Riu Guanacaste: 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.

Occidental Papagayo: Nice resort

Lots of work needed at Asian rest. Poor food and lots of kitchen noise. The resort on a whole was well maintained and staff very friendly lots of stairs people should be made aware of this before booking

Riu Guanacaste: 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.

Riu Guanacaste: 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.

Occidental Papagayo: Nice Quiet Resort

This resort is quiet with very friendly staff. This is a great resort if you want some exercise (many stairs and buildings are spread-out). The beach is a good hike as well. As it is a smaller resort, the selection of food in the buffet is limited but very tasty (there is often a wait for the dinner buffet). You can not go wrong with the weather there, very hot. I would recommend this resort to those not afraid of walking and looking for a quiet, relaxing get away.

The Westin Reserva Conchal Golf Resort & Spa: Stunning Resort

The property and golf course are absolutely gorgeous and maintained beautifully. The staff are super helpful and there are so many! Activities are fabulous -excellent aquafit instructors every day. Restaurants are very, very good. The rooms are georgeous - we had a beautiful view of the golf course and the water fowl on the little lake/pond - building 411 rooms 6 and 7. The pool is huge and lovely. If you are looking for shallow , calm walk-in beach, this is not for you. The water is rough and t [... read more]he undertow strong. But the surfing at Tamarindo beach near by is great. I'd say this is the most beautiful resort we've ever stayed at (and we were pretty impressed with Sandals in St. Lucia)

Secrets Papagayo Resort: So Beautiful and Amazing. Can't wait to go back

The Hilton Papagayo was absolutely beautiful. The resort was amazing. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Rooms were clean and really nice as they are little villas. Food was amazing, every meal was something new and yummy. Beach and pool fabulous. Tours offered were amazing and alot of fun. Over whole had my husband and I Had an amzing time and can't wait to go back.

Riu Guanacaste: 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!

Riu Guanacaste: 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.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Spend the extra $200!

Do yourself a favour and spend the extra $200 to upgrade from the resort next door! The +$200 will include: - free wi-fi throughout resort - older, quieter crowd...if that's what you prefer - better food - less busy resort, never was a problem to find a spot by the pool, never had to wait long to get a drink/be served, mostly had an elevator to yourself - AND coffee bar! :))) (José was great and always served you with a smile! He also remembered your orders.) So splurge UNLESS you're with a l [... read more]arger group/family and you want to save some money OR you're looking for that social atmosphere. I found that the majority of people at the Palace kept to themselves and weren't that friendly/social/outgoing. I think my ONE major beef was that the washrooms were just a bit far from the pool area. Closest ones were at the buffet restaurant near beach and there were only 4 stalls for the women. At one point, 2 of the washrooms were out of commission, either dirty/not flushing properly, so there was a wait. Since this is the washroom situation, I can only imagine that people, especially if they were drinking, were probably going in the pool! If you're a beach person, you may be disappointed. Look through the pics to know what you're getting into. Beach is volcanic sand, so it's dark and VERY HOT! Other than the trees provided, there aren't any beach umbrellas. However, I did see the resort staff still bring people drinks. TIPS: This is not the resorts' fault, but it was pitch dark by 6pm! So if you wanted to explore to beach to see the sea turtles laying their eggs, bring a flashlight. Otherwise, there is no point in going out on the beach 'cause there is absolutely no light there. You do not need reservations for the Italian restaurant), across from the lobby. They have a small buffet, but also a la carte menu, so don't load a plate up! So if I wanted a nicer, quieter, sit down without the somewhat depressing atmosphere, I just went there for lunch/dinner! If you have a family, bring your laptop and download some movies as there isn't much English options on the channels provided. Resort staff works hard. So if they don't have a smile on their face, just smile at them and say, Hi!

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Faboulous Resort

Everything was great. Food, accommodations, service. I miss the drinking water which was excellent. I would highly recommend this resort. Keep your eye out for wildlife, such as monkeys and birds, which can be seen from your hotel.

Riu Guanacaste: 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.

Occidental Papagayo: Fantastic experience

The whole resort was beautiful friendly would go back in a heart beat.We celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary and Roberto the general manager made our celebration the most wonderful event to have as a memory of our stay.The whole staff could not please us enough.Putt it this way,when you leave your family to go on your vacation, you get a second family that takes good care of you.The adventure tours we took were by far well worth the money and the experience.

Riu Guanacaste: Great resort!

The hotel is really beautiful. I loved the grounds and the people so friendly. The beach is great. The pool also amazing. The buffet restaurant had a variety of food to please everyone. The only negative was the steak restaurant did not enjoy the menu.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Heaven on earth

My wife and I spent a week here, early Nov., 2014. This hotel iss beautiful. The staff are very polite, friendly and helpful. The food in the buffet and a la carte restaurants was both plentiful and excellent. There is a 24h room stocked with hot snacks, pour your own beer and wine, and an easy to use espresso, cappucino, etc maker. The bars were well staffed and effucient, little or no waiting. Wine was from Chile poured right from the bottle. Rooms were spacious, clean, his n her sink and grea [... read more]t shower. Gardenview room as good as oceanview because ocean is 500m away. Pools were superb, stand up bar, lounges built right in water. There is no quiet pool when activities go on (10:30~12:30 and 2:30~4:30). Beach is clean semi hard sand easy to walk but BROWN not white. We did Nicaragua tour, long day but worth it, even the 2h border crossing with ebolla check.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Amazing

I have stayed at many resorts across the Caribbean and this was by far the best. The staff went above and beyond they were just so happy to help you with anything you might need or want. The food was great. Gina in the buffet is a sweat heart. Dennis the server on the beachfront was great. Go, relax you won't be disappointed! The animation crew work so hard to make sure you have a great vacation. The nighty shows were incredible.

Riu Guanacaste: Beautiful Resort!

Very beautiful, everything was lush and breath taking! The resort is very luxurious and grand! Service was great! Everything is in close quarters so that was nice for a change! You don't have to walk a mile to get somewhere you want to be!

Riu Guanacaste: EXCELLENT TRIP AGAIN!!!!

The RIU Guanacaste is a great hotel/resort. The grounds are immaculate, the staff are friendly and helpful, and the food is very good. The entertainment staff is awesome, David and Daniella. The rooms are spacious and well-kept. We were on the 5th floor with a view of the forest and partial ocean view. Had howlers monkeys in the trees just outside our balcony in the mornings! Take the shuttle into Coco Beach for some shopping and hanging out at a bar or restaurant, Coconutz was pretty cool. Of c [... read more]ourse take an excursion to the rain forest, one of the volcanos, surfing, or do some deep sea fishing, Costa Rica is an amazing place, make sure to check it out!

Riu Guanacaste: Best Trip for our family

This resort is top quality. The rooms are spacious and clean. You get a good selection of food with a lot of local fruits and vegetables. Pool area is where we spent most of time, plenty of chairs. Water temperature was perfect and every day was sunny with 30C, low humidity.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Best hotel

Riu palace Costa Rica is one of the best hotel that I have been.I really happy with everything.I would go back again and recommend to everyone. I went there with my husband and 7 year old daughter to celebrated my 40' birthday .One of the best birthday ever