Luxury beach resorts, marinas, theme parks, and hotels: This is Guanacaste in the 21st century. It was not too long ago when this region of Costa Rica was known as the “forgotten province.”

These days, however, luxury resort developers and assorted capitalists are looking at Guanacaste with hungry eyes. A new $125 million project recently announced that it will open its doors to tourists in November of 2014, and this is hardly the only one doing so this year.

According to Cesar Brenes Quiros of financial news weekly El Financiero, the Dreams Las Mareas Resort & Spa Hotel, part of the massive Santa Elena Preserve tourism complex in La Cruz of Guanacaste, will be operational by the time the next busy tourist season starts in Costa Rica. The Santa Elena Preserve complex is made up of several business partners, including: Pellas Development Group, Grupo Montecristo, Grupo Motta, and AMResorts, a renowned subsidiary of the Apple Leisure Group based in the United States.

The developers plan to build Dreams Las Mareas into a 5-star resort facility in Guanacaste, a region that has quickly risen to offer the highest rate of luxurious experiences per capita in Costa Rica. The entire Santa Elena Preserve complex has acquired 1,500 hectares to carry out its various luxury resort projects over the next 15 years. The Dreams Las Mareas property will offer 447 rooms across 49,000 square feet.

When finalized, the Santa Elena Preserve complex would have invested $1 billion in completing its vision. After Playa Jobo, they intend to continue their development expansion out to Playa Rajada and Playa Rajadita. Aside from luxury hotels, Santa Elena Preserve will also offer resort-style residential solutions.

Another hotel in Guanacaste, the Paradisus Papagayo Bay Resort is on track to open in October. Earlier in February, the boutique hotel Mangroove began operating with 85 rooms: 64 standard rooms, two master suites and one exclusive presidential suite. This hotel is also located in Papagayo Bay and features two restaurants and 650 square meters of open space for meetings and special events. More information on luxury hotels in Costa Rica and real estate.