Two Costa Rican properties have earned spots on Travel + Leisure magazine’s 2026 It List of the world’s 100 best new hotels. The publication considered nearly 250 properties across 40 countries scheduled to open or complete renovations between February 2025 and February 2026.
The Costa Rican hotels selected were Hotel Fermata, in Santa Teresa, and Origins Astral Lodge, in Bijagua de Upala.
Hotel Fermata opened last December positioned directly in front of the iconic La Lora surf break in the popular Pacific coastal town of Santa Teresa. The three-acre boutique property is the newest addition to Rivella Group’s Costa Rica portfolio, which also includes Sendero Hotel and Outpost Nosara.
In its write-up, Travel + Leisure described the 35-room beachfront property as one of the few waterfront resorts at the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula, with the surf school as its main draw. Lessons are available for all skill levels and can include an in-water professional photo session.
The hotel offers a mix of rooms, suites, standalone oceanfront casitas, and a two-bedroom villa with a separate terrace and private beach access, described by the magazine as the resort’s premier suite. A members-only beach club is open to Santa Teresa locals, who come to share the waves alongside hotel guests.
Beyond accommodations, Hotel Fermata houses Fermata Kitchen, an oceanfront restaurant led by Chef Olivier Palazzo blending Mediterranean flavors with French technique, along with a wellness spa and a resort-style pool. The property was built with eco-friendly materials and energy-efficient systems, part of Rivella’s broader sustainability focus. Doubles start at $420 per night.
Meanwhile, Origins Astral Lodge earned recognition for its immersive rainforest setting. Reviewer Jess Feldman, who stayed at the property and wrote the Travel + Leisure review, described the view from her balcony: “massive banana leaves, moss-covered tree trunks, and green-throated birds soaring overhead.”
The lodge is in northern Bijagua and sits at an elevation of 2,600 feet between the Miravalles and Tenorio volcanoes, it is the sister property to Origins Floral, which opened in 2018 less than a mile down the road. The two properties share 139 acres of rainforest.
Origins Astral consists of seven villas designed in collaboration between global architecture firm Gensler and local architect Mario Aviles, with input from the Origins team. Accommodations range from two to four bedrooms and feature floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the rainforest, private plunge pools, and kitchens that can be stocked prior to arrival. More than 80 percent of the furniture was crafted locally from wood that naturally fell in the surrounding forest.
The property draws its name from a celestial design concept developed in honor of the Indigenous Maleku community, with each villa named after a planet and a map of the grounds etched into the reception area in the shape of a constellation. Guests can dine at El Cosmo, the lodge’s on-site restaurant, or shuttle to the restaurant at Origins Floral. Feldman described how quickly the landscape became familiar during her stay.
“By the end of my stay, while taking in the view from the spa’s Jacuzzi after the signature cuatro plumas cacique massage, I found myself naming parts of the landscape I was unaware of just three days earlier. There was a Sassafras (or ‘root beer’) tree directly next to the spa deck; a white hawk flying just below the clouds; the leaves of a Cecropia tree, where sloths typically sleep, peeking into my periphery,” she wrote.
This recognition adds to Costa Rica’s growing reputation as a leading destination for design-driven eco-luxury and boutique hospitality.
Here is a full list of hotels from Travel and Leisure
