Riu Guanacaste: Great place; excellent value for your money

While Guanacaste does not have the reputation of Sandals Resorts but in many ways comes pretty close in terms of service, food quality and general atmosphere of the resort. The beach is very pleasant with enough chairs and shade if needed. The pool is amazing. Evening entertainment is varied and family friendly. Quests can also participate and even my three year old grandson had a great time. The cost of the trips are reasonable and well organized. Staff is pleasant and attentive and quite profi [... read more]cient in English.

Secrets Papagayo Resort: A lovely tranquil spot.

The hotel is nice enough although showing signs of wear in the tropical bungalow we were in. The weather and food made up for it.The big disappointment was the fact that 4 of the teams from the Under 17 Girls World Cup Soccer were staying at this resort greatly reducing the number of guests around in the evening.The night life was virtually nothing. One of the teams was from North Korea and the security around them was so tight that no one was allowed on the property unless they were registered  [... read more]guests. This posed a huge problem for me because I was there to celebrate a milestone birthday and my son and daughter-in-law who were staying in Tamarindo were not allowed to come to be with us to celebrate.That was the whole point of the trip for me and if I had been informed of this beforehand I would most certainly have chosen a different resort. The beach is in a cove so nice and quiet and waters are calm but if you are one who wants to walk for miles on the beach this resort is not for you. Lots of hill walking to keep you in shape but there are great little shuttles you can hitch a ride on if you prefer. Best smoothies in the world at the spa pool. To lie at that adult only pool every morning looking out at the ocean and mountains while enjoying a papaya/mango smoothie and listening to nothing but calming music and ocean breezes was what I am hoping heaven to be.

Allegro Papagayo by Occidental: Average

This resort was just ok. Clean, the food was decent. The service was not great. The pool area was great and the drinks were yummy! The beach was different than we are used to with the black sand but not an issue for us. This resort is out in the middle of nowhere. You habe to take a boat or taxi to get to town. About $80 for both. You can also rent a car and split the cost with a few others to reduce costs. We went for two weeks to relax. All in all i would say mission accomplished. And again [... read more] this hotel was 'fine'. It is what you make of it.

Best Western Irazu Hotel: Very convenient from airport . Excellent !!

Very clean ,Ideal for business. Staff is excellent !! I've stayed several times, great value for money ..Shuttle from airport! Wake up calls free phone and internet ..Easy access to buses .. All in all ideal location for first stop in Costa Rica .Stay a day or a week you will not be disappointed .. Ask about corporate rates .. They are very compliant, if you have client card .. The desk help is excellent .. Can't go wrong !!!@

Riu Guanacaste: Awesome view of ocean and outstanding resort

Small resort but the best place we have ever been. Can't wait to go back! Highly recrememt this place. Great pools beach food rooms and entertainment. The views are out of this world and short bus ride from the airport.

Riu Guanacaste: great time with friendly staff

The hotel was beautiful and the food delicious. Fresh fruit and scenery was something to see. Cant wait to go back. We went on the river boat tour, and saw crocodiles and monkeys in ther natural habitat

Riu Guanacaste: very nice

very nice..rooms clean...people friendly..meals were good and lots of selection..located in a nice area....beach was great...lots of tours to take..the riverboat tour was very nice...we had a room with a very nice view of the Ocean.

Riu Guanacaste: Winter Escape was Great!

The hotel grounds were immaculate and the rooms were very comfortable with great ocean views. There were many pools to cool down in but the ocean was the real draw for us (beautiful black beaches, lots of sun and shade). The staff and local people were very friendly!

Allegro Papagayo by Occidental: Excellent staff

With this being the first trip to Costa Rica to scope a wedding site it was all about location. We stumbled across this resort in magazine and came recommended by 2 coworkers. We arrived to be welcomed by the friendliest staff. Checkin was good and knowing from trip in that we were in for a treat with all the hills. A shuttle took us right to out floor as we call it because there is such a hill to the resort that all the buildings are built in levels so there is 3 levels. Room was a normal room  [... read more]with 2 beds. We had ground level so all the stairs were out for us. Now here's where everything got to the excellent part. We go to the buffet as we were hungry and was greeted by the hostess and sat basically anywhere as there wasn't more that 80 people in the resort. Our server (Jimmy) who in all my travels is the best server ever was very kind and spoke very good English. He stood tree and took our drink orders and never asked again. He made small talk and introduced us to Costa Rica culture. This man was by far a treasure well kept away from the world and is a gem that the rest of the world really needs to meet. Everyday we would come in and be sat in his area and he would bring us our drinks with out us asking. Great memory and great service. He recommended places to go and who we should see and took our enjoyment his personal priority. He definitely made the resort a special place to us. We did our excursions, 5 of them with some of them being the best things we have ever done. Very first thing we did was watch the leatherback turtles come to shore and lay eggs.. Total the most awesome feeling watching life start on its journey. We did ziplining, horseback riding, water sliding, rock climbing, hot tubbing, going to waterfall (on our own with car rental), bird watching and fishing out on papagayo bay. Excellent trip and are planning on returning at end of October again where we have arranged to spend a day with some of the staff in San José.