Riu Guanacaste - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10800 reviews

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  ⭐☆☆☆☆ Very Disappointed – Not the RIU Experience We Have Known for 12 Years

  ⭐☆☆☆☆ Very Disappointed – Not the RIU Experience We Have Known for 12 Years We stayed at this resort in Costa Rica from May 20–26, and unfortunately, this was one of the most disappointing vacation experiences we have had. My family and I have stayed at RIU properties for approximately 12 years in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and other destinations, so we had high expectations based on many positive experiences in the past. This resort did not meet those expectations. When we arrived, there was no assistance offered with luggage, and the check-in experience felt cold and unwelcoming. We had booked and paid for an ocean-view room but were initially assigned a room that was not what we reserved. When we returned to the front desk to correct it, staff members were not helpful, and we were required to move our belongings ourselves. To make matters worse, the key to our original room had already been deactivated before we could retrieve everything, including my husband’s insulin medication, causing unnecessary stress. The additional room on our reservation had a strong musty smell. When this concern was reported, we were told staff did not notice the odor. Dining was another disappointment. Several restaurants were not open during our stay, leaving very limited food options each evening. Service throughout the restaurants was consistently poor. Drink refills were difficult to get, and overall service levels felt far below what we have experienced at other RIU properties. The most concerning issue involved illness. We traveled with six people, and four became sick during our stay. We did not eat anywhere off property. My husband became sick enough that we had to visit a 24-hour clinic for IV fluids and medication, resulting in an unexpected additional expense of $310. We also repeatedly requested basic necessities like toilet paper due to illness in our room and never received it. On our final day, we observed roaches in the lobby bar area, which was extremely concerning. We specifically chose this property because of the renovations and expected the quality we have always associated with RIU. Unfortunately, this stay fell very short of those expectations. After staying with RIU for over a decade, I never thought I would write a review like this, but travelers deserve honest feedback when making vacation decisions. Very disappointed.

  May 21, 2026
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  RIU Guanacaste - Fabulous Vacation!

  10 day stay, first time Costa Rica travellers. We truly enjoyed the resort and would definitely go back. Food was good, room was clean. Multiple pool locations to choose from. Never had an issue getting a lounger no matter what time of day you went to the pool. The weekends got very busy but come Monday it was back to laid back atmosphere. We didn't mind this, it was just more people watching to do :) No negatives just a few different processes that we didn't experience before. Drinks - you had to go to the bars to get yourselves - no waiters walking and asking to take your drink orders. Not an issue just different than other locations we travelled to. A staff went around often picking up empty cups to keep things clean. Beach - no palapas or bar but loungers and tree shade. Very natural beach setting. Sand was very hot I believe due to color. We didn't spend much time there but probably would have if it would have had more of a resort beach feel vs a public home beach. Water was very refreshing. We did go see the waterpark but didn't use it. Kids and adults looked like they were having a blast - very nice option right on resort. Howler monkeys in the morning were amazing to hear - they were wild but seemed to live in the trees between resort and animal sanctuary next door. In my opinion we loved it and would recommend it to friends and family and would go back ourselves. Ate at buffett, Pepe's and Steakhouse and liked the food at all locations. The flavor of the fresh fruit was by far the best I have ever tasted. So very ripe and flavorful.

  May 19, 2026
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  Okay stay not good customer service. Jefferson at the front desk was not nice

  The property was very clean but the customer service was extremely bad. I went with a stay of 5 and my group and I arrived at the Asian restaurant on the last night of our stay around 8pm and asked if we needed any reservations they said no. We came back at 8:25pm and we were told that it was closed already. It felt like an argument to be seated. After back and forth and expressing that we were pretty much eating from the main restaurant buffet and had a pregnant hungry woman with us. They refused to seat us until my husband spoke to them they let us in 10 minutes to 9 pm and saw staff eating from the line- they were not in the RIU standard outfit but they had radios and clothing that you can tell they are most likely from the management team. I took a photo of them on the line. The company would rather feed their staff than paying guests. Not okay! We also had an issue with transportation and Jefferson at the front desk was extremely unprofessional and horrible. Long story short he made us feel than less than worthy to be there. We explained we had an hiccup with our transportation and paid at the airport for transportation back as 3 of our friends were in the transport that was reserved and my husband and I wasn’t. At the airport after paying for the services they told us to check 24 hrs before our departure to ensure we were in transportation back: went to the front desk- attitude and Jefferson told us that if we don’t know who helped us at the airport he can’t help us and started to quote policies after we told him that we already paid: he said to check with the guys at the stage, they didn’t see a reservation for us and told us to ask for the supervisor at the front desk who would call the transportation company and get our booking number. Long story short. He told us that we could only book with the hotel transfer and which we ended up paying an additional 80 dollars. The next morning the transportation company was at the airport waiting to pick us up! Wow. Apparently no one checked as we were actually booked an had us waste 80 dollars to secure transportation back with another company. Breakfast was very nice and the facilities was extremely clean and well Kept. Only other issue would be a nasty smell from the toilet each time we flush. Overall was a good trip but the customer service is not okay:

  May 16, 2026
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  Pleasant with beautiful view

  This was my boyfriend and I’s first time in Costa Rica and we were recommended this resort. We stayed for a week and I had read some reviews before we arrived. There were many saying that the food was disappointing and that the people were rude but I feel as thought that was false... Check-in was quick and fast and the room was decent.. The only thing I will really complain about is there was a sewage smell coming from the drains throughout the day that came and went, and the towels had a mildew smell to them. The staff was very nice and friendly, and the food was very good. We were always greeted at the buffet, and there was always somebody coming to our table to collect dishes and refill our drinks. Agave was definitely the best out of all of the restaurants, but so was the buffet as it had many different options! I will also say that we were a little disappointed that they did not provide room service and we couldn’t get any food delivered to us. This was very unusual for an “all inclusive” hotel, since every one we’ve been to has 24 hour. The bars were not too crowded and there was enough entertainment to keep us busy every night. Overall, I would say that for our first time here it was a great experience and a very beautiful place. I do wish that they would provide a little more music or something fun by the beach, instead of being bombarded by people asking you to buy things. Honestly I would definitely recommend this place if you are looking for a nice getaway, and we will be going back! The views are incredible!

  May 14, 2026
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  Not for me won't be back

  We spent one week at RIU Guanacaste surprising friends who were already their. The bus ride was about one hour, upon arrive it looked big and very nice. Check in was very quick, staff was really nice. We were in our room in no time and the room was really nice. Our first day was checking out the grounds trying to know where everything was. Our friends said they spent most of the time at adults pool, the other 2 pools were very busy and loud. We decided to check out the beach and come to find out there really is no beach it's been taken over by the locals trying to sell you everything from excursion to trinkets. You can go to the beach just ask security for a chair. But there is almost no shade or umbrellas. Also no life guards. They have very nice pools, also a water park with waterslides and all kinds of festivities for families and for those who are still young at heart. Food, well, just so that everyone knows all the a la cart restaurants are now all buffet with an exception of the steakhouse which you have to book and the steakhouse was the only one we could get in and wasn't that good. You have to stand in line for the other so called a la carts, didn't feel like standing in line at 5 o'clock to eat at 6:30, they only allow so many in at a time. So that's all the good parts of this resort now for the bad parts. ( 1 ) If you are a smoker your not going to like it, can't smoke anywhere, they only have two smoking arears unless you are off the property. ( 2 ) Do not go on May 1st weekend it's their Labour day weekend and the locals take over the whole place. ( 3 ) Every weekend the place is full of Locals from Friday afternoon to Sunday Afternoon. Come to find out they get special discount pricing and staff caters to them, also the food changes for them. They just trash the place by the time they leave, incredible never seen anything like this before. In my opinion this place is not a 5 star at best it's 4.5 star, there no beach, food wasn't all that great, I struggled for last 3 days finding things to eat. ( 4 ) They are suppose to refill your fridge every two days that doesn't happen, we we're there for one week and they only refilled once. This is the first time in my life after all the years we have gone away I couldn't wait to go home.

  May 10, 2026