Photo: Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica

Unfortunately, our return flight from Costa Rica was on the early side. Instead of staying in Liberia, we decided to check out the all-inclusive Hilton Papagayo Resort, which opened in January and is conveniently located only 20 minutes away from the airport. While the resort is a bit Americanized and offers such "luxuries" as a top notch spa, plush bedding and flat screen TVs, it still tries to maintain aspects of local flavor, most significantly exemplified in the nightly show "PURA VIDA." Our room, as most do, had a view of the bay and a private balcony. While we spent most of our time lounging by one of the pools and enjoying the several restaurants and bars, there were plenty of more active options such as tennis, volleyball, kayaking and hiking.