by Rod Hughes

Time was when Costa Rican tourist accommodations were almost 100% aimed at the low end of the industry cost spectrum—definitely for middle class or backpacker oriented nature seekers. But, The Tico Times recently pointed out, the top end .is being filled in with rooms and suites costing as high as $10,000 per night, if you’d like to stay in the suite that Saudi Prince Alweed Bin Talal Alsaud occupied last August.

Most rooms today are $100 per night and up, but some are way up. At Papagayo Peninsula’s Four Seasons, the most plain jane place to lay your head will set you back $850. (By the way, Tico Times writer Peter Krupa points out that the Prince probably got an owner’s discount, since he’s a shareholder in the chain. Even at that, his entourage probably took up a lot of space, even though the suite is larger than some of the nation’s older supermarkets.)

“A couple of years ago we had maybe one luxury resort,” Terra Nova travel agency manager Marianela Herera told Krupa. Now about 20 exist, including Paradisus Playa Conchal where the most modest place to park your baggage is the “Regal Junior Suite” at a not-so-modest $818 per night. (Oh, yes, we forgot to mention that these are prices without the 16% hotel tax and some “resort” extras.) The high end is the master suite: $1,258.

Jaco’s Los Suenos Marriot Ocean and Golf Resort’s high end suite is $1,600, but that includes three balconies, whirlpool and king-size bed. It may be big enough to house a driving range but it only has one bedroom. (Roughing it, Royal Family style.) More is on the way with the Mandarin Oriental, a Hong Kong chain, planning a hotel for 2009 and Intenet mogul Steve Case planning an $800 million resort at Punta Caicique in Guanacaste.

Nor are all the hotels new. Hilton is investing millions in buying a refurbishing extant hotels and inns here. Melia Cariari near Juan Santmaria International Airport was renamed the Doubletree Cariari where rooms start at $199, inclduing Doubletree’s signature chocolate chip cookie. Hilton renovated 36 of the 174 rooms and 48 suites at a “considerable” cost. Two other properties that were under the Fiesta brand are now by Hilton, one at Puntarenas the other at Papagayo. The famous chain also will manage two resorts on behalf of the New York-based Caribbean Property Group.

If these prices are high enough to give you a nosebleed, take heart. Camping places at the beach exist and many fine locally-owned small hotels and bed and breakfasts exist. Indeed, many who can afford much pricier diggings actually prefer them for their personalized service and the down to earth company other economy travelers provide.