If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD854.05), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Turn ‘living my best life’ from corny hashtag to cross-my-heart true story at Silvestre Nosara, an all-ages-welcome wellness retreat on Costa Rica’s peaceful Pacific coast. Nine apartment-style suites, set just back from the jungle-fringed beach, are kitted out with handcrafted, sustainably sourced finds. There’s a dedicated surf concierge, so pick your bespoke surfboard, partner up with a pro and stroll a whole 30 seconds to some of the world’s most consistent waves. And back on dry land, a schedule of my-body-is-a-temple classes in the custom-built studio and a line-up of talks from local gurus guarantee you’ll emerge blissed out, bushy-tailed and – let’s be real – a tiny bit smug, from top to sandy toe.
11am. Check-in is at 3pm, but both are flexible, subject to availability. And if you’re arriving late at night, you’re able to check in remotely so you can get straight to snoozing.
Prices
Double rooms from £772.80 ($965), including tax at 13 per cent.
More details
Rates at Silvestre Nosara include a breakfast of seasonal, locally sourced goodies such as smoothie bowls, avo toast and fresh-picked fruit, or a full spread of bacon, eggs and toast.
Also
Unfortunately, Silvestre Nosara is not wheelchair-accessible.
At the hotel
Yoga and fitness studio, Jim Banks performance surfboards, surf concierge, barrel sauna, Renu Therapy cold plunge tank, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: Free WiFi, fully equipped kitchen, Marshall Bluetooth speaker, washing machine and tumble dryer, air-conditioning, clothes steamer, bath robes, and Le Labo bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Each of the nine spacious suites have a tricked-out kitchen, travertine bathrooms and a small museum’s worth of artisanally crafted pieces – there’s no going wrong, really. Our tip is the Tropical Garden Grand Residence, where you’ll have a private sun-trap patio complete with a barrel sauna, a cold plunge tank and a barbecue. Traveling as a pack? The Penthouse Grand Residence has room for up to eight, plus a private bar.
Poolside
Up on the rooftop, the unheated infinity pool is fringed by jungle-canopy foliage and near enough to the lounge to exchange a knowing top-up-needed look with the bartender.
Spa
There’s no dedicated spa, but the surf concierge team can arrange a stint in the sauna and cold plunge for some hot-cold therapy, a bracing ancient ritual thought to ease aches and boost serotonin levels. A super-soothing schedule of wellness workshops is run in the studio – om-inducing options include sound baths, guided meditation and daily yoga classes. Plus, there’s weight-training equipment to turn the studio into an open gym.
Packing tips
Don’t skimp on swimsuits. Chances are, you’ll be ocean-bound every day; plus, once you peep the photoshoot possibilities, you’ll want options – some serious about surfing, some serious about serving.
Also
You’ll each have one free class in the studio a day, plus unlimited use of a Jim Banks performance surfboard.
Kids of all ages are welcome and well-catered for, and crucially, so are peace-seeking parents.
Best for
Little Smiths of all ages are welcome, but older kids – or at least those big enough to brave the surf – will get the most kicks out of a stay here.
Recommended rooms
Each of the nine suites has its own kitchen and sleeps at least four, but the fun, floating bunk beds in the Family Residences were specially designed with kids in mind.
Crèche
Silvestre has teamed up with local kids’ club Nosara Day Camp to provide adventure-filled fun for little one’s aged five to 14.
Activities
The concierge can organize all sorts of family-friendly jaunts – water babies can get in on the surf action or play skipper on a boat tour; dry-land diversions include rainforest hikes and horse rides on the beach. Plus, there’s a jungle gym onsite, and creative movement classes for kids are held in the studio.
Swimming pool
The pool is divided into two separate sections with a two-foot shallow end, so tots can paddle safely under a grown-up’s watchful eye.
Meals
You’ll have your own fully kitted out kitchen and a fridge stocked with fresh produce, so fussy eaters needn’t fret about finding something suitable on the bar’s snack menu.
Babysitting
Babysitting can be arranged in advance for an extra fee.
Sustainability efforts
Insulation, energy efficiency and water conservation have been hard-wired into Silvestre’s design, with a Bionest system that ensures all water waste is put to good use by irrigating the surrounding landscape. The hotel is also a sponsor of Costa Verdes, a nonprofit working to reforest the country’s coastal ecosystems.
To minimize the snack-to-swim step count, snag the sofa right by the pool.
Dress Code
Your best bikini and breezy linens thrown over the top if you’re feeling fancy. This season’s must-have accessories? A self-improvement paperback and chicly sea salt-tousled hair.
Hotel restaurant
There’s no separate restaurant, but the bar serves a seasonal menu of brunch-y staples and nourishing snacks, fuelled by fresh local produce and homegrown herbs. The dragonfruit smoothie bowl is the show-stealer, with its heaps of vitamins and dazzling magenta hue, but don’t sleep on the avo toast – it might sound humdrum, but it hits different when the avocado has just been hand-picked from the farmers’ market.
Hotel bar
Tucked between toucan-inhabited treetops, Silvestre’s rooftop bar is your sun-drenched chill-out spot. Mornings here mean matcha, smoothies and quality Costa Rican coffee – they’re committed bean buffs here, and the barista is a bonafide latte art Botticelli. Sip fresh juices and snack on small plates throughout the day, set to a soundtrack of birdsong, rustling branches and the splish splash of the pool. Even the cocktails are so packed with fresh-picked fruit, they pretty much count as one of your five a day. Our must-try is the Mezcalita de Naranjilla, a chili- and lime-laced creation inspired by the head mixologist’s childhood in the Costa Rican mountains.
Last orders
The rooftop bar is open from 7am to 9pm daily.
Room service
There’s no room service, but you’ll have a full kitchen and a fridge stuffed with fresh local produce, so there’s no chance of going hungry. And if you’re feeling extra fancy, the hotel can arrange for a private chef to rustle something up in-room.
Silvestre Nosara is nestled between rainforest and wave-blessed beach on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, in a village that’s within Baywatch-jogging distance from some of the world’s best surf.
Planes
There are three airports within driving distance and the hotel can arrange free transfers from each of them, so you’re in charge of your wings to wheels ratio. Committed scenic routers can strap in for a five-hour drive from San José’s Juan Santamaría Airport; it’s well-connected with most major North and Central American cities. Guanacaste Airport is a more manageable two-hour drive from the hotel – touch down there from North American hubs including LAX, JFK and Toronto Pearson, and from London Heathrow during high season. Or nix the road trip and take a connecting flight from either option to Nosara Airport; from there, it’s just a 15-minute pootle.
Automobiles
The hotel can take care of all transport, including sightseeing tours and airport transfers, so there’s no need to bother with your own set of wheels. There’s no private parking at the hotel, so if you do bring a car you’ll have to snag yourself a spot on the street.
Other
Go full Bond and book a private plane from Juan Santamaría or Guanacaste to Nosara Airport.
Worth getting out of bed for
If ever there was a place to play out your in-an-ideal-world morning routine dreams, it’s Silvestre Nosara. Start strong with a yoga class or guided meditation, or really get the blood pumping with the hotel’s gym equipment. After a few restorative laps of the rooftop pool, linger in the lounge for breakfast as you plot your course through the studio’s schedule of wellness and workout classes – a sound bath sounds promisingly stress-busting, and maybe today’s the day you take up Muay Thai. And if you’re still bleary-eyed, blow the cobwebs away with a serotonin-boosting session in the barrel sauna and cold plunge tank.
Pad down to Playa Guiones to find some of the world’s best breaks. You’ll have unlimited use of a bespoke Jim Banks board during your stay, so seasoned surfers can start catching waves whenever they fancy. Otherwise, book in for a surfing class with a coach down at the surf concierge. Hang-ten hipsters can head out on a surf boat charter with a local guide to let them in on the peninsula’s best hidden breaks. Further sea-faring options include a Pacific fishing tour and a boat trip to Pink Island, where the pretty (and perfectly Instagrammable) rosy sands only emerge at low tide.
Prefer your adventures a little more pulse-raising? Zoom through the treetops on the world’s longest zipline canopy tour, or embark on an ATV expedition through the jungle. The super-daring can take to the skies for a solo gyrocopter flight over the Guanacaste coast. And if you’ve still got an afternoon spare, squeeze in a guided hike to a hidden waterfall or a sunset horse-ride on the beach.
Local restaurants
It’s a jostly, 20-minute drive into the mountains to reach cult-favorite restaurant Coyol, but commit to the journey and the reward is worth reaping – a hearty Costa Rican feast, shot through with Mediterranean flavors and framed by panoramic mountain views. The standout star is the smoky roast aubergine, tahini-drizzled and topped with crushed pistachios, but carnivores are kept happy with generous plates of juicy pork ribs and slow-cooked tenderloin.
Local cafés
Part surf shop, part craft brewery and part artisanal coffee house, Olo Alaia is an all-in-one induction into Nosara’s best-loved beachy pastimes. The café menu includes all the espresso-based stalwarts but also vandola, a pour-over method using a clay pot pioneered by ceramicist and master barista Minor Alfaro; the resulting flavor, so connoisseurs reckon, is sweeter and clearer. There are regular events showcasing local artists, musicians and filmmakers, too, so you can strike caffeine hit and culture fix from your to-do list in one fell swoop.
Local bars
Stop by Blue Zone Brewery’s taproom for tacos and ceviche-topped corn chips, washed down with sustainably made craft beer. Or take your cue from Costa Rica’s love affair with ‘the golden bean’ at specialty coffee roaster and cocktail bar Rolling Waves. The espresso martini is, unsurprisingly, a hit, and the negroni features their house cold brew concentrate, but there’s a whole menu of non-caffeinated classics if you can already feel your heart racing at the thought of mixing cold brew and Campari.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this rainforest-flanked hotel in Guanacaste, wrung out their wetsuit and unpacked their yoga gear, a full account of their wellbeing-boosting break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Silvestre Nosara in Costa Rica…
There’s no two ways about it, people on the Nicoya Peninsula have this whole laid-back living thing down to a fine art, so much so it’s been deemed a Blue Zone by NatGeo researchers. But folks around here have something of an unfair advantage – it’s hard not to live mindfully when howler monkeys and macaws are your noisiest neighbors, and the meditative hush of waves is never out of earshot.
Silvestre Nosara takes those natural blessings, helps keep them safe with a host of sustainability projects, and then ups the ‘and relax’ ante even further. Heard over the rainforest hubbub, the barista-powered hum and hiss from the rooftop bar are your bat signal to brunch – where superfood-loaded smoothie and matcha lattes (foam meticulously swirled into a seahorse, natch) are in the mix. At the surf concierge, instructors and hand-hewn surfboards help you make the most of the world-beating breaks. Daily workouts and wellness workshops are held in the hall-of-mirrors studio, and the fridge in your private kitchen is pre-loaded with organic local goodies – if the year’s wearing on and your progress on those resolutions is looking a little ropey, you know where to head. But for now, some shuteye under the shade of the jungle canopy can’t hurt. Practicing your parrot spotting and sipping something mezcal-y by the pool, the pull of la pura vida has never been stronger.
You’ll also find Silvestre Nosara, Hotel & Residences in:
