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    Riu Guanacaste

    OOOOO Plus

    InPlaya de Matapalo, Costa Rica

    TripAdvisor Traveller Rating

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    Based on 8348 reviews

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    ABOUT THE HOTEL

    • Official Rating
    • Free Wi-Fi

    With a secluded beachfront setting, well-appointed rooms and a great choice of restaurants, this hotel bears all the hallmarks of the prestigious RIU chain.

    Pulled right up against the ocean and backed by gentle green mountains, this high-end All Inclusive hotel is in a wonderfully secluded spot. Fitting for Costa Rica, the hotel has an elegant Spanish colonial look and feel – right down to stone plazas, fountains and archways.

    The Riu Guanacaste is perfect if you just want to decamp to the beach each day. But if you do want to get out and about, Coco Beach – the nearest resort – is about a 20-minute cab-ride away.

    • Rooms: 701
    • Lifts: 6
    • Building: 1
    • Floors: 6
    TRAVELIFE CERTIFIED

    This hotel meets global standards on how it's protecting the environment, looking after staff and supporting the local community.

    Things you'll love

    • Secluded beachfront setting
    • 5 high-end restaurants
    • Free Wi-Fi
    • Perfect for your wedding day

    Location

    • Located on Matapalo beach on Costa Rica's Pacific coast
    • 18km from Coco Beach
    • Next to Diamante Eco Adventure Park offering wildlife and zip-lining experiences
    • View Location

    Fly Long Haul With TUI

    • Direct flights from 7 UK airports
    • Fly on the spacious new Dreamliner
    • Experience quieter, jetlag-busting flights
    • Enjoy complimentary meals accompanied by your choice of wine
    • Upgrade to Premium for additional benefits
    • UK airport lounge access for Premium guests

    FOOD & DRINK

    All Inclusive

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    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Evening Meal
    • Drinks
    • Snacks

    24-hour All Inclusive. Buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner. Option for Continental breakfast. Selected local-brand and imported alcohol, soft drinks, tea and coffee, 24 hours a day. Regularly restocked minibar and in-room drinks optic with local-brand spirits. 24-hour snacks.

    Facilities

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      accommodationData.facilities
    • Renova spa*

      There are eight treatment rooms here offering things like hot stone massages, hydrating facials and aloe vera body wraps. Other facilities include a shiatsu area and a beauty salon.

    • Liberia buffet restaurant

      Open for breakfast and dinner, with themed buffets and a terrace for al fresco dining. Just so you know, there's a dress code here - gentlemen are asked to wear shirts with sleeves for evening meals.

    • Outdoor pool

      The huge lagoon-like pool takes centre stage. It meanders into different corners accessorised by things like in-water loungers and a swim-up bar area. In the middle of it all, you'll find a whirlpool bath.

    Rooms

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    • Double Room with Balcony or Terrace

      These double rooms have a balcony or terrace and come with Wi-Fi, satellite TV, air-con, a safe and a regularly restocked minibar. You'll also have a drinks optic with locally-branded spirits. They sleep up to four with either a king-size bed or two double beds.

    • Double Room with Sea View and Balcony or Terrace

      These double rooms have a sea-view balcony or terrace, Wi-Fi, satellite TV, air-con, a safe and a regularly restocked minibar. You'll also have a drinks optic with locally-branded spirits. They sleep up to four with either a king-size bed or two double beds.

    An amazing 2 week holiday!
    09 Dec , 2019 di42caroline, 186309
    We are (sadly) leaving today after an amazing 2 weeks stay here! Ignore the bad reviews, we were dubious after reading a lot of bad reviews but we’ve been very happy. Our room on the top floor was kept very clean, drinks topped up in mini bar no problem. Hotel and grounds kept very clean and tidy, the gardeners work hard maintaining the grounds. We loved the pool area, loads of sun loungers, pool bar staff very friendly. Only slight niggle is quite a lot of children who seem to take over everywhere including relaxing sun loungers in pool, treating this as a noisy play area as well as the jacuzzi. For this reason we will book an adult only resort next time. Our first weekend here was busier with more people but staff handled very well and it didn’t bother us at all. This past weekend has been much quieter. All the staff here work incredibly hard and are so smiley and friendly, they are all a credit to your hotel. Food was excellent and very good choice in the buffet, our favourite a la carte was the Asian one. Amazing wildlife to see around the hotel, we loved the howler monkeys. For tours we booked with Esteban Great Adventures, we did an amazing combo wildlife tour with him, you can find him on the beach. We also booked a great boat trip with Carlos (yellow T-shirt in front of Riu Palace) he also went out of his way to walk with us to show us some wildlife. All in all a fabulous time :)
    Good and bad
    08 Dec , 2019 Dreid28361
    The hotel lobby, pool and surrounding area are great. The rooms are just ok. The food is not good but plentiful. The booze isn’t great but the bartenders are super awesome. This is our first all inclusive and it took a few days to adjust. For the price, it’s a good budget friendly hotel. Bring your own pillow and yeti cup. Be prepared for a crowd on the weekends. The pool and beach are both excellent. The entertainment is not great but after a few cocktails is tolerable. I’m not sure I’d book again as we really like food but it was worth the trip.
    AWESOME VACATION
    08 Dec , 2019 doodles56, 34172
    OMG.. what an awesome two weeks. First off Costa Rica is truly BEAUTIFUL!! The Riu Ganacaste is an awesome resort, with amazing views, a gorgeous beach, fabulous pools..delicious food, great entertainment and awesome service!! The grounds are immaculate. The stand up paddle boards are a blast along with the kayaking. There is always something to do. We can't wait to return.🌴🌞🍺🍹🐵🍷 A must do..is the Monkey Bar just down the beach. The drinks and meals are DELICIOUS. The Bella Vista excursion was worth every penny. Also the very reasonable shuttle to Coco Beach and Tamarindo are a great shopping,lunch and sight seeing day away. The beach in Tamarindo is gorgeous🌊 We were there for two weeks and will return to do more FABULOUS adventures. Thank you Riu Ganacaste..Love COSTA RICA. PURA VIDA.💗
    Lovely place
    08 Dec , 2019 745AnneW, 186442
    We really enjoyed our holiday to this hotel. The rooms are large and well equipped, and the whole hotel is spotless. The staff could not be more helpful and polite. The speciality restaurants are nice and despite what others say, it is not that difficult to get a table. If you can't (only happened once in 2 weeks) the buffet is varied and plentiful. The entertainment is good - the dancers are excellent and the staff go to a lot of trouble to set the atmosphere. There is lots of wildlife around the hotel, which is right on an unspoilt beach. It is next door to a wildlife reserve and adventure park. The only negative is that you sometimes got a waft of an unpleasant smell on one side of the pool.
    Fantastic Holiday
    06 Dec , 2019 TerryIles, 186349
    We returned from here on the 2nd December having spent 2 weeks at the Riu Guanacaste. Firstly it is great value for what it cost us, so can’t understand why people moan. We mainly ate in the buffet as we prefer to eat later, but did eat at the Italian 1 night and it was very nice. Room was spacious and very clean and we overlooked the jungle which I had requested. We where lucky to sometimes to see the monkeys and squirrels in the trees. The wildlife around the Hotel is lovely to see monkeys, iguanas,birds, coatis, raccoons, and beautiful butterflies. Pool is large and plenty of sun beds. Beach is dark sand but still lovely to walk along. Sellers on beach but not pushy. We did all our trips with Prime Tours which you can find near the monkey bar. Entertainment is typical some like it some don’t, but there is other bars that you can drink in. Overall we had a fantastic 2 weeks and met some lovely people from Uk, Canada, and the USA.
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    Special Assistance

    This property is generally suitable for those with reduced mobility. Having said that, we understand that everyone has different needs, so feel free to contact our Customer Welfare team if you have any questions.


    Our Customer Welfare number is 0203 451 2585. Lines are open Monday to Friday 09.00-19.00, Saturday 09.00-18.00, and Sunday 10.00-17.00. Calls from UK landlines cost the standard rate, but calls from mobiles may be higher, so please check with your network provider.

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    Items marked with * incur extra charges which are payable locally