Named One of the World’s Top Luxury Wellness Retreats: Lamangata Earns a Spot on Oprah Daily’s 2026 Hotel O-wards

By the second morning at Lamangata, with coffee on your private terrace and the sounds of the rainforest rising up from below, most guests start wondering why it took them so long to come. In June 2026, Oprah Daily’s editors put that feeling into print, naming Lamangata to their annual Hotel O-wards.

For a six-suite boutique resort on Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast, sitting alongside the top properties in the world is a milestone that belongs to every person on this team. 

The Tico Times, one of Costa Rica’s most respected English-language publications, covered the recognition and noted that Lamangata was one of only two Costa Rica properties named to the list. It’s the kind of recognition that tells us what our team has been building here is being felt by guests from around the world.

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What the Oprah Daily Hotel O-wards Recognize

The Hotel O-wards aren’t built around star ratings or room counts. Oprah Daily’s editors look for properties where the week produces something real, a skill learned, a perspective shifted, a decision finally made. 

For a surf resort, that might mean a 45-year-old catching her first wave on day three, or an entrepreneur who never puts his phone down, finally losing track of time with his family. The list spans six continents and 58 properties, and the through line across all of them is wellness, personal reset, and hospitality that guests are still talking about months after they’ve unpacked.

Our own guest reviews tell that story. One guest who had visited nearly 50 countries said she would come back tomorrow. Another stayed two weeks and said she could have easily stayed four more. A third came as a solo traveler from Europe, had never caught a wave without a push, and left riding them on her own. 

That’s what happens when a resort stays small on purpose, with a team that knows your name and your favorite dish before dinner on the first night.

Why Lamangata Was Selected as a Top Wellness Retreat in Costa Rica

Lamangata sits 1,200 feet above the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by lush rainforest above Costa Rica’s Dominical break. The views from every suite take in both ocean and mountain, and the all-inclusive packages are built so that from the moment the chauffeured SUV meets you at the airport, the only decision you’re making is which adventure to choose that day.

What Oprah Daily recognized goes beyond the setting, though. It’s the specific combination of things happening here that no other resort on this coast puts together in the same way.

Personalized Surf Coaching and Real Progression

Many guests who come to Lamangata have wanted to try surfing for years and haven’t quite given themselves permission to do it yet. 

Junior Vargas Salazar, our head surf coach and 2024 longboard champion, has spent more than 20 years reading the breaks along this stretch of coast. He knows which beach on which day, how to read a complete beginner’s nerves, and how to unlock progression for experienced surfers who’ve plateaued elsewhere. He appears by name in nearly every TripAdvisor review we’ve ever received.

Every surf day at Lamangata is built around a three-step system. Early on, guests warm up in the infinity lap pool with Junior, working on paddle technique and pop-up mechanics in calm water before touching a wave. From there, your surf coach is in the water with you at the beach, coaching every session in real time.

 Afterward, the team reviews footage on the big screen in the living room so guests can see exactly what to adjust the next morning. One guest arrived with 15 to 20 hours of prior experience from trips across Central America, the US, and Europe, could pop up but only catch a wave with a push, and left riding them solo in different conditions.

Restorative Wellness Treatments and Yoga

The balance between adventure and restoration looks different for every guest, and that’s exactly the point. Every stay includes a dedicated Experience Designer who co-builds your itinerary before you arrive, weaving in surf sessions, wellness treatments, and day trips around Dominical in a way that fits the person rather than a fixed schedule. Yoga, massage, and spa treatments are all available, and the Experience Designer makes sure they land on the right days.

Some guests surf every morning and spend their afternoons on the massage table. Others do one surf session, one waterfall hike, and one long afternoon doing nothing at all on the terrace, and that’s exactly right for them.

Farm-to-Table Dining From the On-Site Greenhouse

Oprah Daily called out the food specifically, and it deserves the attention. Every meal at Lamangata is plated personally for you, with ingredients sourced largely from the resort’s own greenhouse and the farms and producers nearby. Breakfast might mean fresh tropical fruit, Costa Rican coffee, and eggs from down the road. Dinner is a three-course meal at the long communal table where the conversation between guests tends to run well past the last course.

Chef Tony is the reason for that, a presence in the kitchen who shows up across guest reviews the same way Junior shows up in surf reviews. By the end of the week he feels like a family friend, always ready to welcome you into the kitchen for a cooking class or share a recipe you’ll be trying to recreate at home for months.

What This Recognition Means for Your Stay

Awards don’t change what happens at Lamangata from one week to the next. Junior still reads the waves the same way, the greenhouse still produces the same ingredients, and founder Debbie Gruelle still runs a resort she would want to stay at herself. 

What recognition like the Hotel O-wards does is confirm, from an editorial team that has seen the best luxury wellness resorts in the world, that what’s happening here on Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast is worth making time for.

“I will be back again next year and every year after that.” — Anastasia A, guest

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Allure of Costa Rica’s Southern Pacific Coast

The southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica has been drawing a different kind of traveler lately, one who has done the big resorts and wants something smaller and more personal, without having to sacrifice quality or comfort to find it. Dominical sits at the center of that shift, with world-class surf, rainforest, waterfalls, and wildlife all within reach, and none of it feeling like it has been packaged for mass consumption.

The sustainable approach to luxury that defines this corner of Costa Rica is a big part of why Oprah Daily, Forbes, National Geographic, BBC Travel, and the New York Times are all paying attention to the same stretch of coastline. For travelers planning a trip to Costa Rica, the southern Pacific region offers something the more well-worn tourist destinations don’t, and Lamangata sits at the top of it, literally and figuratively, 1,200 feet above the break with the whole Pacific spread out below.

Ready to Book Your Stay in Costa Rica?

Stays at Lamangata start at three nights, with five-night packages and above that include daily surf coaching with Junior, gourmet meals prepared by Chef Tony, chauffeured luxury transport to surf and all excursions, and a dedicated Experience Designer who handles every detail from the moment you land. 

The resort accommodates a maximum of 12 guests across six ocean-view suites, and availability fills quickly. If a stay has been on your mind, now is a good time to check dates.

Book your stay and experience why Oprah Daily named us one of the world’s top wellness retreats