Great resort

The grounds on the resort are well kept and rooms are quite comfortable. Restaurants have enough choices. My only complaint there are too many kids and its quite noisy around the pool especially on the weekend. The beach is adequate and you can walk for quite a while safely. Enjoyed the holiday but probably would book next time at the Riu Palace next door.

Average Resort

Other than the pool, this hotel was a disappointing experience. Service could be better, both at the reception and at the bars. The so called 24 hour bar, never had any stocked food, always empty. I always had to ask to stock the fridge and for toilet paper. Best to spend a bit more money and stay at the Riu Palace. Not worth the money.

Good resort

Hotel OK.Almost 4 star. Service is good. Beach very nice, bat pool aria all the time no clean,very old pool.In the kitchen chef main food department unprofessional. All rums keeping very good! Reception service is OK.

Great vacation

Having read the reviews I wasn't sure what to expect, the hotel is dated but the rooms are clean, the food was good, the beer was cold, and our group had a great time. We did hear they are going to start renovations on this resort and it will be better than the palace next door, they have room to put another pool in which is needed. I did know going the beach/ocean was not going to be a spot I would normally go into and hang out at so no disappointment there. If you want a beach and a blue ocean [... read more] this is not your spot, if you want a party atmosphere this is not your place. Costa Rica is beautiful and we were lucky enough to feed the monkeys and see many sloths on our day trip. We booked our day trip with Jose on the beach it was fantastic, I had read in a review to book with him Jose in the pink shirt, great advice!

Great Resort!

The Resort was absolutely beautiful. Easy walking and easy to navigate for its size. The rooms were clean and the fridge was restocked every other day. (bathtubs are very tricky to get out of) We had no problems what so ever finding food to our liking and there was plenty of it. The only negatives on the food was the a la cartes...only open from 6-8 and you can't make reservations which made it almost impossible to get into. If you are at the pool until it closes at 6...up to shower and cha [... read more]nge and by the time you come down, you can't get in. Other resorts are usually open until 9and have 2-3 set seating times. The beach was beautiful but it was way to hot to be down there as there were no trees for shade or straw huts ...usually they are all up and down the beach for you to put your chairs under. Any trees that were down there were snatched up by the vendors selling their wares...they should be reserved for the guests. The pools were beautiful and clean and the staff at the swim up bar were stellar...in and out very quickly. Would go back to this hotel in a heartbeat.

It was a beautiful resory

We stayed there from April 2 -9 Staff were very accommodating and very friendly. We would like to give a special thank you to Bryan and Kevin for their assistance in making our stay great.Our only issue was with Sunwing we will never fly with them again. They took 26 pieces of luggage off the inbound flight. My wife was without clothes for 2 days.

Good resort

Resort was nice, clean and staff friendly. Dealing with covid was fine. No real issues. Resort was only about 50% at capacity. Down fall of resort is beach is not used for swimming as Pacific Ocean is rough.

A Great Getaway

This is my second stay in seven years at this resort. Both times were great. The property is secluded with a gorgeous stretch of beach nestled between mountains and jungle. The staff are so helpful and never let your glass run low of wine. The restaurants offer a good variety. The main entertainment gets a bit mundane after a few nights, however the musicians prior to the main show are great. More variety is needed. The resort is well maintained and clean. Zip lining and nature outings are fanta [... read more]stic.

Excellent hotel

Just came back from Riu Guanacaste and it was a great, trouble-free 14-day stay. This is a well-maintained and well-managed hotel in an amazing location. The grounds are beautiful, with lush greenery, lots of flowers and trees and immaculate grass lawns. We loved our cozy, clean and always well-conditioned room - it had a nice vintage look with its dark solid wood furniture, huge king-size bed, spacious bathroom and balcony. Everything in the room was in good working order. Garden keepers were e [... read more]xtremely hard-working, waiters were courteous and professional (we only used Liberia and Octopal (or Octal?) restaurants), reception staff was quick, efficient and always ready to help. There was always a good variety of food and it was fresh and tasty. The hotel is literally surrounded by forest and there are lots of trails around, which you can explore, take countless pictures of birds, animals, butterflies, exotic plants, even climb the nearby mountain, if you feel like it - everything is within the walking distance, which is a great advantage. Plus there are a lot of excursions to choose from, if you don't want to limit your experiences to hotel only. Fishing was very good, we caught a big mahi-mahi and two small black tunas. Waterfalls, rainforest, volcano mud baths, river boat ride - all worth doing. We came to Costa Rica to enjoy its beautiful nature and wildlife, staying in a nice place and not worrying about accommodation and food, and we got exactly what we were looking for. Changes due to Covid-19: masks are mandatory in the restaurants, lobby, elevators and hotel building, also in the shuttle and excursion buses. If you are not wearing a mask, the staff will politely tell you or show with a gesture. Looks like things are regularly sanitized - we've seen staff sanitizing beach chairs in a dedicated area (not on the beach).The hotel has set up a room for PCR-test taking. We filled out a form and booked an appointment (both online, the hotel gave us a link) for November 20 (we were leaving on November 22). Less than 24 hours after the test they sent the results to our emails. The cost is 110 USD per person. They send you a link for payment, which can be made when you get back to Canada. We were asked twice for the test results at Costa Rica airport, when we were leaving, but nobody asked for it at Pearson :)

A trip that never took place

Due to covid 19 symptoms that appeared a night before the flight ( even though we are fully vaccinated) we could not take the flight or enjoy our long awaited vacation. I hope we will get our money back or take the vacation in a much later day. I had no response from tripcentral in this regard yet.

A Great Resort

Right from the start I new we had made a great choice. The check in process was very fast and efficient. We were in our room in less than 15 minutes. After arriving in our room we were able to check one thing off our Must Do.When we looked off our balcony we could see howler monkeys in the trees. They were there from about 2 to 5:30 pm. Our sunwing representative Smiley was great. He was able to put us on an excursion that checked a couple more things on our Must Do list. We went on the Blue [... read more] River excursion and saw 3 sloths, blue morpho butterflies, volcanic steam baths, hot springs and volcanic mud. The hotel also offers shuttles to Coco Beach and Taramindo Beach. The food was also very good. The buffet and the a la cartes. The wine could always be improved upon! I would not hesitate to return to this resort, and I am defenitly not finished with Costa Rica. Sandra

Great resort

The hotel was beautiful. Easy checkin, friendly staff, rooms cleaned quickly. Food was great and suited all tastes. Drinks were good. Beach was gorgeous, a little rocky directly in front of the resort, but a quick walk down you could find more sandy entry. Amazing wildlife everywhere. We saw countless monkeys and a variety of monkey species. I would without a doubt consider returning with my family to this resort. Huge pool.

Good for an All Inclusive

This resort is good for people looking for an all inclusive...although if you want peace and quiet, you have to ask for a room (and be very adamant) overlooking the eco park with the monkeys. You can watch the monkeys playing from your balcony and you don't have to listen to the awful nightly entertainment. I did ask for one of these rooms upon check in - front desk assured me the room they first gave us was quiet, but very noisy and I mean noises you do NOT want to hear - thin walls (especially [... read more] with a 15 yo). So, next day, I asked Sunwing rep if we could move, and he (Gilbert) looked after it within minutes. Food is good...you can always find something good. We did not want to line up at 5:30 for a la carte.. so we ate at buffet every night. Rooms are clean, something always missed after cleaning, but when we called front desk they would look into it. We are just done with all inclusives, but if that's what you want, it's a good option.

Beautiful resort!

Beds were uncomfortable, pillows were uncomfortable & very small, surprised for a Riu. Ocean was not great to swim in, beach was to be expected as same in Panama where I have been, not white & sandy. The resort itself was beautiful & clean, the food was good.

Great place to stay

Had a great time at the resort! Friendly staff. Ton of food to choose from. Great entertainment. Would highly recommend this hotel. Walking distance to monkey bar and turtle hatchery. Beach is great!

Great resort

We loved the Riu. Great food, beautiful and well kept grounds. Clean rooms, lots of wildlife. Highly recommend. Tons of great excursions close by which is good because Entertainment was not great, and not much going on fun-wise at the resort.

Great trip!

Great Hotel would be great if there was a bar closer to the beach, and they didn't limit refilling fridge to every 2 days, other than that no complaints. Really enjoyed seeing monkeys next door each day.

Great Experience

I thought the hotel was great. Plenty of seats in the shade. Friendly staff. Was a great time. The only thing I did not like is you have to line up to get into any of the 4 restaurants that were not the buffet. But that was a minor irritation. I also appreciate that smoking is only allowed in certain places - not everywhere.

Great location

Was lack of restrooms near beach and a constant line up at women’s washrooms at nearest restraunt. There was no beverage service at beach . Overall a great vacation and excellent dining facilities . Would definitely return

February stay

This was our second stay at this hotel. Everything was great. The only thing that was not as expected was the beach. It was rockier than I remembered but that is due to the tides. Sometimes there was rocks then a few hours later it was nice and sandy. If you walk just past the Palace there's a nice stretch of beach there. Lots of wild life to see. Overall nice vacation