Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica

When we checked in to the hotel our room had ants everywhere. The fridge did not work and the safe was locked from the previous tenant. The TV was stuck on a Spanish channel at a very large volume (with no remotes in the room) and the phone in our adjoining room did not work. We requested many times for these items to be fixed and it took days to get most of them fixed. The room phone never got fixed which was a problem because the phone didn’t work to call the front desk nor room service and the app didn’t work. It’s not like the app told you it didn’t work, it just sent your requests to nowhere without telling you. So if you order room service, it said it was sent. Then the next morning the kids and adults were expecting breakfast before leaving on an excursion and it never showed up. Then you call room service and they said “oh, the app doesn’t work”. 4 people came to fix the safe. They all said they will fix it and left to never return. The last guy finally drilled out the safe and replaced it. It took three days to get the fridge and safe replaced. The lines for the restaurants are a joke. How can there be no space to eat at an all inclusive resort and no room for reservations. The restaurant may need to be open longer the 2-3 hours to accommodate such a large resort! The main pool has no restrooms near by. When we asked the bartenders where the pool bathrooms were they told us to go into the lobby or pee in the pool. And it was obvious everyone just urinated in the pool as it was clear in the morning and nasty by noon. The ice machines weren’t working and I only found two machines on floor 0 and 3. AND THE KEYCARDS! The keycards reset everyday. I went to the front desk and they told me the room key card can’t be by my cell phone, watch, credit cards or in the high heat. Well where do you expect me to put them? In a refrigerator? Oh wait, even that was broken! Everyday we had to get new room keys. Even multiple times during the day after following all the requirements. This place is an overpriced nightmare!

0/10. Stay somewhere else. This was one of the worst all-inclusive experiences I've had. Check-in was terrible. No one helped with luggage, nothing about the resort was explained, and I was given vague directions to my room. Every other all-inclusive I've visited has at least explained the property or walked me to my room. The Riu app is almost useless. It doesn't tell you where activities are located (I never found bingo), constantly logs you out, and the room service feature is a joke. I ordered food at 10:30 p.m., received a notification that it was on the way, and it never came. The next morning, after I left a complaint in the app, the front desk called within minutes asking if I still wanted the food while also claiming the app "doesn't work." Clearly, something works if they immediately saw my complaint. The Wi-Fi constantly disconnected and only worked in certain parts of the resort. The food was mediocre at best. Breakfast was the best meal, but waiting in reservation lines wasn't worth it, and much of the food was overly salty. Housekeeping was the only bright spot. They did an excellent job, and you could always see them cleaning throughout the resort. My friends staying at the Riu Guanacaste had an even worse experience. After 10 p.m. they had no access to food because that side has no room service and all the restaurants close. Their welcome packet still advertised a 24-hour food location that no longer exists. One friend is disabled and was placed as far from the elevator as possible with no effort to accommodate them. Housekeeping also repeatedly removed personal items like hair scrunchies from their room. Checkout ended the trip on an even worse note. My receipt was only available in Spanish. I simply asked for someone to walk me through it since I don't speak Spanish, but the front desk employee, Salvador (working the morning of July 5), was rude, argumentative, and unwilling to help. The only reason this resort gets any credit from me is because of the hardworking housekeeping staff. Everything else—from customer service to the app to the food—was disappointing. Save your money and book another resort.