Reserva Conchal isn’t an eco-lodge. It’s a large gated beach, golf and residential community behind Playa Conchal in northern Guanacaste, and the places to stay are two big international resort hotels. It earns a page here because its conservation work is unusually concrete for a development of this kind: a government-recognized wildlife refuge on the property, a tree nursery and reforestation program, beehives, full wastewater treatment, and top-level sustainability certification for both hotels.
At a glance
| Location | Playa Conchal, Cabo Velas district, Santa Cruz, Guanacaste |
|---|---|
| Style | Gated resort and residential community with two brand hotels, a golf course and a beach club |
| Setting | Dry tropical forest, mangrove and a shell-sand beach on the North Pacific coast |
| Best for | Travelers who want a full-service beach resort with real sustainability credentials and easy nature walks |
| Getting there | Paved roads from Liberia’s international airport; press releases put the drive at about 45 minutes |
| CST status | Both hotels listed at Elite level, certified 2024-Nov-19 |
What kind of place it is
Reserva Conchal is run by the hospitality division of FIFCO, the Costa Rican food and beverage group. According to the developer, the property covers about 2,300 acres of rolling land behind the beach. Most of that is the community itself: residential lots and homes, an 18-hole golf course, a members’ beach club, roads, gardens and the two hotels. Visitors who aren’t buying property stay in one of these:
- The Westin Golf Resort & Spa, Reserva Conchal: an all-inclusive resort with 406 rooms, seven restaurants and five bars.
- W Costa Rica, Reserva Conchal: a 151-room hotel of rooms, suites and residences, including a five-bedroom W Residence, with five food and drink outlets. Marriott announced its opening in December 2018. It isn’t marketed as all-inclusive, and it welcomes pets and families.
Both are polished, air-conditioned resort hotels with pools, spas and organized activities. If you’re after a small, simple lodge in the forest, this isn’t it. What sets the place apart is how much of the land around the hotels is managed for nature.
The wildlife refuge
The heart of the conservation story is the Conchal Mixed National Wildlife Refuge, established by government decree on September 18, 2009. It protects 39.75 hectares of coastal dry forest and mangrove inside the property, and it’s run as a public and private partnership between the Tempisque Conservation Area (part of the national park service) and Reserva Conchal. A September 2025 report in El Mundo CR, marking the refuge’s 16th anniversary, describes it as part of the Baulas-Conchal biological corridor and names howler monkeys, white-nosed coatis and white-tailed deer among the animals living there, along with resident and migratory birds and reptiles.
Tropical dry forest is one of the most threatened forest types in Central America, so a protected block of it, plus the mangrove that buffers the coast against erosion, is a real asset on a stretch of coast dominated by development.
The resort’s experiences page mentions trails through the refuge and monthly guided visits that take in the tree nursery and native stingless Melipona bees. Ask the concierge for current dates.
Sustainability in detail
Reserva Conchal publishes more numbers than most Costa Rican resorts. According to its sustainability page:
- Reforestation and nursery: a reforestation program running since 2010, supplied by an on-site nursery with a shade house for 32,000 plants and a sun greenhouse for 18,000 bagged plants, irrigated by a solar-powered automatic system.
- Bees: an apiary set up in 2020 with Blue Zones and the Nicoya honey producer Mieles Nicoyanas, housing more than 2.5 million honeybees. Its honey won a gold award at the 2026 London Honey Awards. The refuge also has a meliponary for four species of native stingless bees.
- Water: two treatment plants process all the wastewater from the hotels and homes, and the treated water irrigates the gardens and golf course.
- Waste: a sorting and recovery center diverts about 96.6 percent of waste, and organic waste becomes compost for the nursery and gardens. The stated goal is zero waste to landfill by 2026.
- Community: the Simbiosis environmental education program has brought more than 3,700 children from neighboring communities into contact with nature since 2017, and a dual training program created in 2014 with the national training institute, INA, has trained more than 400 students for hospitality jobs.
The certifications page lists carbon neutral certification for the hotel operations and golf course (2016), ISO 14001 environmental management (2004), Ecological Blue Flag awards for the beach, community and protected natural spaces, and the Audubon International certification for the golf course, held since 2002. The resort’s golf page says it’s one of only three Audubon-certified courses in Costa Rica.
Most importantly for this guide, both hotels appear in the official CST directory at the Elite level, the top tier of Costa Rica’s sustainable tourism certification: the Westin and the W, each with a certification date of November 19, 2024. Our guide to the CST program explains what that level means.
None of this changes the basic footprint of a golf course and several hundred air-conditioned rooms. It does mean that among large resorts in Guanacaste, this one has done more than most and can show it.
The beach and things to do
Playa Conchal takes its name from the tiny shells mixed into its pale sand, and the resort describes its water as turquoise. The resort lists snorkeling, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding off the beach, beach yoga, cycling and hiking on its trails, birdwatching, and surfing at nearby breaks, with the best waves from May to September according to the resort. The Robert Trent Jones II golf course is a par 71 laid out through forest, and the golf page notes that howler monkeys favor the 15th hole. The course isn’t open to the public, so tee times are for hotel guests and members.
Beyond the gates, Tamarindo and the leatherback nesting beaches of the Baulas corridor are a short drive away. Our sea turtle nesting guide explains how to see turtles responsibly.
Who it suits
Reserva Conchal suits couples and families who want a large, comfortable beach resort, golfers, and travelers who care about a hotel’s environmental record but aren’t looking for rustic lodging. The all-inclusive Westin works for people who’d rather not leave the property; the W is the more design-led, social option.
It’s the wrong choice if you want a small, owner-run eco-lodge, a remote setting, or a stay where nature is the main event rather than one part of a resort. For a smaller hotel with a forest setting in the same part of Guanacaste, look at Suitree Experience Hotel near Sardinal or Cala Luna Boutique Hotel & Villas at Playa Langosta. Browse more on our Guanacaste eco-lodges page, and see this earlier Reserva Conchal profile for more background.
Frequently asked questions
Is Reserva Conchal an eco-lodge?
No. It's a gated golf, beach and residential community with two large brand hotels, the Westin and the W. It's included here because of its on-site wildlife refuge, nursery, apiary, wastewater treatment and the Elite CST certification held by both hotels.
Can hotel guests visit the Conchal wildlife refuge?
The resort describes trails through the 39.75-hectare refuge and monthly guided visits that include the tree nursery and native Melipona bees. Ask the concierge which dates are running during your stay.
Which hotel at Reserva Conchal is all-inclusive?
The Westin Golf Resort & Spa, with 406 rooms, is all-inclusive. The W Costa Rica, with 151 rooms, suites and residences, isn't marketed as all-inclusive and accepts pets.
Can non-guests play the golf course?
The resort's golf page says the course isn't open to the public. Tee times are booked in advance, and some rates are marked for resort guests only.
