# How we choose places

> Every place on santa-teresa.com is checked against its official website and recent listings before we write about it, and rechecked at least once a year. We don't accept payment to be listed or ranked, and we don't publish prices.

Source: https://www.santa-teresa.com/editorial-policy/
Last checked: 2026-10-20

## How a place gets on the site

We write about places that a friend who knows the area would actually send you to: hotels, restaurants, cafes, surf schools, yoga studios, tour operators, beaches and parks. Before a place goes up, we check:

- **That it's open now**, using its official website or social pages and recent reviews on major booking and review sites.
- **The basics**, such as where it is, what it offers and how to contact it, from the place's own information.
- **Public facts** about parks, roads, ferries and flights, from official sources such as Costa Rica's park service, the tourism board, airlines and ferry operators.

If we can't confirm a place is open, we leave it out.

## What we don't do

- We don't accept payment to be listed, ranked or reviewed.
- We don't publish prices, because they change often. Check with the place directly.
- We don't invent reviews, ratings or awards.
- We don't copy other guides or businesses' own descriptions. Everything is written in our own words.

## Keeping things current

Each page shows the date we last checked it. Businesses in a small beach town open, move and close often, so we recheck every page at least once a year and whenever a reader tells us something has changed. When a place closes, we take its page down and send its address to the closest related section.

## Partner content

If an article is ever produced with a partner, it'll be marked "Partner Content" at the top.