Like most markets that were closely tied to the U.S. housing market, the central Pacific Coast in Costa Rica went through quite a downturn the past few years. Investors who previously could depend on rapid appreciation saw their home values level off or fall. In some cases they fell quite a bit.

Situations like this always create opportunities for new buyers. They key is getting the timing right. Buy too soon and you’ll lose out too. Wait too long and you can overpay by a hundred grand or more.

Some Latin American markets seem to be stabilizing and even rising as the economy slowly picks up and more retirees head south.

Could this be the time to buy on Jaco Beach or get a hillside villa with a panoramic view in the Manuel Antonio region? Or further afield in Quepos?

See what the luxury real estate agencies in the region have to say in our latest luxury real estate round-up: Costa Rica: West Coast Property Boom Redux.

When Conde Nast Traveler published their 16th “Hot List” issue in April, they included a feature I loved on what hotel trends have emerged in that time that were loved or hated.

I found myself nodding along a lot and some of the “Terrible 10″ echoed features we’ve complained about plenty in our luxury hotel reviews. So let’s start with some of those. Are there people who actually like these things? I haven’t met them yet.

Hated hotel trends

- The mandatory resort fee: charging extra for things that should just be in the room rate, like gym access.

- The TV hotel channel, which comes on by default when you turn on the TV. Who watches this?

- The wall-less bathroom. Great if you’re 20-something and spending your first weekend with someone maybe…

- Club lighting in your room. Their quote: “Last time I checked, we paid for a room, not a private discotheque.”

- The motion-sensor minibar. Better not move one can to see what’s behind it!

New hotel developments we liked

We’ll say, “yes indeed” and agree with CN Traveler’s cheers for these though:

- The turndown gift

- The pillowtop bed

- The flat-screen TV

- The pool amenity

I’m not so sure I love the paperless check-in. I’d rather have a sufficient front desk staff in place. I’ve also got mixed feelings about the rain shower since it wastes far more water. The celebrity chef restaurant? Maybe, but it depends on the who and where. In Vegas, the trend seems so overdone that none stand out.

A few not mentioned that I love:

- Kiosks to print out your boarding pass

- Free Wi-fi (common in Latin America apart from a few holdouts like the Four Seasons and Marriott)

- A welcome gift for kids (my daughter at the Four Seasons Mexico City pictured here)

- Key fobs that just need to be waved by the door lock to open it

- Make-your-own margarita kit in your room upon arrival (Viceroy, Four Seasons)

See CN Traveler’s full list here: Best and Worst Hotel Trends of Past 16 Years

Bocas del Toro has long been the Caribbean’s Badlands, a string of islands for rugged castaways and those escaping something—or someone. This string of islands off the coast of Panama has long been touted, along with Honduras’ Bay Islands, as one of the last real values in the Caribbean.

For a while, the trajectory seemed to have nowhere to go but up and those who got in early profited handsomely for being ahead of the pack. Eventually the pack catches up, however, and the infrastructure hits its limits. Also, outside factors can have a big impact, like a complete housing crash in the U.S., for example.

One of our regular writers covering Central America, Beverly Gallagher, wrote a story several years ago on the real estate scene in Bocas del Toro and expressed a few caveats about the big boom predictions. She recently returned to scope it out again and we’ve posted the story. Check out Luxury Real Estate in a Holding Pattern on Panama’s Caribbean Islands.

As with much of Latin America, prices aren’t likely to go down much from here, if at all. Instead homes just stay on the market longer and new developers have to dangle more incentives to get people to put down a deposit. With good reason, buyers are skittish. Is it a buyer’s market? Clearly yes, but your time horizon is the key. Read the Bocas del Toro real estate article.

For just paying the region a visit, check out our Luxury Travel in Panama section.

We continue to bring your round-ups on the luxury real estate scene in popular areas for vacation or retirement. This month we travel to the Spanish colonial gem of Nicaragua—Granada.

This attractive city on a lake, less than an hour from the international airport in Managua, has witnessed a cycle familiar to those of you who have been reading about real estate in the Americas for a while. Before word got out you could buy or restore a colonial home in the center for well under $100,000. Then as the major media piled in and declared Granada to be the next big thing, the U.S. bubble money flowed and speculators piled in. Then the crash came up north and prices dropped. They didn’t drop back to where they started of course, but those who bought at the top are going to be waiting a while to get their money back, much as the buyers in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida will be waiting.

If this is your time to buy though, you’ve got to think this is a good point in the cycle. Prices have leveled off and are probably accurately reflecting real worth. So check out our detailed story on luxury real estate in Granada, Nicaragua to see what you can get for $400K to $500K, the range where most of the best high-end properties are tapping out.

On the luxury real estate side of our online magazine, we’ve covered Mexico more than any other country and are returning to the Caribbean side for the third time. There’s a simple reason for both of these facts: Mexico is the most popular real estate investment country for Americans and Canadians and the Cancun/Riviera Maya region is the most popular area in all of Latin America when it comes to the number of vacationers landing there each year.

Even if only a tiny fraction of those visitors get tempted to buy property, that’s still a fraction of the 13 million people who came through Cancun’s airport last year. If I’m not mistaken, that’s several times more visitors than any other country in Latin America receives per year. To put it in perspective, about six times what Costa Rica receives.

Not all of those people who decide to buy their piece of paradise are luxury buyers, but those who do have plenty of money to spend are not spoiled for choice. High-rise condos, airy indoor-outdoor villas, American-style grand homes on golf courses, or eco-friendly bungalows surrounded by vegetation are all on the block here. The depth of choices might surprise you and since the real estate collapse to the north a few years ago, prices that were already reasonable by U.S. standards have dropped a bit (but are reversing direction now…) What you get for your money on this side of Mexico is generally more than you’ll get on the west coast in the hot tourism areas. Call it the “Silicon Valley Effect” or the “California Real Estate Boom Effect.” The Caribbean coast just never hit the same bubble level as the Pacific coast, so in many ways the market here is healthier.

Our latest story runs down some options, with details and pricing, on places stretching along the coast. See our full story on luxury real estate in Cancun, Cozumel, and the Riviera Maya.