenance fixed it. None of these issues ruined our stay, but with nearby luxury properties like the Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton Reserve, guests naturally expect a higher level of polish and consistency at this price point. The potential is clearly there—this is a beautiful resort with excellent staff and great food—it just needs a bit more time to smooth out the details. Despite the minor hiccups, we truly enjoyed our holiday week. We made wonderful Thanksgiving memories as a family, and we fully intend to return. I’m looking forward to seeing how the Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica continues to grow and improve.

We had the most magical experience at the brand new Waldorf Astoria Puna Cacique in Costa Rica! This resort literally has everything at your fingertips including 11 pools, easy walk to their private beach that offers Jet Ski Rentals, an incredible spa and fitness facility and tons of excursions to do right off the property. We opted for a tour of Oropendola Waterfall that included a hike around the National Park Rincon del La Vieja and ended our day with a stop at the Rio Negra Hot Springs. Such a unique experience and would highly recommend! We left at 7:30am and got back around 3pm. What made our experience at this Waldorf set apart from the rest was the attention to detail and pure dedication to going above and beyond for us our entire stay with Ricardo. Ricard completely blew us away with his level of service- I've stayed at a lot of Waldorfs in the past (including Cabo) and he really went above and beyond and made us feel so special and would go out of his way to making sure our stay was perfect.