Hotel Riu Guanacaste 5*

I went with 2 lady friends for a 4 1/2 day stay. Only my 2nd resort stay (& their 1st), so we had open mind, in spite of the negative reviews on TA. We really enjoyed the food, I found it varied & flavorful, the servers were very attentive, especially Oscar and Tatiana and Marcia. The bartenders were very friendly and efficient. Especially Kenneth down by the pool areas. Speaking of pools, we found them to be clean, as were the loungers. We did not go to the splash park. The room (Friends and Family), #2025, was the perfect size for the 3 of us. A king, a queen & a sofabed. All were comfortable. The room was clean & well appointed. If you want fresh towels or more water, just call to the desk & they will be provided. The room we had sort of faced the stage area, but the entertainment shut down about 10pm, I always carry earplugs so it wasn't a bother. All the staff were attentive & knowledgeable about the resort. We used Scuba Caribe to do the water taxi to Coco Beach. The boat trip was fun, but Coco Beach is kind of lack-luster. We signed up with Frank the Tank for the day- long Magic of the Rainforest tour and were well pleased with the excursion. Noel, our guide, was a fountain of info about Costa Rica, the rainforest & more. If you want to see the capuchin monkeys, walk down to the beach to the left about 10:30 and you'll find them in a parking area. Didn't see any at the Monkey Bar, but we went at about 9am and the locals say they're more active around 10:30. Saw coati mundis in the forest that abuts the resort on the right (near the taco bar, close to the beach.

My husband and I celebrated our 30th anniversary at this all-inclusive resort. We had a wonderful time. Resort was very clean and staff were very welcoming. It is a fairly small resort in the middle of nowhere. We felt a little trapped. However, there was plenty of companies at the resort and local people on the beach that offered all kinds of excursions. The locals on the beach were quite a bit cheaper than the hotel vendors. The beach was quite small and crowded with a lot of local vendors. Most would walk away if you told them no thanks. There are a lot of ladies down there who offer full body massages for about $65 versus 199 at the hotel spa. I did get a massage from a lady named Ana for $65. I had to walk a few blocks down to a public parking area where she had her little hut set up. There was also several other ladies that had massage huts set up as well. I felt safe. There is an animal rescue and a zip line/adventure park near the hotel called Diamante. The animals were very cool. We also did the full day trip to Nicaragua, through Amstar which was awesome. They crammed a lot of stuff in one day. We were there seven whole days and that was enough. If you stay longer than that, I feel you’ll get pretty bored sitting at thepool drinking unless that’s your vibe. Or you’re willing to pay a fortune for multiple excursions. They did offer plenty of exercise classes and they did have some scheduled activities. The resort had a lot of live Latin shows and Latin music at night. This was the rainy season/off-season and I was a little concerned but no worries. The temperature was 85 to 95 during the daytime. It mostly rained at night if it did rain. They stated the dry season was December through April and temps can get to 125°. I felt like October was a great time to go. The food was decent. It’s resort food so it’s not five stars. However, we are not foodies and horribly picky so the food had a good variety, though it was a little repetitive, but we had no issues. We got an ocean view room and it was very clean. The hotel staff were always willing to go the extra mile. Mini fridge was stocked every other day (unless you leave a 20 and request more Cerveza… Lol.) I heard a taxi was quite expensive, but we never got one. If we come here again, I would definitely pay the money for a taxi and go to a local town to explore. I felt Costa Rica was quite safe more than I ever felt in Mexico. If I had anything remotely negative to say was, don’t buy a lot of items in the boutique shops attached to the resort… Prices are astronomical. Youcan buy a T-shirt on the beach for $12 versus $35 at the shops. Also, the sister resort, Rio Palace was being completely remodeled next-door, so there lots of construction noise and banging and drilling throughout the day, though it didn’t bother us too much. This is also a family resort and they had a separate area of the resort for families with kids and waterslides and a splash Park. Since weren’t in the family section, I really didn’t see a lot of kids on our end. It was a nice resort!!!