Riu Palace Costa Rica: Beautiful Resort!

Hotel itself was very high end featuring modern decor and elegant touches throughout. We were delighted when we stepped into our room to discover that it was beautifully decorated, spacious, included not only a large walk in shower, but a jacuzzi tub, a private balcony, mini bar with stocked fridge. This room was cleaned daily along with the fridge and mini bar dispensers reliably refilled by very pleasant staff. All the staff from the servers, pool, bar, cleaning, front desk were very prom [... read more]pt, accommodating and polite. There were many pools that served the different needs of their guest which was excellent in our view. Since I (Catherine) swim early in the morning, I personally saw the lengths to which the staff went to maintain these areas. The buffet restaurant (Arenal) was the best of the many resorts that we have attended. The variety of food choices changed daily, so the menu choices remained interesting. We tried all 4 specialty restaurants and found the Steakhouse (Papagayo) to be the best for our taste. The steaks and lobster were consistently excellent. The other specialty restaurants were classy, food was still good, but were less to our tastes. The one disappointment was that the beach was not as swimming and snorkel friendly as we would have liked. The lack of a barrier reef caused the unchecked waves to make the water hard to see and swim in. There was only one tennis court and it needed to be reserved in advance. The court itself was excellent quality, well lit and provided several days of fun for us. I would like to say a special thank you to Kay at the front desk who made the reservations for us and helped me with other requests that we had. Overall both my husband and I were very impressed by the Riu Palace Costa Rica.

Riu Guanacaste: Great Value :)

The RIU Guanacaste is a beautiful resort ! They keep the grounds and the rooms very clean. Pool area is extremely busy and you have to put your towels down early to get a seat. The monkeys and Iquanas are amazing to see :) The food at the buffet is good, nothing special. The Asian and Italian alacart is great :) No complaints....great vacation :)

Riu Guanacaste: Playa

had a lovely family holiday. Extra tours are expensive. Need activities for teenagers Lovely warm ( 30-36 degrees) dry climate and quite windy most days. Nightly shows had some marvellous dancing and acrobatic portions. Good coffee but would have liked a coffee pot in the room

Occidental Tamarindo: Comfort in Costa Rica

Hotel staff were very friendly and eager to accommodate, beds were extremely comfortable and showers hot. Grounds were well kept and clean. Beautiful pool that did not seem overcrowded and plenty of lounge chairs available.

JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort and Spa: Amazing Vacation

Beautiful resort. Lush grounds, excellent food, large swimming pools. Very friendly staff. Large, comfortable well appointed rooms. Very clean. Special thanks to Judy at Trip Central for making this happen.

Riu Guanacaste: Beautiful location, lovely resort, great food for all.

We loved the hotel, the pool, the beach, the restaurants and the proximity to activities for the kids. My kids really enjoyed the sports bar, bingo and other activities they could do around the resort. The rooms were decent, we had a view of the ocean and the resort next door. We could see the sunset from our balcony. The staff were friendly and efficient, the food was a great selection that even my pickiest eater could find something he enjoyed.

Riu Guanacaste: Best weather ever!

We stayed at the Riu Guanacaste once before and had a great time both visits. The hotel is lovely and well maintained. The gardens are beautiful and we could watch Howler monkeys most day from our hotel balcony. The food is very good and the staff are friendly and helpful. We went for a beach walk every morning to watch the sunrise and saw two baby turtles hatch and make their run to the sea. We provided "air cover" so that no birds ate them before they made it to the sea. This resor [... read more]t is located far from any towns but there are lots of excursions you can take. It's perfect for a week of relaxing. There are kayaks, paddle boards and wind surfers for guests to use and the sea is beautiful and warm there. We will be back. Thanks for Bill's help in making our holiday a success.

Azura Beach Resort Samara: Resort is Okay

This is a smaller resort and the the rooms were okay. Getting hot shower is a challenge. Only one pool and one restaurant so if you are looking for more flexibility then this is not the place. Need more staff to man the two bars and the bars are on the smallish side. Pool bar is fine but need something closer to the beach. Only place to get food is at the restaurant so that is also not ideal. Staff booking the excursions need to be replaced.

Hotel Villas Playa Samara: If Not For the Staff.....

Location, location, location. People, people, people. the greatest strengths of this resort. The beach was clean, quiet and peaceful. Virtually everyone from dining to mtce. were warmly receptive. The food was remarkable and surprisingly never repeated in our 10 day stay. Simple evening entertainment during dinner was a perfect blend of variety. Indeed on Valentines Day there was a fabulous beach bonne fire, entertainment, blankets and drinks. This resort COULD BE SO VERY MUCH MORE however. I [... read more]t's infrastructure is weak. No loaner bikes or paddle boards as advertised. Bed linens and towels are old, grey and thin. Water and power supply are oddly sporadic with no backup generators. Guaranteed water will be off at night time a few evenings per week. important to know if you 'need' the toilet. We experienced a 5am-11am planned power outage by the local hydro, for which the resort make no apparent backup plans. Phones are non-existent on site. Our washroom a breeding ground for small black winged drain moths. It would seem this older side of the resort may be a cash-cow for the new development adjacent. The departure tax was a conundrum. The TripCentral agent did not know that the tax was pre-paid by Air Cananda, basic information that would have save waiting in a hot line at Liberia.

Azura Beach Resort Samara: Hotel Villas Playa Samara

This is a smaller hotel with lots of potential. Some of the rooms have been upgraded while some still need some TLC. The food was good most days but I think they changed chefs half way through the week and the quality went down. The servers were very nice & the staff were good. The manger on the front desk was not very helpful when it came time to redeem our vouchers from Air Canada. We had to call Canada to get this sorted out. Even when they were told that we had vouchers the guy that was ther [... read more]e to book our excursions was slow to get this done & we had to push him to book them. It was like they didn’t want us to use the $500 before we left. As it was we did not use our full amount.

Azura Beach Resort Samara: Not open yet

We stayed at the sister resort (Hotel Villas Playa Samara) from February 13th to the 20th. Construction continues on the new resort every day, but it does not look near completion yet. The Villas resort was exceptionally clean and well kept. The rooms were spacious and the beds were very comfortable. The food was great every day on the buffet. Some of the meals at the restaurant were not hot when they arrived. Pizzas were excellent! The bartenders at the pool bar kept the drinks flowing. The sta [... read more]ff were all friendly and helpful. We enjoyed our stay, but still wished the new resort had been available.

Riu Guanacaste: Great Resort

This was a great resort. The grounds were beautiful, food was very good and no problem getting into the restaurants. The bathrooms, hallways, etc. were always clean. The beach was a bit rocky but good.

Riu Guanacaste: Beautiful resort

Beautiful rooms .excellent staff.grounds and pools perfect ..food excellent drinks perfect .I can't say enough how perfect this resort and location for lots of excursions I loved everything thank you to Taylor Curtis my travel agent also I will go back

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Great Quiet Resort

The entire resort was great from the rooms to the pools and the beach. Although we didn't spend much time by the beach due to high winds while we were visiting the pools were fantastic. Plenty of room, you didn't have to fight for a space many chairs available even in the afternoon. The only complaint we had was that the food wasn't amazing, it was OK but we couldn't say "wow that was great", it was just regular food that didn't have a lot of flavour. However, we had friends stay at the  [... read more]Guanacaste Riu and I can say that our pool and resort was WAY better, I would have been dissapointed if I had stayed at the Guanacaste and saw how great the Palace was. It's worth the money to stay at the palace.

JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort and Spa: so friendly but dfinitely just a 4 star, dont wste money on perferred club

just came back fron two weeks in dreans costa rica..beautiful weather, fantastic staff ecspecially Jimmy.elisabethPauola. Meyda. beautiful scenery ,but dont waste money on perferred club really isnt one..still had lots of kids in the perferred club//grab us the first hour for their time sharing gimic, was 4 hours long not 1hour and a half.very dangerous at night as the paths are not lit up very well..could not se where we were goning most of the time. buffet was lousy ,I mean food was edible but [... read more] very little selectom.anything from the store was twice aS much as I have ever sen,sadly the store at the aIrport was exactly the same. a la carte restaurants were not bad, asain ,mexican and steak house were great. the maid was terrible the only thing she did was make the bed ..the counters were never wiped down..no night life at all. I dont mean to sound so picky or anything but we have ben to 6 riu hotels.. white sands pakkadium. grand Pricess hotels//royalton hotels///snd this didnt come close to any of those other .Pther then the maid the sta ff were amazing so friendly and willing to do anything for you /

Riu Guanacaste: Awesome!!

The hotel was beautiful! The grounds were well manicured and kept clean and beautiful to look at. The staff were so friendly, always smiling and eager to help you out! The rooms were large and clean. We loved the outdoor hallways and layout of this hotel! The food was very good! We definitely recommend this place!

Riu Guanacaste: What a place to be at "WOW"

If you wanna see the howler monkeys, zipline good times with great people great food. Wonderful staff.what a wonderful place to be. Did not wanna come home. Don't forget your SUNBLOCK you'll need it. ENJOY

JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort and Spa: Perfect Vacation in every way!

Hotel room was clean and spacious with beautiful patio or balcony. Food on resort was incredible!! Especially love the 24 hour Costa Rican coffee and gelato bar! The beach was gorgeous!!! As were the pool areas - so much space. Amazing all around.

Hotel Villas Playa Samara: NOTHING BUT MAJOR COMPLAINTS!

This Hotel/Resort was grossly misrepresented by the Air Canada Vacations Sun Collection Brochure. It was not a 4 star, or even a 3 star hotel. They did not offer the promised extras like non-motorized water sports, bicycles, boogie boards, stand-up paddle boards, deluxe renovated rooms, or preferred room location. There is a brand new hotel being built right against it (50 feet away) and we had constant dust, and construction noise 7 days a week from 6:30 am until 9 pm daily. We did not get move [... read more]d to a renovated room with promised TV, ceiling fan and mini fridge until day 4 of our vacation. There was not an Air Canada employee as our destination representative. The Rep. worked for a company called Swiss Travel Costa Rica and only act as an Air Canada Rep., and we don't feel he could do anything to help us with our complaints and problems. We have forwarded a detailed complaint letter to the Trip Central customer service email (customerservice@tripcentral.ca)

Riu Guanacaste: Unforgettable vacation

The trip from start to finish was great. We had a quick check in to allow us to get to the buffet on time before closing. On booking we had upgraded our room and were not disappointed. Beautiful view of the ocean and the well kept grounds. Did not get even get a chance to try all the a la carte restaurants as the buffet alone was exceptional. Friendly , helpful staff. We had beautiful weather and the excursions we chose were not disappointing in the least. We would definitely stay at thi [... read more]s resort again in the future. No complaints at all.