Hotels and resorts are like organic creatures: they keep evolving and changing. So what was true four years ago may not be true today.

Because of this, we are continually updating and rewriting our luxury hotel and resort reviews when there’s a new wing added, a big renovation, or a name change.

On the last count, we just posted an all-new review of Viceroy Riviera Maya, formerly Tides Riviera Maya (pictured above). Same parent company, same great service, but an upgrade on some of the amenities to bring it up to the company’s highest level brand.

Upgraded with soft lighting and sleek furniture, the high-ceiling, thatched-roofed accommodations evoke the feel of a romantic jungle retreat adorned in native textiles and warm woods. Ideal for honeymooners, the enormous bathrooms with fine touches of locally made soap are complete with indoor and outdoor showers and his-and-hers sink and closets. The airy bungalows-situated oceanfront, ocean view or nestled in the jungle-feature small private plunge pools and a patio with elegant chaise lounges and handmade crochet hammocks ideal for curling up with a book.

We also recently posted an all-new review of Llao Llao, perhaps the best-known resort in Patagonia.

In Costa Rica, we posted a new review of the best hotel in San Jose proper: Hotel Grano de Oro.

Sometimes a great colonial building hotel doesn’t have the room or the reason to change, however, and they just stay great. I didn’t feel any need to change the reviews in place for Hotel Dario or La Gran Francia in Nicaragua. In a good way, they’re timeless.

Follow the individual country links here for detailed reviews of the best luxury hotels in Mexico, Central America, and South America.

........Maroma Resort & Spa, Riviera Maya........

The June issue of Conde Nast Traveler had their readers poll results on top spa hotels and resorts arount the world. South America was missing in action and the “Mexico and Central America” section had 19 results for Mexico spas, one for Central America.

So first of all, congrats to Four Seasons Costa Rica for being the only resort south of Mexico to get on readers’ radar. They were #8 overall, with a perfect score for their facilities. Having soaked in their pools and gotten a great sports massage after a golf game there, I’ll agree wholeheartedly that it’s a special place for unwinding and relaxing.

Travel + Leisure’s last spa rundown had 5 resorts in Central and South America (including another Costa Rica resort, Tabacon).

These magazine reader polls are subject to lots of ballot-stuffing of course. PR firms and hotel chains buy a lot of staffer subscriptions so they can put in their votes. (That partly explains why you see so many perfect scores of 100 at the top.)

But hey, in a bit of circular cause and effect, the most famous places do have the resources to keep facilities and staffers top-notch and with such a high reputation at stake, they’re going to go out of their way to make you happy. After winning these awards, the great ones tend to stay great.

Here are the top spa resorts in Mexico where we’ve reviewed the hotels in detail. (Some of the others placing high are in non-luxury properties.)

Capella Ixtapa
Capella Pedregal – Cabo San Lucas
Maroma Resort & Spa – Riviera Maya
Rosewood Mayakoba – Riviera Maya

Esperanza – Los Cabos
Fairmont Mayakoba – Riviera Maya
Pueblo Bonita Emerald Bay – Mazatlan

One&Only Palmilla – Los Cabos
Ritz-Carlton Cancun

Four Seasons Punta Mita – Riviera Nayarit

See the full list for all regions of the world at CNTraveler.com and follow this link for all our reviews of the best luxury hotels in Mexico.

We don’t make it a habit to review inns with only five rooms, but we made an exception for this luxury home turned small hotel in the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. Latitude 10 is small, yes, and as with many resorts in Costa Rica, you are asked to sweat a bit for the sake of our planet’s future: no air conditioning here.

That’s part of what makes Costa Rica such a special place though, unmatched by pretty much any other destination on Earth except perhaps Bhutan. Here, taking care of the environment is not just some greenwashing slogan the PR people trot out to evoke an image of responsibility. Here most “green” resorts really are.

Latitude 10 is tucked into the foliage in a spot that’s easy to miss, with its own stretch of hidden beach running alongside it. And even if the resort is close to empty, you won’t be alone:

Wildlife is abundant: birds perch in the forest canopy; howler monkeys bellow; and iguanas scurry along tree trunks. Guests can breathe in the outdoors from cushioned wicker furniture decorated in earth tones and wooden tables with views to a salt water pool and the rolling Pacific surf.

All the suites here are private casitas and they come with a soundtrack of the rolling surf outside.

See our full review of Latitude 10 in Costa Rica and for other sustainable upscale lodging, check out our detailed reports on luxury hotels in Costa Rica. You can book some of them, including Latitude 10, through the the Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality group.

Back in December I spent a couple weeks traveling through Costa Rica. There’s an adventure tour story on the way and I added a few new hotels—see the Costa Rica category of this blog for links to those. But I also took some time to revisit some luxury hotel favorites and revamp older reviews.

For all the following, you will now find updated and expanded reviews, plus some new and better photos I shot while I was there. If you’re headed to Costa Rica anytime soon, I assure you that you can’t go wrong with any of these three fine resorts in Guanacaste, San Jose, and the Osa Peninsula.

The Four Seasons Costa Rica is in a class all its own. A high-end luxury resort with its own unbelievably scenic golf course. Two beaches, stunning views, a great pool complex, and one of the hardest-working executive chefs in the country.

If you travel to San Jose and want to stay in the city, Grano de Oro is a perfectly fine hotel. You can be just as close to the airport though at Xandari and feel like you’re in a real resort, with a hillside of plants, waterfall hikes, and a great infinity pool with a view. If you like color and personality in your hotel, you will fall in love with this artist-owned place and wish you’d booked a few more nights there.

Lapa Rios wrote the book on sustainable upscale jungle lodges and this pioneer is still hard to beat when it comes to communing with nature while enjoying guilt-free luxury lodging. I was blown away by the views and the abundant wildlife, plus there aren’t many lodges anywhere that have 1,000 acres of their own jungle surrounding their bungalows. Lapa Rios caters to couples, friends, and families equally well and it offers an experience you’ll remember for a lifetime.

How do you feel about the color white?

If you’ve spent wonderful vacations on a Greek island or the coast of Turkey, you probably have fond memories of a whitewashed hotel with arches, the blue sea beyond. That’s the look and feel of SUU Hotel Manuel Antonio, a hotel designed to bring a bit of the Turkish owner’s homeland to the tropics of Costa Rica.

It’s a bit strange in this context, especially when you first arrive, but apart from continuing to feel sorry for the maids who have to keep the place spotless, I got used to it and started to like it. I’m sure photographers are going to go ga-ga over the place, so watch for it in future “Hot List” issues and magazine fashion spreads.

Read the full review to see more photos and get a feel for this small luxury hotel, then see if this nice addition to the Manuel Antonio hotel scene is right for you. It’s near Arenas del Mar, on a peninsula removed from the main beach and national park, but it’s a great setting with a view. Add in an excellent restaurant and a nice big pool for lounging and this is a great place to hang and feel fashionable. If you need some help in that respect, don’t worry, the butler will take care of you.

See our full review of SUU Hotel Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica.