Riu Palace Costa Rica - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10860 reviews

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  Wonderful Hotel

  I just left the hotel today, and I honestly couldn’t be happier with our stay! My friend and I stayed for 5 days, and the experience was phenomenal from beginning to end. I’ve stayed at more than 11 Riu hotels, so I have quite a few experiences to compare. I also just recently stayed at Riu Latino in Mexico, Riu Plaza Victoria in London and Riu Times Square NY and all were amazing and Guanacaste which was wonderful, and I can honestly say this Riu did not disappoint either. Every property has its own strengths, we had such a great experience here in Costa Rica. We stayed in Room 4030, which we loved because it was conveniently located close to the restaurants and pretty much everything we needed. We worked out every morning, so having a great gym was definitely a plus. The American Bar was also one of our favorite spots for iced coffee and our morning coffee. We especially loved the pool in the newer section. It was quieter, more relaxing, and had fewer kids, which was perfect for us. 😊 Our room was spotlessly clean every single day, and the entire property was beautifully maintained. The grounds were so nice, green, and well cared for. The food was great, with plenty of variety. The juices were also delicious! I can’t comment on the alcoholic drinks because we don’t drink, but honestly, I don’t understand the complaints about the food. There was so much to choose from, and we always found something we enjoyed. And if you’re staying here, PLEASE don’t leave Costa Rica without doing white-water rafting! It was unforgettable and definitely one of the highlights of our trip. 🌴🌊 Overall, we had an amazing stay and would absolutely come back. Thank you to the entire staff for making our vacation so enjoyable! Another wonderful Riu experience added to the list. ❤️

  Sep 05, 2026
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  several simple corrections / should be easy fix

  Hold on with some of the resent reviews I can understand some of the bad reviews. We almost canceled but glad we did not. So is this a 5 star ? no probably not but what are you comparing it with ?. Each country has some different takes and approaches. So first of all there is NO pool service/ no room service and no beach service those are some big changes for some. The message and sauna building is closed do to renovations but are working outside only. The staff is switching weeks off with the staff from the Riu Palace since they are completely renovating next door. You can tell the difference as the Plaza folks have a higher performance of service. The food at the Papagayo was terrible the first day(very messy no service) so we never returned. The food at the Liberia buffet was much better. The service was different each time maybe someone would come to your table once or maybe 4 or 5 time . The food was better than average. Seafood was very limited some fish and shrimp 1 time. The pool bars at time were very hard to get service but the American bar was always fast. The other lobby bar Tamarindo was great. Rooms were very nice and always clean. My biggest complaint was the pool areas. They close at 1800 and open at 0800 in the mornings. Every single day food and drink cups we never picked until 1000 or later. The pool area was very dirty. Inside the pools they were cleaned from 0600 to 0800. But there was so much dirt around. This is a management issue and should be a simple fix. These areas should be hosed down and cleaned before pool opens. later in the day people are collecting cups and keeping it clean. Managers fix this !! properly staff pool cleaning in the night or early mornings . we have stayed any multiple RIU locations in various countries.

  Sep 05, 2026
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  3 star. Only because it’s renovated.

  My husband and I visited this resort for our 20th wedding anniversary. The hotel is beautiful and the rooms are newly renovated and lovely. With the exception of the black mold in the shower. The staff were for the most part very friendly and the grounds kept beautiful. Your room fridge is stocked every second day. Plenty of restaurants, but only one à la cart and it was terrible. All the others are buffet and the best one was the Asian. At the steakhouse we were rushed through. Served undercooked steak and soggy salad with hard dry mozzarella sticks. Wine wasn’t served until half way through the meal and the dessert was dry and tasteless. The food in the buffets was not great. Lots of variety. But lacking flavour and proper identification of sauces and dressings. The drinks were ok. The tamarino bar was amazing, and it had the better drinks. The evening violin music played here in was great. The pools were dirty and cloudy by the afternoon. Pool bars had great service, but only if you were Spanish speaking. The pool chairs were plentiful, but dirty with bird poop and dirt. The beach was not great. There is not an adults only pool. Most pools have many children if that’s what your there for. The pool deck is very, very slippery. We witnessed many people fall. Down the beach a bit we could see monkeys which was one of the highlights of the trip. Plenty of excursions to do. We did a boat cruise with snorkelling. Don’t go if you really want to see anything snorkelling, because it was about 30 mins of rocks and old coral. The cruise itself was well done as was the service on the cruise. Excursion to hot springs was lovely, although if you want traditional hot springs you will be disappointed. These ones are chlorinated. Souvenirs are very overpriced. 46$US for a bottle of sunscreen. So bring lots of it. Overall, I won’t visit this resort again. The beach is dirty with dead crabs everywhere in the morning that starts to smell by afternoon. I’ve stayed at many nicer resorts. This one just doesn’t have it.

  Sep 01, 2026
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  Wouldn't go back

  We just got home from this hotel, there are several things that myself and my family were not pleased with; for a 5* hotel I would not have expected half of the things I witnessed and I would have expected a lot more. If these amenities were available, they were not made known to my party or my family at check-in. 1. Restaurants: There was only one a la carte restaurant - We could only book it twice, no problem. Everything else was buffet, no problem. The special buffets, the food was not good, it was not clean. Kids were not monitored. Food was all over the floor and not cleaned up properly, slipping hazards in the restaurants. The main buffet was good, the food was good, the staff were friendly. 2. Beach: it was dirty in front of the hotel. Trash bins were constantly full, trash all over the beach, no chairs laid out, if you want a chair you had to drag it to where you wanted it or pay someone to drag it for you. No beach service or bar. The line of demarcation (where the resort ends and the vendors begin) was also dirty, shower pads were gross and muddy all around, trash everywhere. There was one trash can for the entire beach area. 3. Pool: understanding the pools are large, there were things floating in them constantly and maybe could have been cleaned more. There were plenty of chair available surrounding the pool, however, it would have been nice if they didn't have bird poop on them. I never saw anyone cleaning them, the chairs at the water park were worse than at the pools. The pool decks were a death trap, we were constantly seeing people fall everywhere, kids, adults, you name it, they fell. 4. Bar service: was atrocious, if you didn't speak Spanish or if you weren't from Costa Rica, you were overlooked, no matter how much you tipped. Some of the bars were worse than others, and unfortunately, the. Ad service wasn't due to the bar tenders being busy, it was due to them not acknowledging their guests. 5. Party Staff: I'm sure are overworked and underpaid. They were great! Fun, entertaining and created a fun and exciting atmosphere for the week. 6. Room: the room itself was beautiful, our view was incredible. However, we had to fight to get towels, everyday we were shorted or didn't get towels. Day one we only were given three bath towels and two wash cloths, never saw a washcloth after day one. There were no bath mats and we were only given two hand towels once. The towels we were getting were also stuff and smelled like wet dog. We were also given two bottles of water for three people for two days, to drink and use to brush our teeth with. Our shower had black mold in the bottom of it as it wasn't cleaned even after I reported it on day one. 7. Cleaners: the main areas of the hotel were well cared for, including the lobby, and the stores. Someone was always mopping the main areas. The side areas like by our elevator was a disaster, broken glass every morning/day trash piled in the garbages. 8. Gardeners: the gardens were pristine, this team is on point, trees were well cared for, grass was well maintained. 9. Facilities: the bathrooms, or lack there of bathrooms... There were three working stalls at the pool, the one pool at capacity could hold over 400 people. That's less than 1 bathroom per woman. There is also only one bathroom for the buffet, steakhouse, outside entertainment area, asian, and American country restaurant to share, and at one point none of the toilets were flushing... Things I would expect at a 5* resort, that I've experienced at lesser star resorts: 1. Poolside service- drinks and/or snacks brought to you 2. Beach service - beach loungers laid out or brought down for you. Beach bar with drinks or delivered drinks. 3. Clean beach 4. Bar service ... 5. Towels in the room that aren't stiff and smelly 6. Room service 7. Welcome drink 8. Night time vendor market - for souvenirs 9. Tastings - Costa Rican coffee, chocolate, sugar cane, fruits, etc. 10. Shuttles into town For the amount of money we spent on rooms, it was not worth it, in my opinion.

  Aug 17, 2026
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  Our experience at Hotel Riu Guanacaste. Not a five star stay.

  Beautiful hotel. What we didn’t like is most restaurants were buffets, taking the romantic / formal feel out of it. No shellfish served, such as crab or shrimp. Same foods regurgitated in every restaurant. Staff hardly smile, in a way kinda racist. If you’re not speaking Spanish, the service is not the same. Our sheets weren’t changed for two nights. They made the bed with the same sheets.

  Aug 16, 2026