Fun resort

All and all a very nice hotel. Food was very good with a lot of variety. The Japanese was excellent although not being able to make reservations was a bit of a pain. The grounds were lush and well maintained. Beautifully landscaped. The pool is huge with tons of chairs and lots of places to sit in the pool bar. The rooms were comfortable and the ac worked great. The hotel is busy with lots of kids and families so a bit loud at times. But great for people watching. The staff was very frie [... read more]ndly. We’d consider going back to this resort again

Not a 5*

I was excited to return to this resort after a great trip several years ago but sadly have to agree with other visitors that this resort has gone downhill. Definitely not up to 5 star standards. The newly built section is nice. I stayed in the older section. Rooms and hotel in general are outdated and in definite need of repair and revamp. The food was a let down. Very repetitive and bland. Aside from the steak house, the a la cartes are just buffets serving food with very little dif [... read more]ference from that available in the main buffets. The music at both pools was pounding loud all day. Great for those looking to party, not for those looking to relax. The pool bar in the older section smelled like it had not been cleaned in months. The beach is nice, but public, with many vendors crowding the beach to sell excursions and souvenirs. None of them were pushy but still not what you want to walk through every-time you want to be visit the beach. The nearest bar to the beach is up at the pool, a long way to walk to refresh your drink. Can't comment on the entertainment as we did not attend any of the shows. All this being said, every staff member I encountered (and there are many at all times) was friendly and hard working. I would rate the staff 5/5.

Another great stay

another great stay at the Riu Guanacaste. although busier than previous trips - there are another 300 rooms - overall a fine experience. the food was great, the staff friendly and responsive, the entertainment at night was fine.

Will come back....

Loved the resort and surroundings. Issues: my son, age 40, does not drink alcohol. We had to ask repeatedly for extra water and pop. Got irritating some days. Also, the shower was unacceptable, but we didn't complain to change rooms. Water spouted out of about four holes out of a dozen or more holes. Should be better for a Superior room. Also ran into a grumpy maid on our second last day there. She was snapping at me in Spanish. Unacceptable. I fell on the hard ground the vendors wo [... read more]rk on and broke two ribs. Tripped over a substancial piece of tree root coming out of ground. This should definitely be cut out or something. The fall could have been worse. Nothing you can do for ribs. Otherwise.....I'd still come back if the price was right.

Riu Guanacaste - Nice resort, very full

Resort is nice set in a bay on the pacific coast of Costa Rica with a lovely dark sand beach. It had been very recently (last 3 weeks) expanded by 300 rooms to 1000 rooms and they were all occupied the week we were there so it was pretty busy. That said we were always able to get a pool lounger and there are lots of both shady and sunny spots. The bar was busy, but again we got served within a few minutes and the drinks were the usual tropical selection. The original rooms which we were i [... read more]n are dated, but a decent size. However, room service was spotty at best and we had to ask to get towels changed and the beds made - not the best so they probably need more staff to cope with the resort expansion. Food was OK, not fantastic, but the buffets all had a good selection. The a la carte restaurants were all over subscribed with no reservations so we needed to line up 30-45 mins in advance of opening to get a seat. Not great! We used Frank the Tank for our excursions and can HIGHLY recommend Frank and his team, they are fantastic - better pricing than Nexus and wonderful guides. We travel fairly extensively and still find Mexican resorts the best. The Riu rates about 3 stars vs 4/5 in Mexico. Overall an acceptable resort, but expensive compared with better resorts in Mexico.

Amazing Resort

Resort hasn’t let me down, everything was up to par again.. 1 only thing would be the resort activity app, schedule not always followed Everything else great, will go back again, bar services great, the new building with new rooms and pool excellent,

RIU Guanacaste

We enjoyed our stay. The buffet was big and plentiful. The specialty restaurants were not great. The entertainment staff really didn't engage with us. There were a lot of themed nights. The shows were amateur. The location was very remote which was good and bad. Lots of natural beauty but you couldn't grab a taxi and go see anything. Everything had to be arranged with a tour which was expensive. Having an open air Lobby and social areas limited our nighttime activities because it was way too hum [... read more]id. The rooms had a musty smell and the toilets had a sewage smell. The pool was huge and fun. Loved seeing the monkeys. The landscape was clean and gorgeous. Fun to see huge iguanas and monkeys. Scary to have raccoons on tables and jumping out at you at the steakhouse. Water pressure for the shower was terrible, hard to shower. Room attendants were great, very attentive and did a great job. General upkeep of the hotel, was good. Waterpark was nice to have. You feel a bit captive because you don't have access to a local city and the hotel doesn't allow taxis in. Didn't encounter any friendly outgoing staff. They all seemed annoyed to be working.

Treble trip

First I'll never try any resort in Costa Rica second i'll never try flight with any plan under name of Sunwings staff rude disrespect and their behaviors was such as you owed them! About resort hotel if you wanna waste your time and money it's upto you try it then you" ll regret definitely. I read reviews before booked this package but i gussets maybe people wrote with purposes reviews then i did big mistake and book this thurible trip!

Great resort

My family of 4 had a great week at Riu Guanacaste! The food was amazing! The service was fabulous! It was super clean but when we first got there the room smelt musty. We think it was from the humidity. We asked for a "family room" which ended up being a king bed with a single. We had to sleep 3 in the king to make it work for us. We are all in great health so the long walk from our 5th floor room to the main area wasn't a problem. My children's (age 11 and 13) favourite parts were the waterslid [... read more]es and the evening entertainment. There are elevators that broke down about 5 times during our stay, but they were always fixed quickly. The beaches are all public so be ready for the locals who want to sell their wares. There are some boutiques just outside the main entrance that are open for shopping daily, but they are grossly overpriced. There are lots of excursions that can be taken from the resort with ziplines in their backyard. We are all longing to go back!

It was Great!!!

The staff was friendly and attentive, the food was excellent. The resort was modern and everything was kept clean. The pool was large with lots of room. Being next to the Pacific ocean a real plus, I would go back.

Excellent, recommend

Great resort, great activities, adventures available.. Resort has a night life available for those that want it.. Bartenders are great, recommend Steven and Jeffrey.. Pool activities, David and Carlitos great at their job.. will go again

RIU Guanacaste

I fell in love with this resort. We have been to numerous RIU resorts in Mexico, Dominican , but never Costa Rica. The resort is getting a little dated but does not retract from the many lovely amenities there. 5 * for me.

Great resort!

Always Friendly faces, great food and service! Grounds kept really clean. Pools are going to start needing work soon as pieces breaking etc. Washrooms stuffy and need more ventilation and work as well.

Riu Guanacaste

This was our 2nd time at this hotel. Staff and location are still awesome! However the hotel is looking old, and needs to be refreshed. Given the new hotel being built across the street I’m hoping this will happen. Food is decent, but no where as good as many other RIU locations.

Awesome resort!

The Riu Guanacaste was an amazing resort with a great selection of restaurants with no limits on a la carte dinners. The buffet had a great variety of food at any time. Our room was clean and very spacious with a stocked mini fridge and bar! Our view from the balcony was beautiful. There were always lounge chairs available around the pool or beach. The service at the bars and restaurants was excellent. The nightly entertainment was great, especially the white party Friday night! We're certainly [... read more] planning on going back!

Great Resort

Extremely clean. Staff were cleaning everything all the time! Food was plentiful and great. Some items might have been overcooked but better than being undercooked. Staff very friendly and efficient. I would have liked to have had beverages available on the beach but that’s the only issue. Sunwing reps were terrific too-Always available. Lots of walking. It’s a large resort.

Gorgeous and lush grounds

The grounds are unbelievable - lush and full of life. From birds to iguanas to monkeys - you’ll see it all. The food is great considering it’s all buffet. Checkin was exhausting - hotel staff did not guide us to our room and when we finally found our room, the sheets were not to our standards. They were washed but had some stains on them. Housekeeping stepped it up for the remainder of our stay (thank goodness!) All in all, we would recommend based on the price and the overall experience. [... read more] One major thing to note - the music is loud! If you’re looking for a quiet getaway, not the place, but if you want a party, you’ll love it.

Pro's and Con's of Rui Guanacaste

Pro's- the common families were great. They cleaned the floors all.the time, the a la.carte.restaurants were nice, and plenty of lounge chairs to which you didn't need to reserve any. The entertainment staff were great. Lots of activities during the day, including a.foam party, and the evening activities were pretty good. Con's- the rooms were a little outdated. In our room our safe didn't work and our toilet needed repairs. Overall, I would recommend this hotel to others, especial [... read more]ly if they like wild life. Monkeys on trees, iguanas everywhere, and we were lucky to see the release of the baby turtles.

Jan.3-Jan. 17

My wife Paula and I enjoyed our stay. The grounds were beautiful, the food was great, the ocean was incredible. Helpful, friendly staff. Costa Rica, what a beautiful country. Palo Verde, Rincon de la Vieja, catamaran outing... . Doug and Paula J. ( Canada )

Updating badly needed, hotel servers not terribly friendly or helpful

We did not receive room service to make our beds 2nd night before we left, had asked if we could extend our check out by an hour or two but the answer was a flat NO due to overbooking the manager Joseph told me. I had asked for a mask as I might have caught a cold from the flight coming down to CR due to a woman sitting right behind me at 7C who was hacking all the time so I had asked the air hostess to offer her a mask and she declined to wear it. I think ppl who are coughing or potentially car [... read more]rying cold virus should be wearing a mask on the plane, not by choice. The hotel told me that they haven’t had masks for the past 2 years. But I found out a family was flown home as they had caught COVID while staying at Riu. When I got home on Sunday morning I tested my self with the rapid antigen test for Covid - guess what?! I tested positive! I tested again, it was positive again!! So I’ve been testing at home and I was wearing a mask when I flew home as well as moved myself to the back of the bus from 6C seat. I definitely would have enjoyed my vacation more if I didn’t come down with the Covid symptoms on the 5th after an arrived in Guanacaste. The bathroom had no venting so the only way to dry the bath area was through keeping the door open. Shower head was weak and outdated. Food was quite greasy but the fresh fruits were amazingly delicious.