Riu Guanacaste

We were at the Riu Guanacaste for a wonderful family wedding. The resort was very clean, and the food was great! I was impressed that the resort uses local farms to supply the fruits, veggies and meats. Our room was comfy and had a great view of the ocean and the beautiful pool area. The staff were all friendly and very accommodating .There were lots of locals staying there, so I got to find out more about the area from them. It was a great experience.

We stayed here 31 Dec- 14 Jan 2019. After a long flight from the UK with TUI (excellent flight) we checked in quickly, following a private taxi transfer, as we arrived alone. The people from our flight who checked in to the hotel were about 90 minutes later than us and some said it had taken about an hour to get checked in. The check-in is quite a long process, with lots of information. We were given room 5001- we had requested a high room with jungle view and were given exactly what we requested via Tui. Great start! We were not offered assistance with luggage but found the room easily enough. The room was big with a lovely balcony from which you could watch sunrise. Sun was on the balcony for about an hour in the morning and shadey the rest of the day. From our balcony we saw the Howler monkeys every day and lots of lovely parakeets, orioles etc. The room was clean and had a selection of spirits- rum, vodka, gin, brandy and a few beers and soft drinks in the fridge that are replenished every other day. The bed was a little hard but fine but i am soooo pleased that we took our own pillows- the pillows are really small and not comfortable. The pools were regularly cleaned in the day and had a good atmosphere. The pool bar did get rowdy at times and the language a little fruity but there are no under 18's in the pool bar and it stayed friendly. Previous reviews talk about local people arriving for the weekends and they do- but really i have no idea what people were complaining about- there was no disruption at all. There is no quiet place really at the pools- the beach was more peaceful. The beach is lovely and there's lots of wildlife to see. There is a turtle hatchery and we saw a baby turtle release one evening. If you go to the beach and turn left you'll come to the Monkey Bar (you can look out for the monkeys all along the walk)- the beer here is better than the hotel. I would say to take colones to the bar rather than dollars as the 'exchange rate' is not great from colones to dollars there! On the beach walk we saw iguanas, white faced capuchins, screech owls, brown pelicans, turtles, Howler monkeys, a hummingbird, sand pipers, frigate birds etc. We took a few excursions that we booked with Erick on the Beach- all great and Erick and his team were super friendly. Only paid a minimal deposit and the prices were comparably cheap with Tui. The hotel food is good- the buffet is great- lots of choice and all good quality, Lots of local choices, fish and meat choices (inc roast beef), sushi nights, nachos, pizza, pasta and chips.... The a la cartes were fine- nothing special and often buffet based anyway. We tried 3 of the 4 but didn't feel a need to go back to any of them. No tummy issues from the food in two weeks. The Sports Bar snacks were always available but did not look too appetising! The alcohol was mostly local and served in large measures- i had to ask for small ones! The slush drinks were yummy but if you dont want alcohol make sure you say as we had one with a large rum served to us at 09.30 am!! The beer was ok but a real shame they don't use the good local stuff called Imperial. Please remember to take your suncreams etc as they're about $45 a bottle at the shops there. Tui do have a sharing box with people's leftovers in if needed, which is a fab idea! Overall a great trip and we had fun in the sunshine- we had no problems at all and enjoyed the hotel!

Initially we were overwhelmed by the crowds of people but we quickly embraced the positives. For the first few hours we were overwhelmed by the crowds, and empty bar glasses around the pool that were not quickly cleaned up-- BUT quickly we got passed this and embraced all the really positive things the resort offered. We hung at the beach vs the pool- that totally helped! We loved the buffets!! there were many options and always several authentic Costa Rican foods which we loved tasting. The night time entertainment was really fun and we were so impressed with the genuine talent of the dancers and give them an A+ for giving their all. They smiled and danced as though this was their biggest compititoon ever-- night after night they were excellent. The rooms were clean and the staff wonderful. Bar drinks were diluted, but even that didn't bother me because I didn't want to be smashed the whole time and didn't want my adult children trashed too. We loved it! It is not a 5 star however!! No way! To me that means peaceful and quiet and not crowded.