Management needs to be customer service friendly

Hotel and grounds are beautiful. Bathroom tubs are not easy to get in and out of. Actually quite dangerous as they are quite high and when you try to get out very slippery. People in general are very nice except for the management at the hotel. Management was very rude and unaccommodating in allowing not even one hour later in checking out especially when are plane arrived much later than expected and we checked in quite late. Management also said you did not need reservations for the resta [... read more]urants - however it was quite difficult to get in as they always had a waiting list of over 100 people in line waiting.

Wonderful Resort

The Resort was very well Landscaped and groomed and the proximity to the Beach was perfect. A couple of issues is the restaurant and reservation methods did not make sense, couldn't get into a couple of them need to re think the process. Secondly, the entertainment was great, however, needs to be a little more interactive in the later hours, example more dancing etc.... Overall it was a very nice resort, rooms were spacious and always cleaned and the food was terrific.

Few things need to be done at this resort before it looses guests

Hi, To whom it may concern, I would like to share some feedback to Riu Guanacaste. We went there from Dec. 19th to Dec. 26th, 2018 Very clean, Very beautiful, Amazing landscape! I love the respect everybody showed towards the spread and freely Iguanas every where. Entertainment: Very Boring!!! I travelled to many other resorts and night life is very important too. It felt more like a retirement home more than a Resort with is supposed to be full of life! shows and then everyb [... read more]ody to bed. We went to the Discoteca, and it was dead! no one goes to it. At 10:00 pm people was already leaving to bed. The choice of music was terrible. We managed to listen to two different musician bands on the 24th and 25th. They were playing romantic Latin songs (like I am dying for you), and they did not have any energy at all. Your crowd is American, why don't you combine big American rock hits, with spicy Latin music like the one they play at the Discoteca!? I also would use the Lobby area in order to attract more people. They did it only on the 24th with a saxophone musician dressed up as Santa. They had a fountain of Prosseco on the 24th of December. When I accepted the glass of Prosseco, I asked to be by itself, the lady said she wasn't allowed to serve it alone, but with a sweet juice in it. Why? I guess the resort was afraid it wouldn't be enough. Well, you might be surprised about it, not everybody likes Proseco neither Champaigne. They had soon many bottles that the following day they started to serve them bold with no juice inside. I had to leave the full glass in a corner unfortunately, because it was extremely sweet and took the real flavour to it. After paying so much money to spend our Christmas together as a family I was denied a single glass of Prosseco. Internet connection; It was failling few times, and my phone lasted for two complete days without Internet. I, by accident pressed the wrong button and unlock the airplane mode and now I have a big bill to pay due to the Hotel issue for those two days of not working. At the reception they told me that I wasn't the only one asking for it and that they were having issues with it. The Casino; We spent close to $300 American US dollars. Went two days consecutively. One after the next. We did not receive any of those coupons you have to attract customers to the Casino door. Only when we were leaving the place after spending that considerable amount. At the door on the second day, we got 4 tickets since we were 4 people. NO ONE mentioned it before, not the reception when arriving, not at the entrance of the Casino, neither the floor manager who was standing right beside us while playing. We were laughing laud. So loud pretending we were wining that the floor manager and other employees got very close to the machines we were using since we were putting so much enthusiasm for very little money. So everybody noticed out presence and during all that time NO ONE offered us the famous coupons, but when we were leaving the establishment. We managed to talk in person to the Manager of the Casino, we explained to him about the incident. He could have suggested at least something; what about if I give you $40 in cash to be used inside the casino, would you like to play them? and maybe through that it would have kept us for a much longer time! I said to him that in all the resorts we have gone in the past few years we have never seen such a thing. I told him we were extremely disappointed about it, but no results from your side. The Restaurant a la cart system was very questionable. I choose the resorts based on how many a la cart restaurants they offer. For the first 4 days we try to reserve a table but the answer was always the same. It is full and there are many reservations ahead of you. We saw many tables empty! we kept looking at those tables and they were empty for a long time! meaning that the people that was supposed to come and use it did not show at all in some cases. We managed to get into Tucan Restaurant, and we witness some real unfair situations after doing an entire one hour and 20 minutes to enter to the place. Reservations as soon as you get to the resort would be more civilized and respectful towards the customer. I had a very old couple making line infant of us. Who, that is pretty brutal! So as we all know Costa Rica is known for their eco tourism. We booked few trips. We were leaving at 7:30 am. Happened that your reservations for the Christmas day, were supposed to be done from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. I went to reception and mentioned it to the person in charge at the moment, he said there was nothing to do since it was only 7:00 am and the people in charge were still not there. That is brutal too! So we bring money to the country. We follow every rule you imposed but there is not a way of having a simple list before the tourist goes in their trip to have their names written down before they live the resort for the entire day coming back at 6:30 pm. Pools: I did not go inside the pools since they were pretty dirty. Specially in the bar area. Not enough chairs under the inclement sun. It would be amazing to have more covered spaces even if it is away from the pool. In the beach, not enough chairs again and missing a bit more beach grape plants or palm trees for the shade. We noticed that there were turtles hatching days, no one was promoting it. Not enough activities to exploit within the same centre. Even talking and explaining about the active volcanos around, or the volcanic beaches, Iguanas or Turtles would be extremely exciting. Climbing coconuts and offering it to the crowd with a straw for $1! Costa Rican Music at the beach, set up an entire dinner stage by the beach could be another restaurant a la cart that you could offer. Food: A bit plain. Always the same. Repeatedly times in 8 days our eyes and paladar had to experience the same. We try the Asian fusion and it was very disappointing. We left the two plates full of food and had to leave. To be honest it was bad. Spa and Wellness centre: I tried to use the steam room, I couldn't because I had to reserve it. Shouldn't it be available all day long so it can be used? The fragrance was extremely strong. A lot of people get sick due to the strong smells. Riu Guanacaste is one of those. Please make it more natural and less strong. Other than that I was glad to see many machines available and they were all in use. So it is telling you that working out is getting popular for a significant crowd of people. Insisting through signs in cleaning the machines after using them would be important and necessary. From the rooms to the facilities, put signs with arrows to where it leads you to. The pool, the lobby, the hatching turtles, the climbing what ever... Our cleaning lady Xinia was lovely! I hope this suggestions will be helpful. It is definitely a beautiful resort. Other than that, Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Deborah Krzypow (49 years), Roy Cado (50 years), Elisa Mendez (21 years), Chelsie Ean (21 years).

Amazing holiday at Riu Guanacaste!!

Just returned from the most wonderful holiday at the Riu Guanacaste. My boyfriend and I had such an exceptional week at this resort. The food was absolutely fantastic with just about everything imagineable to choose from at the buffet restaurant. The chefs at no problem accomodating my gluten free requirements at the pasta bar, making me my own speciality dish upon request. The rooms were very well kept with bar fridge stocked daily. We had a water leak one evening in a vent in the ceiling in  [... read more]our room and it waz fixed immediately. Grounds and gardens were kept impeccable, and the Christmas decorations were done very tastefully throughout the resort. Evening entertainment was enjoyable to watch. We were on a mission to see monkeys in their natural environment, so we walked the beaches early each morning and before sunset and were finally rewarded with being able to feed them bananas as they played in a fielx across from the monkey bar on our final evening there. It was such an amazingly fun thing to experience. The beach could have been maintained a little better. It had been racked on a couple occasions but the piles were never picked up. Unfortunately the water were very rough during our stay and therefore created quite dirty water and poor visibility for snorkelling. My only real complaint would be that the drinks at the upper pool bar were made very poorly and never consistently made the same. Despite it not being busy they seemed to just rush to make them. We did the Buena vista tour with some zip lining, water tubing, horseback riding and hiking to a falls and had a wonderful time. It is physically demanding but so worth it. We also took a van ride into Coco beach and explored the town and shopped which was also a great experience. I would most definitely recommend this resort to anyone of all ages as there is alot to do and it was one of the best vacations we have ever taken.

Very good experience

The Hotel has all what we need and want. Very clean. Good food, every night had different entertainment. When we askef to change room, our request was accomodated. Very good lonf beach. Merchandisers were not too annoying. I only can complain that nobody tald us that flight is delay for 4 hr before we checked out. I think they want us to leave room at 12.00 pm. If we knew about flight delay before checked out, we would stay longer in room. It may be inconvenient for them.

Another great stay

We stayed here a second time and everything was great again. People friendly, hotel clean and food good. Nice to have a beach and pool area. This is a great place to visit in November because even though its still rainy season we lucked out and had great weather for both of our stays. This is driest part of Costa Rica so great in Nov. If you are staying on higher floors in back area where we were, the elevator didn't work both this year and last but we didn't mind the climb as it helped work o [... read more]ff all the great food we ate. We were supposed to get some perks because it was our second year but didn't get any except another hour checkout time. Be sure to mention to your rep to mention to hotel when you check in if you are a repeat. If you have a late flight and have to hang out at hotel try and get a later check out when you book. Otherwise you have to pay $10 per person per hour past the noon checkout.

Amazing resort

From booking with trip central .i will never book with anyone else.. the service is great...The hotel Riu in Guanacaste was amazing,food ,service from Sunwing ...(sh)Charlie was fantastic explained everything as we landed ..I also booked our excursion with Sunwing at the resort... (mega combo Buena vista) did 7 ziplines .. Water slide Horse back riding Mud bath amazing smooth skin Volcanic heating hot tub while enjoying a buena vista pineapple moito... Walter was our tour guide .. he [... read more] was absolutely amazing .. I learned sooo much about Costa Rica.. coffee beans , sugar cane .. and also the cowboys... Such a safe place ... to travel too... Rooms were always clean and restocked.. amazing people... My husband and children will be returning again.

Amazing resort

Hotel was beautiful! Very clean and staff were very friendly. I would definitely recommend this resort. Was very happy that I didnt have to wait for a room when we first arrived. Staff was very prepared for large group arrivals. The scenery was absolutely amazing. Dont worry about going during rainy season there are still many things to do besides it's more lush and beautiful during this time. We were very happy with our stay.

Amazing resort!

The hotel was great the food the people was great would definitely recommend and return my family had a wonderful time did alot of activities beach was great everyday they had a different cocktail which was delicious!

Great family time !

I was worried about where we were staying after reading some reviews on trip advisor. They were unfounded. We had a great time the resort was clean, the rooms were a good size, the beach was fab!!! I would go back. It was a great price point and everything I expected.

Amazing Resort!

My husband and I took our 2 boys (ages 10 and 14) to this resort for a week and LOVED it!! It's a beautuful hotel right on the beach, and offers clean swimming pools. The buffet offers a wide variety of foods to choose from, and there are 4 restaurants. The staff were very friendly and accommodating. We plan on going back!!

Wonderful Resort

The resort was beautiful and well maintained. The gardens her gorgeous, rooms and grounds were extremely clean. Our A/C unit stopped working half way through our trip and we called down for maintenance. They were at our door within 15 min fixing it. Loved that there were different areas for the pool. Kids area, 18+ area (Pool Bar), Games area. The beach was less than a 5min walk from the resort. Beaches are public so you get panhandlers and got to watch your personal items. Everything was easy [... read more] to find. The Buffet always had a huge variety of food to choose from. The steakhouse and Toucan restaurant are delicious. Can't wait to go back.

True Costa Rican Resort

This resort is unbeatable. I have been to several other resorts but this one tops all of them. The food is amazing, the waiters and bartenders are awesome at their job, and the hotel itself was beautiful and relaxing. Beside Riu Guanacaste is the Riu Palace. The palace is modern too, but the Riu Guanacaste resort brings out the true Costa Rica vibrant lifestyle. In the morning from your balcony, you can hear the monkeys in the distance. The beach is rocky but that is to be expected. The animal s [... read more]anctuary beside the resort is a must see!

Awesome resort

Great hotel Beach wasn’tthe best but we are pool people anyway. Food was good although seemed the same everyday. A la carte resturants were good. Steak one the best. Have to go early to get in. We all had a great trip

Beautiful hotel.

Beautiful hotel, good food and services. Grounds are perfectly manicured. Good food - especially the buffets. The Hotel is spotless, Well maintained and visually beautiful. The pools are well thought out. Most frustrating point is that dinner reservations were impossible to book. We were told each time that there were 100 persons on list for table. The beach is swimmable with water shoes, due to the rocks and gravel. You have to walk to the Palace or the public beach. They should do somet [... read more]hing about that. Fun excursions.

Fantastic Resort!

This was a beautiful, lush property with all the amenities you can think of. Only 45 minutes from Airport. Staff was friendly and (mostly) accommodating. If you want to go somewhere (other than on a scheduled tour), they have a transportation desk to help you get to where you want to go. They run everything like clockwork! - this resort is a bit remote. Buffet Food was exceptional and plenty of it. Other restaurants are ok but difficult to get into. They are on a first-come-first-serve basi [... read more]s. The Sports Bar has 24 hour service with snacks and is the only place to get coffee in the morning before the buffet opens. Pool area was beautiful. Beach is ok. Not like Caribbean island beaches. Sand is black so it's super hot - Wear shoes on it unless you are walking in the water. Water was very warm. Room was spacious and clean. All taps , shower, toilet worked perfectly and a/c was good. Nice balcony with towel rack outside! My only complaints (and they are minor) are: 1)Bed and pillows weren't comfortable - thinking they use polyester sheets - was sweaty at night even with AC. 2) it was difficult to get into other restaurants, so we didn't bother 3) No coffee machine in the room - it's a large resort and to get coffee, you have to go pretty far, and pretty much drink it there as there are no microwaves in room either for reheating. Otherwise - Go! it's beautiful.

Love this resort!

This is our third time at the Riu Guanacaste! Love how the staff is always so friendly and accommodating. Our beds were always decorated with flowers or something cute done with the bedding. Something for us to look forward too after going for a swim in the beautiful pools. The grounds are impeccable. The buffet was always full of amazing food too!

Resort

Hotel room and cleanliness was great. Beach was great and long. Bars, good, buffet great, a la carte just okay but buffet was always there. free monkey viewing close walk down the beach. REsort is 30min but with bumpy road 45 from Liberia. Lots of day trips but mostly $100 usa each.

Beautiful romantic getaway!

We visited in March 2018 and had the loveliest time. The staff were awesome, the place was clean and fancy, and the food at the resort was delicious, fresh, and varied. If you are dreaming of a white sand beach this isn't the resort for you. However, the pool area is absolutely amazing, and for myself and my fiance we were looking for a gorgeous place to RELAX with food that wasn't terrible and this resort did that and then some. There is a beach that you can sit on but the sand is not white  [... read more]and the water is quite rocky, not easy to access for swimming. At night though the beach lit up with beautiful phosphorescence so that was a real treat. One thing that you can do - and that we did - was take an ATV excursion that brought us to white sand beaches where we swam for a day. This area of Costa Rica is quite dry and arid, not full of lush rainforest, during the time we were there (March). It's hard to tell this because the resort itself is so lush and lovely. So we ended up taking an excursion to visit the rainforest and swam in a waterfall and soaked in natural hotsprings and this was absolutely amazing. This resort is quite small, which we loved. There were not a lot of children there, which we also loved (though it is child friendly). It was calm, relaxed, and the drinks were delicious. I want to go back today (especially because there's an ice storm right now in Toronto - yuck). Totally recommend.

Resort for everybody!

Good size of the rooms and nice location on the beach. Convenient with all facilities on the resort premises; such as scuba/water sports center, spa/wellness, disco, small shops. And an adventure park close by. Very good setup for a la carte restaurants with first come first served principle and the buzzer if you are waiting, telling you when the table is ready for you. And the buffé food was very tasty and huge variation. Service was excellent! From clean room to clean pool and beach. Easy [... read more] to book tours as all the representatives have their desk at the lobby where you can ask about the excursions and book directly. The closest town is Coco, and it has a nice beach and a main street with plenty of souvenir shops. Overall great resort with excellent service. I'll be back :-)