Riu Guanacaste - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10606 reviews

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  Far from Luxury: Disappointed by RIU Guanacaste

  The only aspect of RIU Guanacaste that could be considered remotely “luxury” is the landscaping—everything else was underwhelming. The food was mediocre, the drinks were made with bottom-shelf liquor and tasted terrible, and the overall decor throughout the resort felt outdated and uninspired. The room decor in particular was dull and poorly maintained—nowhere near what you’d expect from a 4-star property. The plastic chairs on our suite’s balcony were the final insult. Customer service was nearly non-existent. Housekeeping didn’t clean our room until I called, and the group reservation process was disorganized from beginning to end. Staff were rude, unhelpful, and unapologetic—even when we had to pay extra to fix an error that was not on our end. This wasn’t just a disappointing stay—it reflected poorly on my brand. I won’t be recommending or booking RIU properties again. Overall, RIU Guanacaste was a regrettable experience

  Apr 18, 2025
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  Loved every minute of it

  We stayed in March and my only complaint was that it was too hot. Our rooms were in the new section and were beautiful and quiet. It was a pleasure to shower in the gorgeous bathroom after a long day in the sun and recharge for a nap in the very comfortable bed before supper. We had our own pool in this section that was beautiful and a restaurant that we ate breakfast in every morning. We spent most of our day in the main pool (more lively). There was a wonderful buffet for lunch that offered a wide variety of salads, hot dogs, hamburgs and some FABULOUS fried chicken. We enjoyed supper at the buffet because it was very good and the A La Cartes were lined up every night (no reservations). In the new section right beside the pool there is an ice cream shop, bar, taco hut and hamburg and french fries that is shaded. The service overall was very good. We weren't big fans of the beach, the sand was searingly hot and the ocean was VERY rough. We did walk down the beach to the Monkey Bar which is fun. I recommend early morning, the monkeys are more playful. There are some vendors on the beach selling the usual things. If you buy from them, they accept American dollars or kolones

  Apr 17, 2025
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  Good value all inclusive

  So I have to say overall we had a great stay here. The food is good and there is so much of it! The grounds are well kept and the staff are all friendly and work incredibly hard. We've been to Costa Rica twice, I have to mention that being here doesn't feel like the Costa Rica I know and love with rainforest and wildlife everywhere. This could be a resort anywhere in the world. We had travelled around and finished off our trip with 4 nights here to relax before flying home. I was very surprised not to find any wildlife at the resort considering all the animals we'd encountered elsewhere. I know there are monkeys at the monkey bar. Just be aware you will need to travel far from the hotel to see the authentic Costa Rica. One major problem we encountered at the hotel was the check in. It took nearly an hour. I had already checked in online and the following day saw a sign that said 'go to the front if you've checked in online ' however it was impossible to know this before or see this sign when we arrived because of all the people. There were no staff free to ask. This should have been communicated better. Our room wasn't ready so we had to return at 3pm to collect the key and despite being told we wouldn't have to queue again, we did. All the desks were busy so its impossible to ask anyone. There definitely needs to be staff helping guests navigate this on arrival as it would improve the experience and the chaos was a horrible start to our stay here. Check in aside, we were very happy with our room and everything else. Yes the resort is older and some things need updating. Towels, bathroom etc. But its fine. We had a family room on the second floor in the older section. No complaints. Good minibar, clean, big room, great A/C and WIFI etc.We always had the afternoon sun on the balcony. The main pool and sunbeds also looking tired but if you walk over to the newer side of the resort, everything is new and fresh. We preferred the pools there, they were quieter and the bar was much quicker to get served than the main pool bar. My kids enjoyed the ice cream and cakes at 'candy' on the new side. The kids also enjoyed the waterpark but be aware the water is deeper than 1.2m eventhough the min height to ride is 1.2m. The water under the ' toilet bowl ' slide is very deep. There was always a queue of people waiting to get in at 10am but usually quiet in the afternoon. We always ate at the Liberia buffet as easier with the kids and there is so much choice. Mexican food, pizza, pasta, so much fish and meat, salads, sushi etc. Always a big selection. Its really excessive, just so much food. I am vegan and the rest of my family vegetarian. There was always plenty to eat. My only problem was lack of labels on the food. Sometimes it was really difficult to figure out what we could eat but even so we always had a plate full. I never felt hungry. We ate so much. It does get busy of course, just like any big all inclusive. The staff work incredibly hard, they are always busy. Overall I found this hotel to be good value. We don't usually go to these types of big busy resorts but we enjoyed our stay and have only praise for all the staff who work incredibly hard to keep everyone happy.

  Apr 17, 2025
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  Definitely not 5 star. Average at best!

  My family and I spent 6 days at this resort. We've been to several Riu properties (Cabo San Lucas, Aruba, Cancun, etc) and this location is by far the worst. This is definitely not a 5 star resort! The front desk attendants are very nice and welcoming. But there was not staff in the front to take your bags to your room. Occasionally you will run into some staff in the food areas(buffets) that were attentive but that was far and inbetween. Often times, you had to go get your own drinks and they flat out ignored you except to pick up plates off the tables. At most resorts that I've been to, if you happen to pass staff in the hallway they would greet you. At this place, they just flat out ignore you. This location is currently under construction. I was fortunate enough to stay in the new building. The rooms there are spacious, comfortable and nicely decorated. However, everytime you flush the toilet there was this awful sewage smell that came up from the toilet. My mother and father was assigned to the old building which is very dated and they had the same issue with the sewage smell as well. As I mentioned before, we have been to several Riu properties and usually the food is great and they tend to have a great selection even at the buffets. We only were able to go to 2 of the restaurants on this property (Toscana(Italian) & Furama(Asian)) and that was only because we were able to get there 30 minutes before they opened to stand in line (you can't make reservations). The 2 restaurants that we were able to go to were pretty good and the service was great but the buffets overall were terrible. The food quality was horrible most of the time and they had no variety or themed days, just the same old unseasoned stuff day after day. For breakfast, they only had bacon one day. The rest of the days were some weird bologna and this sausage that had this strange texture and crumbles in your mouth. The hamburgers don't taste like real beef. The newer side had a pool, food court that had grab and go style food and an ice cream shop. We mainly stayed hung out at the newer pool because it was cleaner and much nicer. The taco bar in the food court was the best, it had pulled pulled pork and pulled chicken taco choices that were well seasoned. The ice cream shop was absolutely delightful. The ice cream was rich and creamy! The newer side and restaurants were the saving grace for this location and the only reason I gave a rating of 3. Hopefully, once the renovations are done and they fix the toilet sewage smell and work on the customer service issues they will be able to redeem themselves.

  Apr 17, 2025
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  Great time with kids

  We had a great experience here. My husband and I vacation here before having the kids and had loved the property. We brought our three kids back 15 years later and the property is only improved! More features such as water slides and more restaurants. We had a wonderful time! We were even able to go zip lining at the zip line just outside the property. Very safe :) And we were able to feed the monkeys on the property just a short 10 minute walk down the beach. We paid for a boat ride with Erick and snorkeling which was the highlight of the trip! Look for Erick on the beach.

  Apr 16, 2025