Riu Palace Costa Rica: The Riu Palace is truly a Palace

There was nothing not to like. The service at the bars was quick, all 5 Dining Experiences were excellent and the hotel was immaculate which reflects the non stop cleaning - floors, windows etc. The grounds were looked after all the time and showed it. The pools were clean and proper temperature.

Punta Leona Beach Club and Nature Resort: Punta Leona was amazing

There were a lot of mixed reviews on this resort so we were unsure of what we were getting into . I have to say this place exceeded all my expectations. The beaches were stunning . You have to see Playa Blanca !! It is totally worth the 20 minute walk off of the main beach . The white sand and beautiful water is breathtaking. Our rooms were standard but clean and we were hardly in them so we didn’t need much space . The hotel is large so be prepared to walk . We don’t mind walking as there i [... read more]s so much to see. The pool , bar , beach etc are all in the same spot and located near the washrooms . For those who aren’t into walking I suggest packing for a day as everything you need is by the main pool however the rooms and buffet are about a 10-15 minute walk from the pool . The food was excellent , we have no complaints. The monkeys are such a great thing to experience. If you want to touch a monkey and see them daily , this resort is for you ! They are by the buffet daily and they are soooo cute ! The staff was friendly and the drinks were great ! We will be back again !!

Dreams Las Mareas Costa Rica: Beautiful resort

Entertainment was really good and bands were excellent.pPools are beautiful and well maintained. Grounds are well kept. Bar staff at pools are amazing. Bar staff at piano lounge is extremely slow in the evening.drink selection is varied. Daily newsletter is informative although it would be nice to have it slipped under our door every day like on the many cruises I have been on. The company who run the excursions both in the hotel and at the beach side seem disinterested and not very helpful. Th [... read more]erefore we booked an excursion from a fellow on the beach. Massage prices at the spa extremely costly and therefore booked a beautiful one hour massage right on the beach unrelated to the hotel. The food was just good. I can’t believe reservations are not allowed at any restaurants. The Italian restaurant was our favourite. The French restaurant was an embarrassment-its just tables in a hallway with no views. It’s like they just added it with no thought. Tried to get in Saturday night and no tables, went back Sunday night to find it closed. Returned Monday night at 7 and told to return at 8 even though there were some empty tables. The hostess ignored us for some time then seated us. It took one hour for salad and appetizer. Waited ten minutes for a top up of wine , our entree had not arrived by nine o’clock and we left without saying a word. We were extremely disappointed. The 1 and 1/2 hour ride to the resort was long and bumpy and not picturesque. The transport from the airport to the hotel left without us and we contacted the Air Canada rep Rose Gomez and filed a miscellaneous clients report, she said the other passengers were transported. We searched at the airport and saw no signs of Air Canada or of Dreams. There was a long customs line at the airport, we ended up taking a private taxi to Dreams for a cost of $100USD.The resort rep said she would follow up with a superior and email me which she never did. Overall it was a relaxing and enjoyable trip. However, I will never book a resort so far from the airport and any excursions.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Stunning Resort

A beautiful resort with plenty to offer. Upon entering for the first time the lobby is stunning. Big, clean and lots of room with plenty lounges, tables, seats, bar and with a 24 cafe. Great places to enjoy your favourite tropical cocktails while playing cards and favourite board games. Easy smooth check in at the main desk. The check in staff were so helpful and gracious and greeted us with those friendly smiles. Mellisa is wonderful. Mellisa assisted us with everything from pre check in to b [... read more]irthday decorations. The bar staff servers in the lobby are plentiful, friendly and quick to serve you. The resort is constantly being cleaned by friendly cleaning staff. Our room was spacious, king size bed, sofa, table and balcony over seeing the pools and grounds. The room was cleaned everyday. 5 beautiful pools and swim up bar to soak up that tropical sun. Beautiful mature palm trees through out the resort grounds. Clean smooth pathways around the resort. Friendly Pool Bar staff serving everyone in the pools and everyone lounging around the pools. Our server German was amazing. We were always met with a smile, a conversation and of course our favourite refreshments. The cleaning and maintenance around the pools were always cleaning. The grounds were spotless and impeccable. Finally the restaurants and food. Amazing, delicious, plentiful. Something for everyone all day long. Great Resort!

Dreams Las Mareas Costa Rica: Not as Expected

My wife and I both got food poisoning at the resort as well as another couple we met, cleanliness is subpar, pools filthy and glasses only rinsed at pool bars when they have dishwashers on site. Night life is terrible and main bar closes at 11pm only leaving dance club available for drinks, we will not be returning to Deams in Costa Rica or any other.

Dreams Las Mareas Costa Rica: Good Family Resort - Lots of Weddings!!

Beach/Pool 3/5 The Pool is absolutely beautiful but there were a few concerns. There are lots of stairs throughout the grounds so many of the pool areas are inaccessible for those with accessibility concerns/strollers. We found ourselves very limited in where we could access and enjoy our time if we had the stroller with us and our little one was sleeping and we could not remove him. Another thing we found very frustrating was the chair situation. This hotel does not monitor the chairs being s [... read more]aved. The pool area will be almost completely overrun with saved seats/towels by 7 am. If chairs are left unattended the resort, unfortunately, does not enforce any type of policy regarding the removal of items for other guests. We also noticed the pool concierge saving seats for other preferred guests which just did not sit right with us. Service 4/5 The service at this resort was exceptional. From the concierge to the bartenders. Everyone always went over and above to make sure our experience was positive. The only thing I had any concerns over was that there were particular service employees who would ignore you if you did not tip/give a large enough tip compared to those around you. Food 3/5 The food was mediocre. The buffet had limited choices for picky eaters/kids and seemed to be the same for lunch/breakfast daily with only rotating a few different nights throughout the week. The restaurants were fantastic however the wait once seated was very long. Meals would take approx 90 min from start to finish and takeout was unavailable at the restaurants. The room service was great. Rooms 4/5 Housekeeping was amazing at what they did. They were consistent and kept up with every request we had. There were some concerns with the cleanliness and when we brought it up they fixed it right away. Beds were comfortable and the TV channels were great. Value 4/5 Overall the value for this resort was fair. We felt like we had phenomenal service, good food and we were able to relax and the resort gave us what we wanted for a vacation. Location 2/5 Unfortunately the location of this resort was not researched enough and if we had known what little there was to do around we probably would not have chosen this location. The ride to town is a very long and bumpy 35 minute ride and town does not have much to offer.

Best Western Jaco Beach: Great vacation in Jaco

We just returned from ten days at the Best Western Jaco Beach. Check in was easy and all our transfers arranged for tours and by Air Transat were on time or early. The room was very basic but it had air conditioning and was spotless so that was all I needed. Pool area was beautiful and you could see the beach from the grounds, although it was not really conducive for swimming. Sunsets were gorgeous and the water temperature was perfect if you were brave enough to go in. Food was plentiful and  [... read more]the booking system was easy for all meals. Staff in the restaurant were wonderful and the room was always cleaned daily. My only complaint was that for the first week the music level by the pools was insanely loud, to the point of not being able to sleep at night without the AC blasting to drown it out. Days 8 and 9 it suddenly lowered to tolerable levels so maybe somebody said something? All in all a great stay. Weather was perfect, iguanas and macaws by the pool were fantastic, and the town is nearby and safe. A+

Riu Guanacaste: Great resort with everything nearby.

Found the food was very good and resort had a nice range of specialty restaurants .I liked that the pool and beach were nearby as well as the water park for my grandchildren.Staff were very friendly .Also like that the Diamente Adventure Park was very near to the hotel,

Azura Beach Resort Samara: A Week to Remember

We had an extremely positive experience at Azura Beach Resort Samara. This was our first time at a smaller sized resort and loved the intimacy of getting to know the staff, the ease of getting around, less "competition" to get a beach chair, pool chair, and dinner reservation. The service and staff were some of the most service-oriented and most friendly that we have experienced in our years of southern vacations. It truly felt like they wanted to make sure you felt special. The food choic [... read more]es and presentation were excellent. The evening musical band entertainment at one of the restaurants a couple of evenings was engaging and fun with well known music to dance to. The beach was so wide and long that getting in physical activity was easy despite there being no gym. Between Samara beach and the adjacent Carillo beach, we could easily walk/run up to10km if we wished to. Walking to town on the beach and having a coffee/snack in town and exploring was a special feature for a southern destination where usually you don't go off property on your own due to safety reasons. The spa is limited and not as high quality as other spa therapists I've experienced with only 1 room in a "hut" like structure with no spa-like aesthetic, but getting an appointment wasn't difficult. There were a variety of off property excursions. We happened to be the only couple on the ATV tour of the area with Wilbur. He made the tour an educational experience making sure to stop when there were monkeys spotted and/or something to note. A visit to a coffee plantation was equally fascinating. We are usually guests at a different premium resort brand and found that because of the value for dollar at this resort compared to that brand resort was equal in many respects. We still love the premium brand and its different offerings and returning guests privileges; however, Azura is comparable for people who can't afford the premium price. I have to share, though, a negative experience I had at Tao, the Japanese restaurant. We ate here our final night and there was something about the Tuna Tataki that I wasn't sure was cooked properly. 24 hours later on the airplane home it became evident that there was something wrong with that tuna. I had an extremely unpleasant trip home, I'm sure the tuna was "off" as my symptoms lasted a week gradually improving each day...which made me question the food safety practices at that restaurant in particular that serves a lot seafood/raw fish. The food was so delicious when we were at Tao earlier in the week which was why we wanted to go once more before we left. I am glad it happened on our last evening or my week would have been very unpleasant spending my time in my room close to the washroom. If I am uncertain about the freshness of food again, I will not take a risk and send it back. I would also recommend a review of food safety practices. This is a bad note to end on but I feel I must share this information especially if there have been other similar incidents. I will still rate this a 4.5 - 5 star with this one qualification which may have been a one off.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: First Class Resort

Grounds were beautiful and well maintained. Leaving the beachfront steak restaurant to return to the main hotel building the footpaths were not well lit; difficult to see steps/obstructions. More lighting needed. More hand rails on stairs/steps. Usually only one central rail except on the main staircase where it was only on one side. I’m a senior, having had two knee replacement surgeries. The hotel is very modern in decor and furniture with plenty of bars, restaurants and snack bars. I [... read more]t is kept immaculate. Constant cleaning in public areas. Staff were amazingly helpful from front desk to cleaning staff. We tried all the a la carte restaurants with the exception of Italian - heard several negative comments on that one. Food was great - selection and quality. Took two excursions which were exceptionally good. Beach is black sand (volcanic country) and had a strong undertow. Would definitely recommend this resort and would go again.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Amazing resort and country! Horrible trip central experience!

Nicole did not respond to any of our post booking requests. She was called and emailed at least 8 times by our party of 4 women. This added much stress!! We had to research way too much to find some of the answers ourselves and still showed up at the airport not knowing if we would have problems. The hotel was lovely but needs more stair railings and outside lighting. The people were super.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: We loved this resort!

We enjoyed our stay at Riu Palace Costa Rica. The rooms were clean, modern and roomy. The grounds were well maintained and there were plenty of options for swimming - several pools, a water park and the beach. The beach, however, was rough with a strong undertow and the sand was grey in colour. There were plenty of loungers around the pool - we never had to get up early to put our towels on them to reserve. The staff were cheerful and ready to help and serve us. The Steakhouse was amazing! [... read more] The Buffet had plenty of variety and the foods were fresh and delicious. The other a la carte restaurants were okay - the service was excellent but the food itself not outstanding. There was a show each evening and the performances were excellent, especially the Michael Jackson Show and the Broadway Show. The Karaoke was fun to watch too. There was live music after each show. Overall we had a wonderful time!

Dreams Las Mareas Costa Rica: Hot and sunny

Friendly staff Clean resort Relaxing Entertaining monkeys on balcony Sun takes some getting used to Be careful and covered up Found out the hard way on the first full day rhere Take Lots of sunscreen Flying that far is a bit of a pain

The Westin Reserva Conchal Golf Resort & Spa: Not Good - Disappointing Hotel

This hotel was disappointing. Here's my feedback: transfer to hotel did not have my name on so I had to wait for 30 minutes to get services; buffet closed twice during my stay with no communication; food was not good (i.e., birds pecked holes in buns); pool servers did not bring bottled water when asked (had to confront them to get service); water main broke and staff had to take water from the pool to flush toilets for a whole day; adult pool is cold and takes until noon to get to a somewhat  [... read more]alright temperature, plus is only 5' deep; lots of howler monkeys and iguanas around the hotel/pool area which also means there's poop on walkways; poor beach access as there's a stone wall at the beach area; one opening to walk to the beach but no service/lounge chairs unless you ask, then the locals try selling you everything possible; during my 2nd week, the room above me was occupied by a bride who used the room as 'control central' and was so noisy after a few days that I had to be relocated to another room; mini bar and coffee was often left unstocked; and someone was smoking nearby which was noticed in both rooms that I occupied. Go to another resort as this one needs much better management and services. :(

Dreams Las Mareas Costa Rica: Amazing Resort 👌🏻!

I would definitely recommend this beautiful resort ! Travelled with a family with the 14 & 7 y.o. grounds are beautifully landscaped , rooms are cozy and conveniently located to everything , service is outstanding and professional in every department . Beach is great for small kids . 5 star resort .

Azura Beach Resort Samara: Average stay

The hotel and location are beautiful, however the hotel itself isn’t well maintained. This leads to broken features, communication issues and downgrades. In our time there the sewage water backed up and flooded the first floor of rooms through the showers, the water machine was broken upon arrival and the a/c unit broke and flooded the room a second time, leading us to need to “request” a new room that was very not ready for guests to stay in. The hotel staff are great, friendly and very [... read more] helpful, however there is only so much they are able to do with the resort being understaffed, under maintained and with the communication barrier. It also seems that there aren’t proper systems in place for when don’t go as planned. The location itself is beautiful and the staff truly do the best they can with what they’re given.

Riu Guanacaste: Amazing and excellent country and resort, very good and relaxed people

Resort in very good shape, with good installations and good rooms, swimming pool is big and great, maybe need a few renovations, but it is not bad. Good service and good food and everybody speak English. Wonderful beaches and excursions.

Dreams Las Mareas Costa Rica: No disappointments

This is a lovely resort, clean and very well maintained. I enjoyed the way everything was geared toward the visitor, from the friendly, accommodating staff, to the ease of getting what you needed to make your time there pleasurable. Fabulous beach with weak undertow and pools everywhere you looked.

Tamarindo Diria: Starting to feel like home away from home

This was our 4th time staying at the Diria and we love it! The staff is great, the food is great, the pools are great. It's just all around great! It is a quick stroll to anywhere. Nicest hotel on the beach. It is on the main drag and can be noisy but that's the only thing I can complain about.

Riu Guanacaste: RUI GUANACASTE

Fabulous Resort, highly recommended! Employees extremely kind, the best food ever. Loved the ocean and plus plus could hear it from our lovely room at night. Love the fact all species are protected. I am definitely coming back asap, see you then!