Marriott International will open the JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort & Spa, All-Inclusive, in Costa Rica on September 10, marking the JW Marriott brand’s first all-inclusive resort and adding a major luxury project to Guanacaste’s North Pacific coast. The property is located at Playa El Jobo in La Cruz, inside the Costa Elena resort-residential community.
The project is a conversion of the former Dreams Las Mareas property, not a new hotel built from the ground. The resort operated for about a decade under the Dreams brand before the planned transformation into a JW Marriott all-inclusive property.
The resort will feature 415 accommodations, including 45 Griffin Club rooms and suites with private check-in, butler service, and exclusive pool and beach access. The property will also include 11 restaurants and bars, a 44,000-square-foot pool complex, a spa and wellness center, and meeting and event space aimed at weddings, corporate retreats, and group travel.
Marriott’s own hotel page describes the property as a beachfront all-inclusive built around ocean-view rooms, dining, wellness, and curated activities. The company lists rooms, meals, snacks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, entertainment, non-motorized water sports, kids’ activities, taxes, service fees, and gratuities as typically included in the nightly rate.
The resort is being positioned around a more restrained version of all-inclusive travel, with à la carte dining, wellness programming, family activities, and nature-based experiences rather than a traditional buffet-and-volume model. Mullen Hospitality Management, the project’s operator, has framed the development as part of a broader effort to move luxury all-inclusive hotels toward stronger design, service, and connection to the destination.
For Costa Rica, the opening adds another international luxury brand to Guanacaste, where high-end hotel development has accelerated in recent years. Marriott said last year that its Costa Rica pipeline included 15 properties totaling 1,776 rooms and had six openings planned for 2026.
The investment also matters for La Cruz, a northern Guanacaste area often overshadowed by better-known beach destinations farther south. Earlier reporting said the conversion would represent a major investment in the existing property and could generate about 700 jobs tied to the new JW Marriott operation.
The opening comes as luxury hotel brands continue to test whether Costa Rica can support larger, higher-priced properties without losing the nature-driven identity that helped build our country’s tourism reputation. In Guanacaste, Marriott is betting that travelers will pay for the ease of an all-inclusive stay while still wanting access to Costa Rica’s dry forest, beaches, national parks, and local culture.
The result is one of the most closely watched hotel openings in Costa Rica this year. For Marriott, it is a new step for the JW Marriott brand. For Guanacaste, it is another sign that the province remains the center of our country’s luxury resort expansion.
