Hotel Riu Guanacaste - All Inclusive

“We want to go back!”

A group of 6 couples aged 25-65 had a great time at this newly renovated resort. We had someone with us with mobility issues and she had no problems. The swim up pools are adults only with family pools next to them. The staff was really good at keeping kids out of the adults pool. We stayed mostly … more

A group of 6 couples aged 25-65 had a great time at this newly renovated resort. We had someone with us with mobility issues and she had no problems. The swim up pools are adults only with family pools next to them. The staff was really good at keeping kids out of the adults pool. We stayed mostly at the quieter pool as it was closest to our rooms but there were livelier pools closer to the beach. The Tiki Taco for lunch was handy right at the pool with a good variety. Everywhere we went we found the bartenders to be quick and friendly. The waits were never too bad for the restaurants. It was a pain to try to make a reservation together at the Steak House as the only way to do it was each room separately in the app. Everyone enjoyed all of the restaurants. Entertainment staff was great. Special shout out to Jason on the entertainment team who made sure to say Hi everyday and missed us the day we did an excursion. We did airport transfers and a mobility friendly excursion with Frank the Tank and we would very highly recommend going with this company! We walked to the Monkey Bar and did see the monkeys but they didn't come to us as they did others as we didn't feed them. We had drinks and snacks at the Monkey Bar and stopped at the bar just before it as well which was not as fancy but great service! We took the water taxi ($25/pp) from the beach to Coco Beach for a few hours which was worth it for the scenic boat ride on it's own. We also rented Seadoos on the beach for an hour ($100 for the 2 of us on one). Everyone in our group loved the resort and wants to go back!

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“Family Spring Break Trip”

This review is strictly about the resort—not Costa Rica as a whole, which we absolutely LOVE. Overall, we had a very good stay. The rooms were beautiful, the decor felt updated and inviting, and the pools/waterpark were a lot of fun. The beach was also a big highlight. The food was plentiful with… more

This review is strictly about the resort—not Costa Rica as a whole, which we absolutely LOVE. Overall, we had a very good stay. The rooms were beautiful, the decor felt updated and inviting, and the pools/waterpark were a lot of fun. The beach was also a big highlight. The food was plentiful with enough variety to get through a week comfortably. The quality was just okay—though we may have higher standards than most. I’d say it was on par with, or slightly below, a Royal Caribbean cruise. Drink options were abundant, including a minibar and fully stocked fridge in the room. I don’t drink alcohol, so I do wish there were better non-alcoholic options. I ended up buying a few NA beers during an excursion. One downside: there was no room service. Any requests had to be made through their app, and restocking (towels, toilet paper, fridge, etc.) didn’t happen during daily cleanings. We made multiple requests that sometimes took a full day to be fulfilled—even after calling. The entertainment was below average, but still enjoyable. The Michael Jackson impersonator was actually pretty good. The location is quite secluded—it took 40+ minutes to get to any town or excursions. Transportation was expensive, and anything on-site came at a premium. For example, sunscreen was around $40 for a bottle that would cost about $10 back home. Overall, we’d give it a 4/5. Would we book a RIU again? Probably not. We’re more of an Airbnb family and wanted to try an all-inclusive for the simplicity—but it just may not be our style.

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“Great resort, needs a quiet pool though”

Great All Inclusive, food was excellent, and rooms as well. Only thing we didn't like was the pool by the kids section and water park had a swim up bar as well as the big pools by the beach. Unfortunately there were drunken slobs loud and obnoxious, in that section by the kids pool were they should… more

Great All Inclusive, food was excellent, and rooms as well. Only thing we didn't like was the pool by the kids section and water park had a swim up bar as well as the big pools by the beach. Unfortunately there were drunken slobs loud and obnoxious, in that section by the kids pool were they should have kept it as a quite area. Otherwise resort was good.

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“Fine but definitely not great!”

We stayed at the Palace which was supposedly the nicer (and more expensive) of the two next to each other. The Palace is in desperate need of a renovation. The space feels like you are walking into the 90's. To be honest, our room was pretty gross but we made do because we were only there for a … more

We stayed at the Palace which was supposedly the nicer (and more expensive) of the two next to each other. The Palace is in desperate need of a renovation. The space feels like you are walking into the 90's. To be honest, our room was pretty gross but we made do because we were only there for a couple of days. Skip the Italian restaurant - it was GROSS! The steakhouse was really good as was the Japanese place. The pool area is nice and lively with plenty of shade. We walked over to the other one and thought it looked MUCH nicer! If you are expecting a Sandals experience/atmosphere/level of service, you aren't going to get that. Nowhere near it.

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