Riu Guanacaste - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10878 reviews

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  Thoroughly enjoyable - exceeded expectations

  I went with 2 lady friends for a 4 1/2 day stay. Only my 2nd resort stay (& their 1st), so we had open mind, in spite of the negative reviews on TA. We really enjoyed the food, I found it varied & flavorful, the servers were very attentive, especially Oscar and Tatiana and Marcia. The bartenders were very friendly and efficient. Especially Kenneth down by the pool areas. Speaking of pools, we found them to be clean, as were the loungers. We did not go to the splash park. The room (Friends and Family), #2025, was the perfect size for the 3 of us. A king, a queen & a sofabed. All were comfortable. The room was clean & well appointed. If you want fresh towels or more water, just call to the desk & they will be provided. The room we had sort of faced the stage area, but the entertainment shut down about 10pm, I always carry earplugs so it wasn't a bother. All the staff were attentive & knowledgeable about the resort. We used Scuba Caribe to do the water taxi to Coco Beach. The boat trip was fun, but Coco Beach is kind of lack-luster. We signed up with Frank the Tank for the day- long Magic of the Rainforest tour and were well pleased with the excursion. Noel, our guide, was a fountain of info about Costa Rica, the rainforest & more. If you want to see the capuchin monkeys, walk down to the beach to the left about 10:30 and you'll find them in a parking area. Didn't see any at the Monkey Bar, but we went at about 9am and the locals say they're more active around 10:30. Saw coati mundis in the forest that abuts the resort on the right (near the taco bar, close to the beach.

  Oct 25, 2026
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  Anniversary trip-great experience

  My husband and I celebrated our 30th anniversary at this all-inclusive resort. We had a wonderful time. Resort was very clean and staff were very welcoming. It is a fairly small resort in the middle of nowhere. We felt a little trapped. However, there was plenty of companies at the resort and local people on the beach that offered all kinds of excursions. The locals on the beach were quite a bit cheaper than the hotel vendors. The beach was quite small and crowded with a lot of local vendors. Most would walk away if you told them no thanks. There are a lot of ladies down there who offer full body massages for about $65 versus 199 at the hotel spa. I did get a massage from a lady named Ana for $65. I had to walk a few blocks down to a public parking area where she had her little hut set up. There was also several other ladies that had massage huts set up as well. I felt safe. There is an animal rescue and a zip line/adventure park near the hotel called Diamante. The animals were very cool. We also did the full day trip to Nicaragua, through Amstar which was awesome. They crammed a lot of stuff in one day. We were there seven whole days and that was enough. If you stay longer than that, I feel you’ll get pretty bored sitting at thepool drinking unless that’s your vibe. Or you’re willing to pay a fortune for multiple excursions. They did offer plenty of exercise classes and they did have some scheduled activities. The resort had a lot of live Latin shows and Latin music at night. This was the rainy season/off-season and I was a little concerned but no worries. The temperature was 85 to 95 during the daytime. It mostly rained at night if it did rain. They stated the dry season was December through April and temps can get to 125°. I felt like October was a great time to go. The food was decent. It’s resort food so it’s not five stars. However, we are not foodies and horribly picky so the food had a good variety, though it was a little repetitive, but we had no issues. We got an ocean view room and it was very clean. The hotel staff were always willing to go the extra mile. Mini fridge was stocked every other day (unless you leave a 20 and request more Cerveza… Lol.) I heard a taxi was quite expensive, but we never got one. If we come here again, I would definitely pay the money for a taxi and go to a local town to explore. I felt Costa Rica was quite safe more than I ever felt in Mexico. If I had anything remotely negative to say was, don’t buy a lot of items in the boutique shops attached to the resort… Prices are astronomical. Youcan buy a T-shirt on the beach for $12 versus $35 at the shops. Also, the sister resort, Rio Palace was being completely remodeled next-door, so there lots of construction noise and banging and drilling throughout the day, though it didn’t bother us too much. This is also a family resort and they had a separate area of the resort for families with kids and waterslides and a splash Park. Since weren’t in the family section, I really didn’t see a lot of kids on our end. It was a nice resort!!!

  Oct 24, 2026
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  I won't return

  I agree that the grounds are beautiful and the rooms are clean. The food was definitely below average with watered -down drinks. Although we've met a few good waiters, most of the them looked bored and uninterested, and bare minimum for the customers. I did not even have a reason to leave the tip. I could not wait to visit Costa Rica, but the experience at Riu Guanacaste made me not wanting to revisit. I love Mexico and how they treat their customers and tourists.

  Oct 22, 2026
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  Extremely Poor Handling of a Lost Item and Unacceptable Communication

  We recently stayed at RIU Guanacaste from September 27–30, 2026, and unfortunately, the way the resort has handled a very important lost item has completely changed my opinion of our experience. When we checked out on September 30, we realized that my son’s navy fleece dinosaur blanket was missing. This is not simply a replaceable blanket to our family—it is extremely special to my son. We know it was accidentally left in his bed. Within just a few hours of leaving the resort, I emailed the hotel to report it because I was never able to get a human being to answer the telephone at any time despite MULTIPLE attempts. I was told they would communicate with housekeeping, but after that, communication became incredibly frustrating. I repeatedly tried again contacting the resort and could not get anyone to answer the phone. I sent additional emails and also contacted RIU’s complaints department, yet I received little to no meaningful follow-up. Because I was getting nowhere, I eventually had to take matters into my own hands and seek help through social media just to try to get someone at the resort to look into the situation. What has been especially frustrating is that several days after I initially reported the blanket missing, I learned that reception had seen my email but had still not checked with housekeeping. That was incredibly upsetting considering I contacted the hotel within hours of checkout specifically so the room and housekeeping staff could be checked as quickly as possible. We were also later given information suggesting that a man had gone back into our room after we checked out. That statement is extremely concerning because it was not my husband, and neither of us returned to the room after checkout. I still do not understand where that information came from or why it was being used in relation to our missing item. At this point, my biggest complaint is not simply that an item was left behind. Accidents happen. My frustration is with the complete lack of urgency, compassion, communication, organization, and basic customer service that followed. In this day and age, there is absolutely no reason it should be this difficult for a guest to get a straightforward answer about whether housekeeping found an item in a room on the day of checkout. Had someone simply checked with housekeeping promptly and communicated clearly with us, this entire situation could have been handled very differently. Instead, I have spent days emailing, calling, contacting the complaints department, and trying other avenues just to get someone to take the issue seriously. As a Mom I would do anything for my kids. This blanket was given to my son by my mother who passed away last year. He's had it since he was 2 and it's priceless and irreplaceable. For a large international resort, this level of communication and customer service is unacceptable. We were genuinely hoping for help locating something very sentimental to our son. Instead, we have been left frustrated, disappointed, and shocked by how poorly this has been handled. I would strongly encourage anyone staying here to keep very close track of their belongings before checkout, because based on our experience, getting meaningful assistance afterward may be extremely difficult.

  Oct 05, 2026
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  Worst Riu resorts in Central America for services

  The hotel itself is very nice, well maintained and room are comfortable. However, the food experience is the worst of all the previous 7x that we stay at Riu hotels and resorts all over Mexico. Of the 4 specialty restaurants, 3 were buffet style with approximately the same food that you can find at the main dining. This was disappointing but the worst was the staff, nobody smile and it seems like they don't care about their clients. When it was time to return to the Liberia airport at the end of our 7 days vacation, we had to walk 2km+ on the road to meet our transportation because the road was blocked by a fallen tree. It was pitch dark, wet and a very steep road to walk. There was families and young kids on the road at 04:30; to finish a vacation it's awful.

  Oct 03, 2026