Riu Guanacaste

The grounds are absolutely stunning. Food was good, lots of choices something for everyone. Staff was beyond amazing, happy, helpful, and polite.
But 2 major complaints. First is lack of washrooms throughout resort, restaurants on one side and only two sets of bathrooms on the other side with only 4 stalls each, very inconvenient as well as only l washroom with 4 stalls by the very large pool again not very practical.
Room bathroom was also poor with slippery and no light in tub, and toilets don't flush well.
With all the rain we had staff stayed cheery and kept up on cleaning flooded areas.
Pool is also showing age with missing tiles, but was clean and staff constantly cleaned around pool area.
For those that don't know the beach is a black sand beach, don't expect white sands…great walking beach.
I would go again but would hope they update soon. [Details]

Everything was great! Great food, beautiful surroundings. Some construction, which is to be expected as the hotel is aging a little and pool could use a face lift, missing tiles, dirty and mold around louge areas. Well worth the trip! [Details]

Our hotel experience was great
Great customer service from staff and wonderful surroundings.
We enjoyed our stay and have already referred to our friends and families. [Details]

This hotel is amazingly well run. The entire experience was amazing. [Details]

We had a great stay at the Riu Guanacaste. We took full advantage of all of the wonderful amenities at this hotel. We spent lots of time in the pool, used the gym, attended the entertainment shows, ate at all the restaurants, and went on a number of excursions organized by service providers at the hotel. Overall, we would recommend this location for a family vacation. [Details]

Loved it! Very nice people, felt safe. [Details]

Riu Guanacaste was a 5 star! Excellent service at the bars and restaurants. Food was great everywhere we ate. Our room came with a stocked mini fridge and bar. Nightly entertainment was always great, especially the white party Friday night! We saw monkeys just a walk down the beach in the trees and stingrays close to shore! Temp was 34 every day we were there! We would definitely go back! [Details]

The staff, food, grounds of the hotel and beach were all amazing! What a great vacation with my family (2 adults 2 kids) lots for the kids to do with the waterslides and the pools are huge! [Details]

My husband and I stayed at Riu Guanacaste to celebrate our 25th anniversary and had an incredible time! Staff here work incredibly hard to make your experience fantastic from the ones who help you at the front desk, to those who clean your room and serve you at the bars and restaurants. They were always happy to help and had a smile on their face. The buffets were some of the best I've experienced in my travels South with no lack of variety! Food was plentiful and presented well and changed daily. The A La Carte restaurants were pretty good, but honestly I preferred the buffet. The lasagna at the Italian restaurant was so good though, that I had to have it twice! The location of the resort, although far from the sights we wanted to see (volcano, rainforest etc) was still beautiful and wonderful. We got to see Monkeys just up the beach and that was a real highlight! The evening shows were good, although we usually went to bed early because we were exhausted. Lots of walking here, but we don't mind that at all. Our room was the furthest from the beach you could get, but as active people we were totally fine with that. The grounds are kept pristine and the gardeners work hard all day to keep it that way. We had no big complaints at all with our stay and would wholeheartedly recommend this resort to our friends and would definitely stay here again. [Details]

I visited this resort on a girls trip first time in Jan. 2020...and we loved it! Being a little skeptical as some reviews stated that things changed after all the shutdowns!
Are the beds hard, yup...but I need a firm mattress, so I loved them and slept like a baby! Do they have keys for the doors? Yup, but what is the difference than carrying a card? Lol! Theres TONNES of food to choose from, never starved, and I'm a pretty picky eater!. I dont care if you cant make reservations, I dont make them at home either. You take your chance. I'm a smoker, and I loved the not smoking everywhere. There are convenient places. By the swim up bar, you can go behind the restaurant that backs onto the sanctuary, so you can watch the monkeys! Theres tonnes of iguanas, and yes there are raccoons that come to visit at night in the steak house. There are no walls and it's open!!! Lol! I heard a person talking about food was slum and was comparing it to sandals resort [Details]

First and last time at a Riu. Weather was amazing, but that was about it. Advertises as a non smoking resort but smoking and vaping is prevalent throughout the grounds. Issues with room when we first got there. Wife came down with food poisoning for a couple of days. Told by tour guide to have bottled water with you at all times, but many times when we asked at front desk there was none. Raffaele at buffet restaurant and Italian a la carte was great but rest of staff didn't really seem to care. Inside buffet restaurant was open for lunch every day first week but only once in second week. Front desk tried to tell me there was rarely an inside buffet lunch. As I said weather was great but resort was not. Customer service is very poor. There are certainly enough other resort choices out there that provide a better experience than this one! [Details]

Rooms were clean but are needing some updating. Lots of choices of food but needed seasoning - salt, spices etc. Entertainment was same thing each night just different themes of dancing. Entertainment crew during day didn't try very hard to get people involved and speaker was so old we couldn't understand them. Bricks are very hot to walk on so always wear shoes. They kept place very clean - public areas especially. Close to Monkey Bar - off the beach private restaurant - worth the walk down the beach! [Details]

Great location. Clean for the age. The rooms were clean but outdated. A little underwhelmed for a RIU. I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to all inclusive resorts, but I would say this was the most underwhelming resort I have been to...ever.....and I have been to several places (incl. other RIUs). Our service in the restaurants was not good. I pretty much had to stand on my head every morning to get someone to come by with a coffee. They main buffet staff seemed to be more concerned about getting the tables ready for new people coming in than actually serving the guests that were already there. This resort has a lot of potential if they would just put some money back into it and give it a much needed upgrade. Event staff weren't around much. Nightly shows were...once you've seen one, you've seen them all. Pool bar staff weren't very interactive. Loved Costa Rica and would return..but would stay at a different hotel. [Details]

The management really not helpful and don't want to help( client lost their car keys ) they said they couldn't do anything)the client went to see an employee and arranged to find them
We just needed 30 minutes more for check out they wanted to charge us 28 $ even though the riu app says 10 $ per person ( the answer from the manager was we decided to charge more due to the fact that they were not fully occupied [Details]

Came with my 14 year old daughter for a mommy and me vacation . Our vacation was great. Location was perfect. Service wasn't great. [Details]

Our experience was being among there soulful community, gracefully inviting to share haven((!)) [Details]

Overall, we were very pleased with the hotel. The staff were helpful and went out of their way with anything we needed.
The area around the hotel was perfect for taking long walks, and the beach
was the same. Hotel is older, but clean. Bathrooms do need an update.
The water had pebbles, and the water was a little rough, but the hotel had three pools, which is where most of the people spent their day. [Details]

The resort was beautiful, the staff were amazingly helpful and the food and drinks were great. [Details]

Overall our experience at this hotel was great. It was around a 45 mins bus ride from the airport. The rooms are a bit dated but kept clean. The staff are hardworking and always trying their best to please you. The beach was ok but half the time the waters were too rough to go into. The pools were great and so was the waterslide park that was open every other day.
We mainly dined at the main restaurant which seemed to have enough variety and the food was being replaced quite often. There are shops on the hotel premises, in case you forget to bring any essentials but be prepared to pay quite a bit for anything you need. [Details]

Very nice hotel with fantastic view and lots to do! [Details]

Pool was very dirty, asked to speak to manager, but he was missing in action.
Staff were awesome so kind and helpful.
Rooms were clean, beds were good.
Only 2 a la carte restaurants were open per day, so unless you wanted to dine a 6pm you can never get a table.
Hotel was very busy at the weekend and on Sunday lunchtime they ran out of food, remember there is only one buffet open. [Details]

Great experience, super clean, well maintained, there were different restaurants to choose from or the main buffet. The beach was nice. Night events were well done. Overall a great experience. [Details]

I had a fabulous experience with my stay here all the staff were friendly and very easy to communicate with considering my Spanish is almost nil. [Details]

I have no real complaints about this resort. The beach was not my favorite, however, It was great to walk along. The resort itself, easy access to everything, the food was plenty and absolutely great! Clean hotel and really great staff (always friendly, and very respectful). The rooms were nice and comfortable. Take the time to talk to the staff and you will learn plenty about Costa Rica. Pura Vita!!! [Details]

Spent two weeks at the all inclusive hotel in Feb 2020. [Details]

The hotel is "tired"....needs updating. A lot of the floor tiles through-out the main areas are cracked. One of the elevators was not always working. The housekeeping was lacking in that fresh towels were not provided/replaced when the room was cleaned (5 out of 7 days). Also, had to ask for toilet tissue and Kleenex. The buffet dining room food selection was boring and never varied (breakfast were ok - but lunch and dinners were not good). Overall this hotel does NOT deserve to have a 4 star rating. Reception and wait staff were pleasant and helpful. [Details]

The staff, waiters were not very nice, when you go for the buffet, they make you get your own drink and refill yourself, there is no all-inclusive. Did not like the food at all, didn't have a lot of variety. The beach and pools were good. The cleaning staff was good. But my experience there with the room, my first night there, I had to switch 3 different rooms, until I got a room that everything was working and clean. Not many of the staff spoke English so it was difficult to communicate with them. I would never go back to that location again, this was my first Riu and my last. I would never recommend this resort. [Details]

Our first trip to Costa Rico and it was fantastic.
We have traveled to most of the Caribbean and have to say this is one of the best places we have travelled to.
The Riu Guanacaste was spectacular, it's big but even though it was sold out and full, we never waited for anything. No line ups, no fighting for sun loungers,or waiting more than a minute for a drink.
The place was spotless and the staff could not do enough for us. Only negatives in the whole week , were they need air or fans in the elevators and a group of ignorant tourists who insisted on vaping in the pool.
We found the security was exceptional and the non smoking was very refreshing.
We were a group of 6 and there was something for each of us, the shows were very professional, the attractions were close and reasonable inexpensive and the wildlife were plentiful.
Will certainly be looking here again ,when our next vacation is due. [Details]

I was not pleased with my experience. This was a 5 star hotel, that felt like a 3 star.

The first night that I was there, the key didnt work and I was locked out of my room. I had no access to my medication until the next day which made me really sick.

I spend the whole day on Wednesday May 22nd in the hospital. Good thing I got travelers insurance, or it would have costed me almost $600 Canadian.

There was not much selection in the food for people who only eat chicken and vegetables.

There was no kettle in the room to make tea whenever it was needed.

The 24 hour snack bar had stale sandwiches that were gone by 12am and the only snack apart from that was Nachos that didnt last long either.

There was only one bartender and it was very busy most of the time. Sometimes you would wait almost 10min for one drink.

I've been to 3.5/4 stars that make burgers, fries and pizzas all night.

The A/C in my room barely worked, it kept chipping in and out.

The location of the RIU is no where near the local towns, so there's not much to see if you want to walk.

For this to be a 5 star vacation at the RIU, I was very disappointed! [Details]

We enjoyed a rest in this beautiful setting where "the inhabitants" of the jungle came out to meet us.The hotel was "fully booked" but we didn't feel
over run by people. A very spacious pool system and beach. [Details]