Riu Guanacaste - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10591 reviews

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  Great family vacation

  We just got home from six nights at the Riu Guanacaste and it was a wonderful trip. We spent the majority of our day at the beach playing- snorkeling, playing in the waves and walking down to feed the monkeys. We have three kids ages 7, 10 and 12 and here are some things that were helpful for us for our time at the Riu Food: We hated that you couldn’t make reservations for the restaurants and we weren’t going to stand in line an hour before they opened so we basically only ate at the buffet. We much preferred the buffet Papagayo that’s in the new section. The service was better, food wasn’t picked over as much and had a calmer ambiance to it. We tried to get a time for the other restaurants but even getting there at 6:05 right after they opened; we couldn’t get a time to come back until after 8. And having three children, we didn’t want to eat that late. The restaurants also did not have a children’s menu and didn’t really have any options for our kids Pepe’s is the little pool food grab and go in the new area and they had chicken nuggets, hot dogs, fries and nachos/tacos from 12-6. My kids loved the nuggets and we would get those for a midday snack just about every day. The candy ice cream shop was yummy and had more ice cream choices than the buffets had to offer. They also close a few minutes before 6. Pool: We honestly didn’t spend a ton of time at the pool. The entire pool is practically one depth of just a little over 4 feet. My 10 year old could barely touch and my 7 year old couldn’t touch at all. They are strong swimmers but it was super annoying for them and not that enjoyable. They do have permanent chairs in a couple sections around the edges and that small area is just a couple of feet deep but not a big enough area to really play in. Around the bar it is more of a party crowd and we avoided that area. Towels: You get cards at check in for beach towels. If you don’t turn all of them at check out you get charged $20/card. In order to get a new beach/pool towel you have to turn a towel in. The towel stands are only open from 8-6 so if you have an early excursion or want to swim after 6, make sure to get fresh towels before they close at 6 pm. We did do an after dinner swim and that was a lot of dun fun. Stars were so bright and only a couple of people were in the pool. Beach: We LOVED the beach and spent the majority of our time there. The waves can get kind of big, especially during high tide in the afternoon so we were always in the water with the kids. We brought our own snorkeling sets and in the mornings they would go farther out in the water and snorkel. We even saw a sting Ray one day! You can also “rent” snorkel sets from scuba caribe at the resort for free too. Bring sandals bc the sand is HOT. The sand is black and will stain swimsuits. I wish I would have brought darker colored swimsuits for my kids and not white lol 🤷🏻‍♀️ Monkey trail: Go down past the palace and go see the monkeys! This was a highlight of our trip. We brought hard boiled eggs, grapes and water and fed the white faced capuchin monkeys. They loved eating directly out of the white resort cups. We went at 830 and 1030 in the morning and they were active at both times. We also saw howler monkeys lounging in the trees at that time. I have the Merlin bird ID app on my phone to identify what birds we were hearing. We saw and heard parrots, parakeets, Magpies, and so many more! There’s a “trail” from the resort to the monkey trail but it’s a paved road for half of it and so much hotter than walking along the beach. Just bring shoes bc the sand is hot hot hot when you’re not directly on the beach/shore. Rooms: We stayed in thee old part of the resort and it definitely needs remodeled but we were happy with it. We brought damprid and it seemed to help with the moisture in the rooms. We had a garden view in room 3086/3085 and we were basically directly above the lounge bar overlooking the courtyard. It was noisy at night with the entertainment but nothing that kept us up. We used a sound machine to drown out the noise which I highly recommend. If you’re in the old part you get an actual key to your room soTours with Frank the Tank a lanyard to keep track of them. Excursions: I will write a separate review for excursions but Tours with Frank the Tank is the way to go. We did a snorkeling/fishing excursion and it was incredible. We also did a magic of the rainforest and we loved that one as well. I do not recommend using scuba caribe for a snorkeling excursion. They are the place right at the resort. They drop you off in open water right next to big rocks on the shore and you cannot see the bottom of the ocean until you swim a little farther away. One of my children freaked out and had to go back on the boat. I wish they would have told us that’s what it was going to be like when we booked it. Frank the tank snorkeling trip was in calm water that wasn’t that deep right next to the shore but still in a coral reef. Much more our speed for having young children. Overall we loved our stay the the Riu. The grounds were beautiful and well kept. Everything was clean and the staff were incredibly friendly.

  Apr 15, 2025
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  Family of 4 in Costa Rica

  Family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids (12 and 9), For the first week of our holiday in Costa Rica, we stayed at RIU Guanacaste, Positives, it is a big resort with many pools and food options, there is lots of entertainment to keep you busy or just find a great spot to relax, there is a nice long stretch of beach with lots of sun loungers and good or for long walks. Diamante is very close and a good place to take the kids. Negatives - Sun loungers in good spots get taken early - restaurants are very busy, queues start forming 20 mins before opening and you are then added to a wait list Service is slow as there is 1 pool bar lots of people requesting drinks - on one of the days the bar ran out of ice so cocktails could not be served - bar did not open until 10 am which is annoying as people are out early to catch the morning sun - rooms in the main resort are dated Overall it’s a nice place to rest, relax and take the family

  Apr 15, 2025
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  Stay

  The rooms were clean and spacious on the new hotel side, the grounds were beautiful, the food was good but some could use more seasoning. My only complaint at this time is that the ac unit wasn't cold enough to handle the scorching heat there and would only allow the lowest setting to 23 degrees celsius.

  Apr 13, 2025
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  A week with friends

  Nice hotel, great service with very friendly staff. Too bad they will close the new building while the old building is being remodeled. I have been there many times. It is my favorite resort in Cost Rica.

  Apr 13, 2025
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  family vacation

  overall we had a great stay. The staff were phenomenal from the front desk, waiters, bartenders, to the housekeepers. The food was great except desserts was subpar. We had to switch rooms as the air conditioning wasn't working. in the new room the AC was subpar and the fan could not be adjusted. The bathtub was rounded but could be a serious fall risk for some and the beds were super hard- non of which ruined our stay but worth mentioning.

  Apr 12, 2025