Secrets Papagayo Costa Rica - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5524 reviews

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  Average stay but don't pay for VIP

  Good things The excursions were great - kind personnel, professional tour guides, on-time arrival and departures for trips. We booked our excursions through Amstar. The resort was clean and had the exact amenities as marketed. Pools were clean, majority of the resort staff was helpful and kind. Plenty of shuttle vans to take us to our room. Average things The food is simply average. The asian restaurant was nice and had a small but good selection of sushi and main entrees. The Italian restaurant was so-so. If you like pasta it was good. If you are looking for quick in-out service you definitely want to go to the Market Cafe. They are open for B-L-D. Bad things: We paid for VIP, Club Preferred room and treatment. This was unfortunately a complete waste of money. The only benefit found was the VIP guests had a separate bar with higher end alcohol. None of the other perks were represented or seen by us. The door key to our room was supposed to open the VIP Club door, ours did not. We were supposed to be able to reserve a cabana by the pool but it was first come first serve on the wait list. I had $400 stolen from the room. My bad for keeping it in my backpack in a zipper closed pocket but still. They appeared to be responsive to the situation and informed me a manager would contact me directly but no one ever reached out to us. The VIP service is supposed to provide 24 hour room service. We never had anything delivered that I requested from my dedicated VIP Contact which I was assigned at check in. when I contacted David, he told me to call -0- from my room instead. Weird. So basically do not spend the extra money thinking you will be treated with kid-gloves because you will not. When we checked out, we had made reservations and paid through Amstar to take us back to the airport. We became concerned when the shuttle had not arrived. We called the Amstar office at the resort and they had NO RECORD of us even being at the resort !!! A bit concerning since we had booked three excursions and stayed at the resort for 6 full days. Slight identity crisis mode but nevertheless, we took a taxi to the airport. Cost $60 and I filed a report with my bank to get a refund. We spoke with a couple that has been a VIP member for years and they said this lack of treatment (they had the same concerns as us) was more than likely because Hyatt just bought the Secrets chain last year. Hmmmm…. Summary: Costa Rica is a beautiful country. Besides the ride to the airport issue, Amstar is great. I would probably not stay at a Secrets again regardless of the location.

  Feb 21, 2025
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  Spectacular!

  After a stressful day in the airport with my families flight being cancelled and having no where to stay, we got booked in at Secrets and it blew our expectations out of the water! Food was amazing, everything was clean and the resort itself was beautiful! 100/10 Would definitely come back again!

  Feb 21, 2025
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  Restful Retreat

  Francis made or vacation extra special. Her smile had happy energy was contagious. She motivated me to try new activities. In addition to sharing her positive energy Francis is an excellent painting instructor. Very patient and encouraging.

  Feb 21, 2025
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  Puravida Vida

  We have returned from a wonderful 10 night day at Secrets. A fabulous relaxing hotel after an incredible 4 night tour in Arenal and Monteverde. The wildlife around the hotel is truly amazing. We spent most of our time around the spa pool as it was far quieter than the main pool area. Nice to walk along the beach up to the lively area for a couple of hours now and again though. We enjoyed the food at the Asian, Italian and Seaside restaurants. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Aqua restaurant which was a lovely setting. Staff at this hotel go above and beyond for you. Special mention to Ingrid, Edward, Joshua, Alonso, William, Estaban, Victor and Giovanni. We had a trip out to Coco Beach in a Uber which was really good for a few hours. We highly recommended this hotel in incredibly beautiful 🇨🇷 Costa Rica.

  Feb 21, 2025
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  Refund one night

  Juan Manuel and Secrets I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to express my profound disappointment regarding our recent stay at Secrets Resort Beach. My partner and I had high expectations for our vacation, but unfortunately, our experience was marred by several significant issues. Upon our arrival on February 14, we were warmly greeted by Roy around 8:30 PM. After dinner, we went to bed exhausted from our long drive from San Jose to the Pacific coast, which took nearly seven hours due to traffic. However, our first night was anything but restful. At approximately 6:30 AM, we were rudely awoken by loud noises, presumably from hotel staff cutting trees in front of our room. This disturbance lasted for several hours. Moreover, the cleaning staff were speaking loudly while cleaning near our room and knocked on our door multiple times, further disrupting our sleep. As a light sleeper, it was nearly impossible for me to fall back asleep even with earplugs, and my partner, who is usually a heavy sleeper, was also disturbed by the persistent noise. Additionally, we received two unwarranted phone calls from the hotel that morning. The first call was regarding plates, which we never ordered from room service—something that should have been evident from the hotel's records. The second call was about a dress for laundry, which we never request anything to be cleaned. These unnecessary interruptions exacerbated our sleep deprivation and negatively impacted our overall experience. As a result, we had to cancel our planned excursions for the following morning due to restlessness. Adding to our frustration, the next morning, we were looking forward to trying the lobster at the Sea Grill, only to find it was sold out 2 days in a row. Given the number of guests, we believe the resort should have been better stocked or at least updated the availability on the website. Lastly, one of the main reasons we chose this resort was the promise of tennis courts. However, we were dismayed to discover, only after we had already checked in, that they had been converted to pickleball courts. This misleading information was a significant letdown. In light of these issues—particularly the loud noise disturbances on the first night, the unwarranted phone calls, the misleading information regarding amenities, and the lack of well-stocked food—we feel thoroughly cheated and manipulated by the hotel. We respectfully request a full refund for our first night's stay due to the severe inconveniences we endured. Had we been informed of these issues beforehand, we would have reconsidered our booking. We hope you understand the gravity of our concerns and take immediate action to address this matter. Thank you for your prompt attention to this issue. We look forward to your swift response. Warm Regards, Vicki Yam (917) 468-4528

  Feb 20, 2025