Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is returning to Costa Rica after 20 years with the opening in May 2011 of The Westin Playa Conchal Resort & Spa.

The move, which will also mark the opening of Starwood's first all-inclusive resort anywhere in the world, sees the company and Desarrollos Hoteleros Guanagaste sign a management agreement to re-flag the Paradisus Playa Conchal Resort in Guanacaste as a Westin. The property will now undergo extensive redevelopment to its 406 rooms and all its public areas.

The Westin Playa Conchal Resort & Spa is on Playa Conchal in Cabo Velas and centred around a lagoon-style pool with gardens, luxury suites, thatched-roof bungalows and views of both ocean and forest. Featuring a signature Westin Spa, a WestinWORKOUT gym and 6,500sq ft (604sq m) of meeting space, the resort is situated adjacent to the championship Robert Trent Jones II golf facility, and features several restaurants serving both local and international cuisine.

Westin currently has five hotels in Mexico and one in Guatemala, and will be opening five more in Latin America in the next four years including The Westin Playa Conchal Resort & Spa, Costa Rica; The Westin Libertador, Lima, Peru; The Westin Guadalajara, Mexico; and The Westin Panama and The Westin Playa Bonita, both in Panama.