Very nice

Grounds very well kept. Beach good use some tlc. Rooms nice. Pools lovely. Food very good with a nice selection of fruits and vegetables every day. Drinks plentiful and well made. Resort is a distance away from nearby towns. Shade plentiful, weather hot!

Rough Edges but Great Vacation Spot

Beautiful hotel and grounds, top notch buffet, great bars, great excursion options. Terrible a la cart restaurants, air conditioning didn't make the room dry, just cool and damp, they water the grounds with grey water which smells like feces, after hours food is awful and when it runs out you're out of luck.

Gorgeous Costa Rica!

We truly enjoyed this resort. The food was very good and service was excellent. Very clean and well kept overall. We attended for a destination wedding and the staff were very attentive. We enjoyed the evening and lobby entertainment. The rooms were nice and a great view of the mountains or ocean. Rooms wth a court view have a view of other rooms. A mountain view would be my recommendation as it is quieter. Be aware that the bathrooms smell funky in every room. The hotel would benefit from look [... read more]ing into it. Overall great trip and will definitely return so that we can complete more excursions !

Satisfactory

The rooms had a definite sewage odor. The toilet broke after each flush. The rooms were tired and my daughter's room had ants. The linens were too old had tiny tears in them. We should have been made aware when we upgraded to ocean view that it also included exponential noise from the stage area as the week progressed. If you are planning an early morning excursion - then ocean view rooms are not for you! The buffet was enjoyable. The Italian restaurant was the best a la carte and I would recomm [... read more]end the lasagna and the Antipasto buffet was really nice. The Japanese restaurant had wonderful fresh sushi, but the rest was not great. The Gourmet restaurant had fantastic presentation but lacked flavor. The ceviche was creative but was mainly acid and flat. The alcohol was questionable especially at the pool. I think that even the "top shelf" was watered down. There definitely is something going on with that. The "house" red wine was brutal. Make sure to request their Cab sauv....It is actually in a bottle. The service overall was excellent. The staff were sincere and always tried to make our stay the best possible experience. The cleanliness overall was satisfactory. The pool was fun and the games were very creative and fun to watch. There were enough chairs for everyone. The beach went from rocky to sandy and there was always room for chairs. It's a lovely location.

Beautiful resort

Everything was handled from the welcome drink when we arrived, baggage taken to our room, and seamless check in. There was nothing left to do then enjoy the beautiful week we had in Costa Rica at the Riu. Hotel was beautiful, very clean and well cared for, staff were courteous, food was plentiful but just okay. Great week in the sun. Beach was nice too.

Amazing resort, great vacation

Highly recommended resort. It's a solid 4+ star resort, with great amenities! If you're visiting during the high season (Dec - April) and want to explore Costa Rica on your own, please make sure that you book your car rental in advance... It's tough to get a rental and they are usually at $100+ a day. Also you'd be well advised to book an SUV, there are plenty of unpaved roads!

Amazing place

loved everything about the hotel and Costa Rica. The people are great and very helpful. the weather is fantastic. the hotel food was the best I ever had a hotel. The rooms were very clean and kept that way every day. What can I say, it was perfect.

Amazing resort

Rooms were nice.....grounds were beautiful. ....food was great.....lots of monkeys and iguanas. ....I will go back to this resort.....the sooner the better....This place is definitely a five star.....miss it already!!!!! ...

It was a nice resort.

The hotel was clean and the staff worked amazing to keep it that way. The service was wonderful. The food was good. The staff friendly and work fast to serve and very welcoming. The pool area was kept clean as the rest of the grounds..

Rude guests marred a beautiful trip

I just returned from a week stay at the Riu Guanacaste with my adult daughter. The rooms are adequate, clean - beds are a little hard, pillows a little small, but in all a comfortable stay. Air conditioning works great. There was construction outside of our window which wasn't too loud but did start pre 8 am. The meals were varied and well prepared. There was a variety of vegetables, salads, fruit and a choice of meats daily. The desserts were underwhelming. Bar service was good and a nice vari [... read more]ety of drinks. There is an outdoor restaurant which has signs posted in English and Spanish at every entrance advising patrons not to remove food from the restaurant. This did not stop some guests from bringing nachos or French fries or heaping plates of food to their poolside chairs then leaving half eaten plates for swarms of large birds to come pick at. Very annoying. I spoke twice to people about bringing food and watched an American couple of women be stopped by a waiter and told they could not take food out ("oh sorry")... who turned around and used another exit. Their children were equally ill behaved. I wish the hotel had removed their plates or asked them to leave the pool when they found such disregard. Thankfully there were no shortage of chairs around the pool, we always seemed to find room under a pergola for nice shade. That didn't stop one family from taking our table from between our chairs and sitting on one of our chairs when the spot they picked was short for the number in their party. Rude. The entertainment staff worked hard and the evening shows were good quality and entertaining. The weather was HOT and humid, the pool was only slightly refreshing as it was quite warm and not well cleaned (could feel sand along the bottom and find floating straws, bugs, leaves - more to do with the guests than the hotel). The beach is rustic and the water clean but not clear. There are no umbrellas at the beach just a few trees to find your shade under. Poolside was better. In all a relaxing vacation with a variety of services.

Great resort

Great resort. Everything was more than we expected. Rooms and pool and grounds . were well kept. Bars were well stocked and there was a big variety of food. The beach was not attractive. Your trip advisor Elizabeth was excellent.

Good resort

Nice resort, very clean, loved the room very spacious, room also had a nice sized balcony. The beach is nice, hardly anyone bothers you to buy stuff. Ocean was nice not rough at all. Staff very friendly. Good food.

Quite nice

Hotel staff were nice and Fernando in the buffet was very accommodating and decorated the table multiple nights for our anniversary. I would definitely go back here in a heartbeat! Must book water sports in advance to avoid disappointment ! Squeezed a bunch in the last few days!

Would definitely go back!

The hotel and staff were amazing... for those that are a bit picky about food, the options available would certainly satisfy those as well. Very clean and beautiful resort. We really cant think of anything negative to say about it :-)

Riu Gaunacaste Costa Rica

went to the riu gaunacaste June 15th and have to say this resort was perfect. The resort was spotless ,pool and grounds very clean and the staff was amazing. This resort is situated perfect for people who love to sightsee. Almost all the tours were very close which I might say all the tours were 5star that were offered by the resort. Would definetly recommend to everyone.

Nice resort in Guanacaste

It's a little strange that this resort is right next to another Riu property, one that is ostensibly 'better'. I liked this place however, the team at ScubaCaribe were great! The buffet food was surprisingly good (sushi! Get there early). On the negative side the front desk staff seemed a little unwilling to assist with fairly modest requests.

Average Resort

Nice and clean but few choices of vegetarian food. There were not any good sea food, only one day we got shrimps & lobsters but rest of the days one fried fish dish but the fish had smell we didn't like. Pool had lot of chlorine in it and the beach had stones on our side had to walk a bit to get smooth surface

Very Good

This resort hotel is well built, clean with good dining and good service. The beach is good for swimming at the western side. Excursion agents available on site and currency exchange at front desk. Reservations for a la carte restaurants is problematic as after long waiting line one is told they are all filled up.

Beautiful loved it

beautiful grounds, tasty food. relaxing, clean clean clean. always cleaning. lovely nature sounds with plenty to see and do. wonderful people, great staff aim to please. close to the airport , natural beauty

Spectacular Resort

This was an amazing resort experience!! since it was our 1st time going to Riu we were not sure what to expect..our stay was luxurious, breath taking views & friendly staff who met all our needs and more! I would go back to this resort again just to capture the magic of its beauty..well done Riu Guanacaste you sure deserve a great review