Riu Palace Costa Rica: Palace in the jungle

Very nice and is worthy of 4 stars! Staff was eager to please and friendly. Rooms smelled a bit musty but thats to be expected as it is very humid there! Mostly ate at the buffet. Their omelets are amazing!! Great and big selection of foods and desserts! Buffet foods werent always the hottest, but still good! Dined at the steak house 1 night and all 3 of us loved it!! The resort is stunning!! All white with the green jungle surrounding it! Beach sand is darker as it is volcanic sand but not as b [... read more]lack as we expected. Room service is fabulous! Huge portions and delicious! Only complaints.. we found the fridge in our room not cold. We had to chill our drinks on ice. All the floors throughout the resort are very slippery. Nearing the end of our trip we were getting tired of always watching how we walked! The pools shut down every night at 6pm. This is when it gets dark but they have good lighting so not sure why they do this! The bar closes every night by midnight. We had a jungle view room and highly recommend it! In our opinion the ocean view would not be worth the extra expence as the ocean is a fair distance from the resort and you would be looking over the grounds and pools way more so then the ocean! If we returned to Costa Rica would we stay here again? Absolutly!

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Fantastic Place!!

Service is excellent - people are nice. Food is good - can't think of a better place I wanted to be. So much to see and do. Coco Beach is absolutely wonderful!!! Second time round at the Riu Palace for me. I will go again in a minute. Weather is good - even in the rainy season (only rains at night).

Riu Guanacaste: Best vacation ever!

Beautiful resort with a natural black sand beach. Good food and staff was super helpful. Great near by areas with many activities. This resort is surrounded by amazing wilderness. We got to see Dolphins, whales, and many other animals in their own habitat. Best vacation we've ever been on! Can't wait to go back.

Riu Guanacaste: Amazing resort

The resort is surrounded by trees and rocks covered in greenery. Walking distance to hiking tails and zip lines, volcanic and yellow sandy beaches. Staff at the resort are very helpful. Tips are welcome but you don't feel are required. Rooms are very clean, roomy and full equipped, such as alcohol bar and safe. Pool section is huge and spots are always available. 24h sport bar available. In the resort there are several restaurants and bars. A dance group kinda makes staying every nig [... read more]ht.

JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort and Spa: Very nice Hotel

I spent one week with my husband in Costa Rica- Hotel Dreams Las Mareas. This Hotel is excellent , food, services , cleansing. Beautiful room very clean, free phone for US and Canada . I had problem with my tooth, the Concierge Masella organized taxi , appointment with dentist in small town La Cruz all perfect. All staff very polite, friendly Claudia, Francisco ....

Villas Sol Beach Resort: Costa Rica - Villas Sol

Very happy with Trip Central but extremely unhappy with Sunwing - upgraded to Elite Plus but only got leg room - no first-off plane, or first in line-ups, or first-off luggage - all promised but nothing - waste of 50.00 - got earphones but my seat system was broken - sunwing rep in CR only concerned about selling excursions and did nothing to help us with questions like where to bank, or where to go for shopping etc....the people at the hotel pressuring (big time) for tours of the hotel in excha [... read more]nge for 100.00 towards excursions/spa - timesharing....awful. The hotel itself was incredible but over-shadowed for sure by sunwing experience and hotel harrassment. Beach was 'ok' but the pool was beautiful - the landscape and the beauty was inexplicable - so beautiful! The excursion we went on, booked thru TripCentral - Vandara Expedition was amazing and highly recommend that you take this. Hotel built into mountain so had to take shuttles to the beach and reception - just loved it!

Villas Sol Beach Resort: Villas Sol, Liberia Costa Rica

My daughter and I just got back and the experience, overall, was amazing. However, I was extremely disappointed with Sunwing. After Julie, at TripCentral, did such an amazing job with the booking of the trip, as well as the excursion (which was incredible!), Sunwing left such a bad taste. At the airport in Toronto, in line-up to check our bags, we were approached about upgrading to Elite Plus for 50.00 (a discount, apparently) - we were told that we would have more leg-room, first on/off the  [... read more]plane, priority lineups in TO and Costa Rica and luggage first off the plane....all we got was more leg room. We were in row 15 so there was not first off the plane, we waited in the same line ups as everyone else (we even asked but nobody knew what we were supposed to do or get)...and our luggage was the second last off the plane - everyone else was gone and we were still waiting for our luggage. So why did we pay 50.00 extra? They did give me free head-phones but it was well into the trip down to CR which meant I had missed all the movie. I tried to use them on the return trip but my system was broken and I couldn't hear music or the movie. I told the attendant, but there was nothing she could do. She did give me a little glass of wine for free which wasn't really free because it was complimentary and my daughter is only 16 so, in fact, it was like I just took hers. That was the first complaint - then when we got to CR, we were supposed to have our orientation with the Sunwing rep on the Tuesday at 11:30 - we met him but it wasn't orientation - he had no interest in discussing things like where we could bank, or eat, or go - all he wanted to do was book excursions. I had booked, previously, with Julie so he just took the time to write up the receipt and give us our date/time - then he 'dismissed us' because he had other 'customers' who were wanting to buy an excursion. He was 'border-line' rude with us. He wasn't the only one that was trying to push/bully us....the people who worked at the hotel harrassed us about taking a 1-1/2 hour tour of the hotel (time-sharing, it seems) and then giving us a 100.00 credit applied against excursions or spas. We weren't interested and told them, but that didn't stop them from approaching us every time they saw us. It was awful - we found ourselves actually hiding from them! So everything that Julie did was ruined by these experiences. Other than that, the hotel was incredible! The scenery - the hotel itself, the pools, the staff (other than the ones mentioned)....a beautiful fime - Costa Rica is so beautiful - and this hotel, being built right into a mountain, was different than any other place we have been. We had to take shuttles to reception and to the beach because of the steep hills - so quaint! We loved our experiences and would highly recommend this trip to others.

Wyndham Tamarindo: Awesome Hotel... but crappy beach club (used it only for the free lockers)

Hotel was very clean, very modern and very well kept. All of the staff were friendly and helpful and most spoke excellent English. The breakfast included was repetitive but very good. Eggs, pancakes, beans and rice, bacon, sausages, and 3 plates of fruit. There was coffee, tea, orange juice cane sugar and some stuff for sandwiches. Hotel is pretty quiet most of the time with chill music playing throughout. The only downside of the hotel would be having to take a shuttle to the beach and  [... read more]the fact its not all inclusive (drinks are expensive at the pool bar (4USD local beer, around 10 for a cocktail). But in return for not having beach front, the view from every room is amazing. Moving on to the Beach club we have access to. Very disappointing, id give it 2 stars. the pool filter probably did not run for the whole week as the water was murky filled with leaves and a dead crab that layed at the bottom of the pool. But you can leave your backpack in the locker there and explore the beach and the town. For good cheap food i recommend Tico Taco and the juice bar beside it. Other than those two places food is EXTREMELY expensive for a country in central america. I also recommend paying in USD as you will get better rates. For excursions go on the Adventure trip 100USD from the town, it covers the transport, buffet lunch, ziplining, horseback riding, tubing down water rapids and a thermal spring/mud bath. Well worth the 100USD. Scuba diving is quite awesome as well, manages to see sharks, massive 15ft manna ray and on our way back humpback whales swimming. Overall great trip, but not your typical all inclusive.

Wyndham Tamarindo: Grear resort

Staff: very friendly staff willing to help when needed. Accommodation : the hotel was very clean and beautiful. The room was always cleaned and we'll maintained. The pool area was very inviting. Restaurant : Great food. Location: alittle walk to the beach.

Riu Guanacaste: Amazing Experience!!

Very clean, beautiful, beautiful grounds, lots of beautiful plants and trees. Well maintained. Beautiful views, very picturesque, great pool with lots of shade and no issues getting chairs by the beach and pool. Lots of amazing excursions to choose from. Great entertainment group! great friendly staff who are always willing to help out!

Riu Guanacaste: Amazing Resort

The hotel's grounds are beautiful. The people are nice. The buffet & a la carte's were really good too. Lots of variety considering I gave to eat Gluten free. The resort is super clean. They are constantly mopping the resort grounds, and cleaning the washrooms. I've never seen people clean so much. I've been to Cuba, Mexico, punta Cana, and Jamaica, and i can say that this was one of the best. The only thing that wasn't amazing was the beach. It is a little rocky, so bring water shoes.

Secrets Papagayo Resort: Fantastic

Excellent staff and a beautiful facility. We would recommend this resort to adults whether as couples or friends. There was enough to do on site but it's a wonderful country so try to get out and see it. The food was great. The room was clean and nice. The beach and pool service was amazing. A relaxing and fun vacation.

CC Beach Front Papagayo: Peaceful and quiet!

This is the perfect resort if you are looking for a quiet place to read and soak up the sun. The grounds are immaculate, constant attention shows. The staff are friendly and accommodating. Rooms are spacious and clean. A/C works very well. Food is varied and delicious. Scenery is lovely, no loud music, no games and no night time entertainment suited us just fine.

Riu Guanacaste: Okay resort, lacked energy

The grounds were beautiful but my room was dirty. Cockroach in bathroom and fecese left in the toilet. Musty smell in room and had to request new sheets. Food was excellent. Sunset is at 6 and no entertainment til 9, no music in lounge etc... im a low key person but I felt this hotel lacked energy. Spa was awesome. Went here to surf, highlight of trip.

CC Beach Front Papagayo: Great staff, food and quiet location!

Tip: the accommodation in the older guest rooms need much improvement. Request for the newer rooms when booking. The staff was great. Food was good. Beach was good. Pool was good. Everything was good except the older rooms. Great place to relax!

Riu Guanacaste: Need more daily activities

Overall the resort was ok. Food was ok, good variety. Rooms were good and the resort was clean. Disappointed in the lack of daily activities especially for children. There is a small children's area, but was geared towards very young children and does not allow parents in. Considering there is a long rainy season, there needs to be more activities indoor and out. This is a good resort for adults, but not ideal for those travelling with children. Had an incident with a staff member assaulting a f [... read more]amily member. Need to have much more stringent background checks on staff.

Riu Guanacaste: Good resort

Great... food and restaurants needs some work as well as the bars. The service was great. Too short time. The location of the hotels wonderful. We enjoyed the servuces and people. The pool and bars closed too early...minutes to 6.00pm

The Westin Reserva Conchal Golf Resort & Spa: A delightful experience

The hotel was lovely and the setting was perfect. I was very impressed by the staff. Everyone was so helpful and pleasant. They made an effort to remember our names and said hello to us each time they passed us. There was no request too big and everything we asked for came in a timely fashion. Their English was fantastic and I can't say enough about their desire to please and accommodate us. For an all inclusive we were very impressed by the food. The beach was great and so was the location. Aga [... read more]in I believe our trip was as pleasant as it was primarily due to the fabulous staff. The made sure we had a seamless experience. There were shuttles to move us around the property but we chose to walk and experience all the beauty and glory that is Costa Rica. We were greeted by monkeys and coatis' and sharing the pathways with iguanas made us feel like we were really getting the best balance of natural environment and modern conveniences. Overall it was a perfect trip and would definitely recommend this property for families and couples or friends looking for a wonderful place to vacation.

JW Marriott Costa Elena Resort and Spa: Good resort

Overall a good resort, some things to note was the prices of paid amenities were expensive, service was good with some but not with all, food was great, area was great but far from any town visits, overall a solid 4.0

The Westin Reserva Conchal Golf Resort & Spa: Great resort for nature lovers

Set within a nature reserve, you don't get the clear cut views of the ocean like some other more modern resorts. You do get animals in their natural habitat though and its wonderful. I love sitting by the pool and listening to birds and monkeys and watching the friendly iguanas. Staff is warm, friendly and try their best to please. Loved the Riu Palace too but prefer the Westin for the nature.