Riu Guanacaste - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10292 reviews

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  Love this place! We'll see you again 😍

  That was our second time in this hotel and we will definitely come back again! Incredibly beautiful place based in the middle of the rain forest. You can experience wildlife all around - you just need to observe! Great for restful holidays, local activities and exciting trips. We love the staff, all of them work really hard but still, with such lovely smiles, being friendly and so positive! We had only one unpleasant experience caused by guests, father and son, who captured huge iguana. Thanks to group of guests and incredible staff the situation was treated by management seriously, as it should be. Well done, Riu Guanacaste! And see you soon!

  Dec 16, 2024
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  Vacation

  Everything was awesome and the only problem I saw and had was my room was kinda moldy and you can smell it also

  Dec 14, 2024
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  Inappropriate staff contact with a minor... and more

  Ill start with the title. First was just the gardening staff gawking at my barely 15 year old daughter, even with my wife and I right next to her, but what am I going to do about it? The bigger problem was when an adult member of the staff in his 20s found her on Instagram and sent her a direct message at 2am. Luckily we monitor our daughters social media so I blocked and deleted it right away. I will preface this by saying that up to this point he had done a great job in making sure my family was having a good time playing volleyball and attending shows etc. Even when he followed her on Instagram, I thought it was a bit strange but let it go. The message was just one word and nothing vulgar but what on earth could a man in his mid 20s have to text a 15 year old girl about at 2am?! I attempted to bring this to the attention of the General manager a couple of times but he was either not in or our schedules didn't match up. I don't feel like he was dodging me but we never connected. When we returned home I sent a message to the hotel about the incident. I never heard back anything other than a message received receipt. Now the more part. Got stuck in an elevator. It was only for about a minute or 2 and I was able to pry the doors open luckily so not a huge deal. That elevator was then down for the rest/majority of our stay. It was right by our room so we had to take a pretty significant detour to get to and from our room each time. The food is simply not good and you are very beholden to their schedule. Almost every single restaurant is a buffet that attempts fine dining but done cafeteria style. They each close on certain nights as well so wait times are driven up at others and they also have short hours that they are open so its very possible you don't get in to any of the dinner spots and just end up back at the main buffet. (Tip, everything chicken is good, everything beef is bad, eat lunch at the little taco spot by the new pools don't bother with the buffets) We were sitting in one of the newer pools with our daughter. We were off in a corner just quietly chatting with maybe 4 other people in the entire large pool. We were approached by security and told we had to get out because its a bar pool and our daughter isnt old enough. Totally fair request and we got out right away. No problem. Imagine our dimay to return to that area the next day to find staff encouraging young children that are screaming and hollering to get into the pool and then taking photos with them and having a blast. I mean, if youre going to enfore a rule how about enfore it all the way across. Not sure how our nearly silent teenager was worse than screaming 10 and unders. Beds are hard and uncomfortable. AC is just enough stay semi comfortable at night, it wont provide much relief during the day so keep to pools and beach to beat the heat. You may have some late night visits from cockroaches, we did. Gross but it is Central America. Now, to be fair... The Good. Its a beautiful setting and the resort itself is pretty nice and well maintained. The new section is gorgeous, (where we were kicked out of the pool lol) and has a new water park that is pretty fun. slides are tough on your back but still well worth a visit. The beach is incredible and there is a great spot for volleyball and soccer. The white party they throw was a big hit. They have top shelf liquor at the two bars where they hold the shows at night. All the pools are awesome and have plenty of seating available, almost all of which is shaded.

  Dec 13, 2024
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  Fun but food was mediocre; pool and ocean was great

  It is a long way from airport especially when the road has too many huge potholes to count but is interesting. The hotels website is a little confusing as we thought we had 2 rooms; but actually had 2 beds(we were informed that you cannot have 2 rooms unless you have more than 3 people). They issue keys for doors that are especially difficult to open and we had to call for help at least twice. The buffet food on the main property is fairly bland but if you go across the road from the main lobby, it is soooo much better. the Italian restaurant's main course (you get to order it) is good; but again, the buffet before the main course is bland. the activities and events around the pool were excellent. Plenty of chairs by the ocean and it was great for swimming or floating. definately would not eat in the Sports Bar as the chips were old and sandwiches were not at all good. It was not a good sports bar. If you stay at the Riu Palace you can come over to the RIU regular and be served; but if you stay here you cannot get a drink at the Palace. It was fun but there were a few issues that were disheartening.

  Dec 12, 2024
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  Costa Rica good but hotel bad

  To start with a positive Costa Rica is amazing. The staff at hotel work long and hard. The hotel needs refurbishment and the rooms are very tired which is not reflected in the price we paid. The food unfortunately is dreadful and the supposed Al a carte restaurants are not Al a carte. There is no booking arrangements so to secure a table you need to start queuing before 5.30pm. Personally that I too early for dinner. The buffet restaurant is an experience I really do not wish to repeat.

  Dec 12, 2024