Beautiful Resort

The amenities were well kept and beautiful! Food was delicious and my group had the best time!! Can't wait to visit again! The only complaint I would have is that the check in times seemed late and inflexible. We had to kill some time till our rooms were ready.

Beautiful Resort

The hotel was beautiful and workers were extremely helpful and kind. The swim-up bar and pool area was like nothing I've ever seen before just stunning... The nightly entertainment was a good way to end a wonderful day...

Beautiful Resort

Riu Gauanacaste Resort is a fantastic place to stay. The rooms are clean and spacious, the food is awesome, the service is great, the beach is close, and there are always chairs available around the pool and beach. The only thing that is too bad, is that the drive to the rainforest is about 3 hours by bus.

Amazing resort but..

Great resort, fantastic people,beautiful country,weather unbelievable. But for a resort like the Riu I would have figured they would have had a more bountiful selection of fish dishes at there lunch and dinner.

Wonderful resort

The staff was very friendly and accommodating. The food was great with lots of choice. Would like a few more activities geared to tweets in the evening, but overall would highly recommend and would go back!

Amazing Resort

Everything was wonderful. m Everything was clean. Staff was very pleasant. Enjoyed our excursion. Had a great time. Getting to and from the airport was very easy. The manor of getting together in the lodge etc was great.

Amazing Resort! Riu Guanagaste- Liberia

The lobby..foyer was beautiful! Staff was great...pool and swim up bar fantastic! The entertainment was great In the evening ..must have hired professionals! Rooms were very nice and the food was great at the buffet...great coffee omelettes.....desserts! The Italian restaurant and steak house were great too!

Absolutely Amazing

This hotel is an amazing place to vacation as a couple or as a family. It has everything to offer!! Day to night pool activities, a casino, a disco, a show nightly for the kids and then one for the adults, tennis courts, basketball, pool and beach volleyball, scuba lessons in the pool, aerobics, paddle boats, kayaks, jet ski's The service was excellent the pools were amazing the restaurants had you begging to go back for more!

Amazing resort

The resort grounds were kept immaculate especially for the number of people using the resort. The proximity to the beach was great. Each of the staff encountered were personable, pleasant and helpful.

Great Resort

An absolutely beautiful resort. Smaller in size then most resorts but that was perfect. As smokers we were upset about the no smoking law in Costa Rica and wish we had known we would have to smoke in a parking lot while on vacation. Food was good. But selection was the same each day so hot boring after 2nd and 3rd day. But don't get me wrong the food was really good. Resort staff were incredible. Rooms were stunning and the weather was beautiful. Would definitely return.

Amazing Resort

Excellent service, the grounds are lush and exceptionally clean. Huge pool with hot tub. The resort has a nice layout, very breezy, the staff are very nice and helpful. The food is excellent! The beach is a little dangerous because of the waves, bring watershoes!

Had a blast! Resort was awesome!

We just got home from a week at the RIU Guanacaste resort and absolutely loved it! Rooms were nice, food was great and lots of variety. The pool and swim up bar was a blast! The staff throughout the whole resort were super nice and friendly, and speak really good English! The weather is beautiful, hot and sunny but not humid! Saw monkeys, cool birds, deer, and a sea turtle! We went for a nice walk on the beach every morning and saw some new wildlife everyday! Overall we had an amazing trip! We w [... read more]ould go back for sure! :)

“Loved the Country, resort not so much...”

“Loved the Country, resort not so much...” Let me start by saying - My wife and I both enjoy laying on the beach playing in the ocean, having a drink from the bar down by the sea. This resort had no bathrooms easily accessible on the beach, no bar located on the beach & very little representation down on the beach! This water was FULL of rocks (and not of the little kind, coconut sized and larger even) so playing in the surf was very limited to say the least. Overall, we had an amazing trip  [... read more]- the room was nice and clean with a safe, a 3 bottle liquor dispenser, huge balcony, our view was facing the Jungle (Hillside), so there are Monkeys who make noises very early in the morning. The resort itself was beautiful, and had a huge pool area, tons of bars and restaurants, and friendly staff. The Riu entertainment team was good and really did a good job! We enjoyed the shows they put on every night at 9pm. The few critiques I would make - the food and drinks are very mediocre, (My wife demanded I add "The BLENDED Mojitos were to Die for") We went to a grocery store to buy DRINKABLE Red wine for the ladies. I couldn't even finish a complete glass of White wine. There are only two Restaurants you make reservations for. You must get in line at 9:00AM to book for Tomorrow night only! The other thing was that they only give you free WiFi 90 min. a day in the lobby, which was annoying but we made the best of it. The Tour company offered many tours, and they discourage guests from booking on the beach due to scams and asking for deposits (which may seem obvious). Pay no attention to the Tour COMPANIES - go to the BEACH and find JOSÉ - Bright pink shirt. His company Costa Rica Best Tours was one of my MOST pleasurable excursions in the many I have taken. We went on a Private Tour of 2 couples, plus José & his driver Warner. New spacious van, knowledgeable guide, stopped at a grocery store to buy us tourists food & drink (told us this was THE best prices to buy Coffee & Liquor to take back home ((We saved Huge comparing prices at the souvenir shops)). My wife & I did a Scuba Dive with the on site Scuba company - Scubacaribe - they were excellent! We also went into Playa del Coco, I would say that is a must! We flew on SunWing, I sure don't like Sunwing!!!!! Two hour delay at Airport plus 1 hour delay & unscheduled stop in Cancun - not being allowed off of plane (all to allow new staff to be flown in to work on plane coming home) - Second straight Sunwing trip that was awful due to delays!

Amazing Guanacaste

The Riu Guanacaste was an amazing resort! The people there are friendly and it's nice that most of them can speak English so that communication is not an issue. The rooms are clean and the excursions that you can go on in this region are beautiful!

Going back again

This was the most beautiful resort I have been to. The hotel is surrounded by untouched beauty and wildness. The food was amazing and healthy. The only downfall was minor but if you speak English don't expect to wind down with a program on tv. It is entirely Spanish. Overall a must see.

Good Resort...Bad Beach and other things

Been at about a dozen all inclusive vacations in the carribean, this is my 1st review about this resort. The GOOD: -about 45 min. on bus from airport -Beautiful grounds -Check-in quick, easy to carry your luggages to your room without help from Bellboy if you want. -Room very large and clean, modern. -Lighting adequate, beds very good/firm, -A/C is running good and quiet (but program to maximum cooling about 24C, with a sensor at balcony sliding door to auto-off when door is open). -Repair serv [... read more]ice is excellent, got couple of things done each time less than 1hr. after reported(broken toilet/ plugged sink) -Employees are mostly very nice and helpful. -Only Food in main buffet restaurant is very good (even compare to other resorts those we'd been before) with lots of varieties, lots of fruits, always some new varieties everyday, no or very little of line-ups. - Hardly find a nearly empty food tray, they always bring out more to refill even it's 10-15 min. before closing. - Pool is good, always can find chairs even when you come late. -Very little of mosquitoes, flies or birds. Almost nothing if compare to Punta Cana, Jamaica,... -Entertainment is above average but repeated after 6th night. The BAD: -Still using actual room keys with big key chain attach instead of Card reader system. -Bath towels in bathroom are thick and roughed like coarse sand paper, can hurt you if have sensitive skin. -TV channels have ONLY ONE ENGLISH Channel out of about 50 and the resort has about 90% of English spoken tourists, the rest is spanish. This channel is Fox news and keeps repeating the topics every hour. I always fall to sleep in minutes if relaxing in the room because there are nothing to watch. -Public washrooms don't have any touchless stuff installed and become bad when people these days are lazy or don't dare to touch to flush. There is no paper towels in washroom either, every time I go I have to grab some napkins from the bar instead to flush the urinal or turn on-off the faucet. -Internet is ok especially late at night but limited to 90min./day, if you disconnect your wifi connection after connected, you don't have a second chance again, so make sure u don't really need it before disconnecting. -All A La Carte Restaurants Food is "Terrible", we tried them all but if we knew, we could go to the main buffet instead and didn't have to waste time to book and wait in-line. The Italian one is the worst, we left in the middle of the course and tried to run into the Main Buffet restaurant before it closes. -Pool is good but nowhere is deeper than approx.1.4m, but the shallowest area is around the swim-up bar and its about 1M deep and it's the only area suits my 7 y/o daughter height (she's 49" tall). If you have smaller kids, it would be a problem for you. -There is actually no food to eat (i.e.: burgers, fries, hotdogs, pizza, etc..) between Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner, and also after dinner as well, unless you get some nachos or cold cut sandwiches in the sports bar in main lobby, so you have to make sure to fill yourself up before leaving the restaurant. -Beach has black sand and lots of small stones which hurt your feet, unless you go further out but most of the time we'd been there the ocean was roughed. -Lots and lots of vendors come around and snaking between tourist chairs, you need to keep an eye on your stuff all the times. -The closest bar to get a drink is the Swimup bar in the pool and it's about 400-500ft from the beach. I would rate resort as a 4* overall but the Food and Service as 4.5*, definitely it's not a 5*. I would recommend this resort if the person is not a beach type like me and with a more reasonable price than what I paid. I would not come back to this resort mainly because of the worse beach that I'd been experienced, even I have an excellent deal.

Good - but not Great

Overall good stay at the RIU but it did not live up to RIU expectation nor did I feel it was reflective of the pricing considering I've had better stays in the DR for $400-$600 less during NYE celebrations.

Amazing Vacation

The hotel was beautiful and close to the airport. The food there was delicious and drinks were great. The service at the hotel was wonderful and everyone was very friendly. I would definitely go back again!

Okay but didn't wow me.

The resort is nice, nothing special. The rooms are dated but clean. I stayed in room 2138 facing the Spa and Wellness Centre. The room had a large balcony. It would have been nice to sit on the balcony and have our morning coffee but coffee wasn't available in the rooms. We ants in the bathroom. The frig was restocked every two days with 2 beer, one water and 2 sodas. However, you can get unlimited bottled water at the front desk. The wellness centre is spacious and had some good quality cardio  [... read more]equipment however I was looking for weights. There are a few weight machines (I didn't use them). Free weights consisted of two 6.6lbs, 2 10lbs, 2 15lbs, and then up from there to about 35lbs. The mat area is very small and in rough condition with ants. The exercise mats available are thin, and unsanitary. There was no music playing or ceiling fans to keep the air moving. Small towels and water are available though. Some hand sanitizer in the area would be helpful. I had a deep tissue massage from Stephanie and it was great. The food was good but after a few days of eating at the buffet I was tired of the same options. The steakhouse (Ocotal) was good but be sure not to be seated near a light as the bugs swarm the area. I enjoyed the Italian restaurant, we didn't eat at the Asian or other al a carte restaurant. The liquors are not premium however if you specifically ask for Jim Beam, Bacardi, Smirnoff, etc. you can get it. The wine in the buffet area is not good. Filadelphia bar was serving Cab Sav from Chili. I took bottles of wine from home (purchased at duty free in the airport) and was constantly asked by other guests where I got it. You could buy wine at the store but it ranged in price from $30-38 USD. Much cheaper if you go into Playa del Cocoa. The pool area is very spacious and clean. Lots of loungers. Got to see the occasional iguana (small). Didn't spend any time on the beach other than a walk and a massage. Didn't notice any sand crabs or sand fleas which is nice. Highlight of the trip - watching a family of 5 howler monkeys in the trees right from the resort. There are lots of excursion options available. I think everyone should go to Costa Rica and experience the rainforest, animals, and all it has to offer. I think perhaps my expectations of the resort where a high and it didn't meet them. It was okay but didn't wow me in any way.

Very good but not a 5star

This hotel is well looked after and the grounds was always kept clean, But the food in the specialty Restaurants was cold and there was no food for people who had a dietary needs ,So if you are looking for a hotel that caters to everyone this is not it.