Riu Guanacaste

We’ve just got back from a 2 week family holiday at Riu. I was dreading it after reading some of the bad reviews but quickly decided to put my worries aside and to go with an open mind. Our transfer from the airport to the hotel went smoothly and when we reached our destination we were greeted by a smiley TUi rep Sam. Check in was fast and we were shown to our rooms which were spacious with comfortable beds. I’d say the decor needs updating but it was adequate. The grounds are well manicured and generally kept spotless. Large pool but I agree there was some smell around the pool bar area. The room cleaning service was good. The buffet food was good and varied but for us the breakfast was the best as there was a wide range to choose from. I would honestly ignore the bad reviews as some people moan about everything. The people at the hotel are very helpful and courteous. They are generally very humble and genuine. We felt safe in Costa Rica and had an amazing experience thanks to TUi.

Check in was great. Resort grounds and rooms were clean and wonderful. Plenty of open space in the rooms. Showers are slippery and awkward to get in. (hench all the handrails). Our room was on the lower end of the 4000 level. Our balcony overlooked the hills where the ziplines were from the local eco park. Some mornings or afternoons howler monkeys were munching on the tree leaves directly behind us. We got great photos and videos but do not dislpay them.The buffet restaurant has a wide selection of food to satisfy anyone's fancy. Breakfasts were great (so hard to make a decision what to eat), lunches and dinners also had a great variety of local and international foods daily. A la Cartes all served fresh hot food cooked to perfection. (I can't really include the gourmet restaurant since we did not eat there during our 2 week stay) Of the a la cartes we found the Italian restaurant to be the best. The staff at the buffet knew us as soon as we came in each day and sat us at or near our preferred seats. (Thank you Delmar).The pool was warm most of the time but not hot. There is an adults only section at the swim up bar which we avoided. There were servers walking around most times, exept right after lunch, taking drink orders if requested and constantly cleaning up the empty plastic glasses. The pool staff and servers need to monitor people with real glassware and ban the glassware from the pool area. We found broken glasses around the sun beds. (Not nice folks, it may be your barefoot that the broken glass gets embedded in!) Mostly this glass was cleaned up and people sent away with their glass to areas outside the pool area. We met many very friendly people: Brits, Yankees, Canadians, and several locals who vacation there on the weekends. We particularly liked the Brits we met with their 14 year old son who we have now adopted as part of our family too. The pools and restaurant were extremely busy on some days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning). The beach is long enough to be of good exercise. The beach at the water line was often covered in smooth rounded rocks about the size of robin or chicken eggs. Past the Riu Palace is a small open air market with vendors, ATV's and horseback riding. Here sometimes you can see spider monkeys, whitefaced monkeys and a few howler monkeys just in the bushes. Barter for prices. There are several excursions available. We went on the Blue River one and the Arenal volcano and hotsprings one. Arenal is a bit long but nice. Overall the resort, the staff, the beach, the food, the rooms are all excellent. The views are fantastic and some of the attractions are nearby and plentiful. Ahhhhh! Pura Vida Costa Rica muy WR