From a professional songwriting and recording perspective, I just want to give the input that at Louis’ level of an artist, you usually ONLY book a studio to record an album if you have at least a sizeable (meaning: at least enough to fill an extended album) amount of bare bones versions of your songs ready! Louis has said multiple times that he's a lyrics person, so I'd wager he's had most of the lyrics before he even set foot into Costa Rica.
In my personal, professional opinion, Louis did not write that album in Costa Rica, but he merely finished, arranged and recorded the songs there. Then the songs went into mixing and mastering; which perhaps was also done in the studio there (no clue who masters it this time). This is all easily a process that can take 2-3 weeks.
