Riu Palace Costa Rica - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10681 reviews

• 

  I had a great time but the hotel is not it.

  This was one of the worst Riu's I've been to. The food is horrible. No bacon in the mornings, no real breakfast choices. I ate webo ranchos almost everyday. There is no omelets, no station nothing. There is canned ham though not even Canadian bacon. The food barley has flavor. So needless to say breakfast was not a great meal. I have never been to a hotel that everything shuts off automatically at 10:30 in the buffet. So I got up a little late one day went to get a boiled egg (which I ate other than rancho) and toast. As I am running my toast through the toaster it just stopped. I asked the worker what happened and she said it turns off at 10:30.... smh anyway The only good lunch is at the small side places. The taco shop, the restaurant by Filedelphia, the buffet is horrible no matter what time. But the best meal at the buffet is probably lunch so 🤷🏽‍♀️. Some of the staff is nice some such, but it is what it is. Please be aware this Riu is a locals vacation spot. When checked in on a Friday on Saturday a bunch of locals checked out, by Monday they were all back. Please note I don't mind but what that does is make the hotel very very crowded. Way more crowded then it probably would be. Now on to Dinner. There are only 5 restaurants and note they are not all open on the same night. So 2 or 3 maybe open one night then the next you will have the others. There is also a glitch with this because there are so many people in the hotel you have to be at the restaurant to line up by 5pm and the restaurants do not open until 6pm. So you have to stand online if you want to eat in a restaurant and not at the buffet. But wait there still more. The restaurants only seat 300 people per night. So if you are not online by 5 you may be stuck eating at the buffet. Oh wait all of the restaurants are buffet style anyway except for the steak house. It means for a full hotel with 3000+ guest only 600 to 900 (if 3 restaurants are open that night) can eat in a restaurant setting. I stood in line once because they said to be there by 5 and wait to get a buzzer because i dont want to eat at 6pm. Stood there for an hour when the doors open I was maybe we were maybe the 5th group just for the girl to tell me ahe couldn't give me a buzzer until the whole restaurant was seated. Now what since does that make. Im here give me the buzzer set it once everybody is seated and the first group leaves. Nope I had to ask for a Manager cause I was not eating in the buffet no way. I'm glad I did because the Italian restaurant was one of the best meals I had all week. Even though it was buffet style also, but the food was delicious. Anyway positives: the rooms are gorgeous. They were recently updated and the floors are amazing. I started in Building 6 which was nice but I requested a garden view upgrade and once people checked out Saturday I was able to move and went to Building two with not just a garden view but an ocen view and a balcony. I was on the 3rd floor and the room and the view was spectacular. Sorry gotta go back to negatives. They refill our mini bar every other day, but when we got to our new room they had not replenished the many bar or added the alcohol in the room. I was very understanding because the room was previously occupied by teenagers so, I liked the fact that they did remove the alcohol from the room. But the room should have been completely ready before you put people in it and we had to wait 2 days because, wait for it it was on the every other day already.... lolol Also every building as 1 ice machine on each floor our room was like 304 or something. When I wanted ice I had to walk to the other side of the building which is like a 5 minute walk just for ice. Now just imagine, one ice machine for like 300 rooms. So you walk all the way over to the otherside and there is no more ice in the machineeeee.... that really sucks and you don't dare walk to another floor cause you don't know where there machine is at..... Last negative how you have fajita meat for dinner,I mean sliced steak and onions and green peppers. Sliced chicken, shrimp, just everything you would need to make a fajita except tortilla. When you ask they send you to the pizza station who tells you they don't have... like I was over the food situation on this hotel... I think I ate nachos almost everyday for dinner when we had to eat at the buffet. The chicken was always under cooked, but the steak was always decent. Oh the burgers were good to if they were cooked for me not everyone likes it cooked medium well. Know there is no 24 food. The sports bar is open 24 hrs but you can not order food after 10:45. So if you missed dinner and would like to eat there remember the cut off time. There is no room serivice at this hotel, but the Palace has room service and according to the people I meet from that side they said they had food issues even with room service. I would never stay at this location again. I love the Rius but this one missed the mark completely.

  Dec 07, 2025
• 

  A Riu Guanacaste thorough review

  My family and I spent one week at the Riu Guanacaste. The resort is large and gorgeous with beautifully maintained landscape. Check in was smooth and we were provided a map of the property together with a welcome drink. We found our room on the 3rd floor above the entertainment stage. The room was modern and clean with comfortable beds and a fridge stocked with sodas, water and beer. Note, the shower has only shampoo and no conditioner. If you forget conditioner, it is $11 at the very expensive hotel store. Despite being above the stage, we only heard the shows faintly if at all from our room. The room was cleaned daily, however we had to ask twice for toilet paper to be restocked. The service in general was ok but not great. The ladies working at the beach boutique were unprofessional, took 2.5 hours for lunch eating in the store in plain sight of customers with the door locked and shooing people away. In the restaurants and bars the staff did their jobs but not one went above and beyond to the point that we would recognize anyone specific. The service in the American Country bar was terrible. It is clear that customer service is not high priority. The food was OK but not one meal outstanding. We ate and were full and there is a wide variety to choose from so nobody should be hungry but there is no wow factor. With the exception of the steak house, the specialty restaurants are all buffets. We tried them all with the Japanese restaurant being our favorite. One huge annoyance is the system in place for these specialty restaurants. Stand in line and first come first serve. People lined up for the steak house in the heat literally at 4:30pm for a 6:00pm dining. Not an effective use of time on vacation. Dinner was a large but thin steak, potato wedges, 1/3 of a corn, little bit of vegetables. The night we were there the air conditioning was broken and it was hotter than the hubs of hell inside. It appeared that the pizza at the main buffet and at the Italian restaurant were the same. Do not expect fine dining at this resort as it does not exist. The evening shows were good. The performers did their best to entertain and the Riu party on Friday night was a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time enjoying the multiple pools and a bit of time at the water park. There are a few swim up bars and various activities happening at different pools. The pools were clean, large, a comfortable temperature and area kept nice. The pools were never crowded and always plenty of chairs available. The beach was lovely with the mountains in the background. Sand is darker as it is volcanic sand. Smooth entry into the water. The ocean was warm and pleasant. There were always lots of seats available. There are a few vendors at the entrance of the beach but they are not pushy. Note, there is no drink service at the beach. I must mention the monkeys. We discovered them while going for a 7:00am walk on a trail to the left of the resort. These capuchin monkeys will come up and take food out of your hand. It was a treat to see them. If you venture further down the beach to the left about 10 minute walk there is a trail with an arrow that leads to the Monkey Bar. It is a bar which serves authentic Costa Rican food and drinks and yes there are monkeys in the morning. Try their signature drink, the White Faced Monkey. So delicious. It was a nice break from the resort. We had a great time at Riu but would make a few adjustments based on what I wrote above. What could be 5 star unfortunately loses a star for the customer service and the food. If you want a relaxed and casual holiday experience then Riu is the place for you.

  Dec 07, 2025
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  Go to BRENDA AT FILADELFIA

  Brenda at Filadelfia is the ABSOLUTE BEST! So friendly and accommodating! Always has a smile on her face and there needs to be more workers like her!!! can you read that? Can you can you do English?

  Dec 04, 2025
• 

  Mixed fillings. Overpriced.

  Frequent local guests arriving in masses, the reception overwhelmed at times. When we were resting at our room suddenly a new guests entered to our room! Apparently his key was working to our room. When we reported the situation to management we were given new keys/cards, no apology, so it looks like this is norm for this hotel. Rooms are located in huge block building, lots of walking to elevators.

  Nov 26, 2025
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  CR is incredible, Riu is a mixed bag

  Our family of 4, (kids 13,15) stayed Nov 9-14. While this was our first trip to CR, we are seasoned travelers and have stayed at RIU properties elsewhere abroad. There are many wonderful things about this property, but also some room for improvement as well. Overall, I would give it 3/5 stars. We would probably stay here again. Arrival. The resort is not terribly far from the airport, but the closer you get, the roads worsen and traffic has to slow considerably. 40-60 min drive depending on the time of day and traffic. We used the airport’s private shuttle service. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and the lobby was moderately busy, but the reception staff was all hands on deck. A short wait and we were checked in. I completed the early online check in using the Riu app, which I think sped the process up. Room. We got two adjoining rooms (2011 & 2012) which were centrally located. The recent renovation and remodel of this property was very well done! Everything is or looks to be brand new. The rooms were nice and clean when we arrived. A couple of minor issues: our safe in the closet was locked and the mini bars were empty. Sadly, it took a couple of phone calls and some waiting to get these remedied. The housekeeping did a fantastic job all week in both rooms. FYI, the minibar is only re-stocked every other day with 2 cans of each type of soda. The kids went through the coke and sprite very quickly. Daily replenishing would be preferred. The beds/pillows are decent and sleep quality was good. The lowest setting for the thermostat is 22c. The ceiling fan worked well; we stayed comfortable despite wanting it a bit colder. Grounds/facilities. As stated, the remodel appears to have been carried out very well. The grounds are very well maintained! The property is somewhat large. We didn’t mind walking, but if you have mobility issues or small kids, it may prove to be a tad laborious. There is ample seating near the pools and on the beach, plenty of bars, and places to grab snacks without going all the way to the main buffet. Beach. The beach was honestly better than we expected. We are used to the white sand and blue hues of the Caribbean, but this beach is nice. The waves and current varied from day to day, but we enjoyed getting in the ocean. During full sun and easy tide, the water is surprisingly clear. There are vendors on the beach, they are not very bothersome, a simple “no, garcias” will keep them moving along if you aren’t interested. The wares they peddle are pretty cheap and I find it fun to interact with them. The bars are a bit of a hike from the beach and there is no drink service on the beach. PRO TIP- Bring your large insulated mug/yeti to keep your beverages cold and reduce your trips up to the bar. Excursions/Activities. We booked a day long trip to waterfalls, rain forest, sloths, etc with Frank the Tank the week before our arrival, based on friend’s recommendations. It was sensational, 10/10. I also booked a 3 hour private fishing trip for my son and I from “the two Ericks” on the beach. It was good, we caught a couple bonitas while trolling and a few small fish, fishing off the bottom near Monkey Island. Speaking of Monkeys, we walked to the “Monkey Bar” one day just down the beach on the other side of RIU palace. When we went, there were no monkeys. The white-faced capuchins are actually closer to the resort in the jungle, near the area where the vendors park their cars and scooters. We LOVED interacting with the monkeys and feeding them. Grapes and Raisins got us the most attention from them. We went to three of the shows at night in the theater. They were on par for this tier of resort. They start at 2100, which for us is a little on the late side. We went to the water park one day which is farther to the front of the property. It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed it. No lines to speak of, just nonstop slidin’. Antonio hosted a daily beach volleyball game in the afternoon with his co workers from the entertainment staff. Antonio is a newer hire and was fantastic. Food. To be fair, I did not have very high hopes for the food, so I was not super disappointed like some other reviewers. The bottom line is that we did not starve, we stayed fed and usually found something palatable. At the end of the day this is all-inclusive, multi-national type cuisine. Mediocre at best. The dinners and ala carte restaurants were better, but executed horribly. Not all of them are open each night and the ones that are start forming lines to get in at 4:30 for the 6pm open, first come first serve. I paid my son to stand in the line and hold our spot. If you are not one of the first 200 people in line, you will not get in that night. It’s not like you can show up later after the rush and get in. They limit the number of diners nightly. And yes you read that correctly…..hundreds of people in a line each night for dinner. It’s pretty absurd. I’ve never seen anything like it. Perhaps they should go to a reservation system, as much as I’ve hated that about other places. Staff and service. It pains me to say, but this was the area where the most improvement is needed. The attentiveness of the staff is woefully lacking. There were a few exceptions, but overall, there was not a lot of enthusiasm or sense of service from the waiters and bartenders. We are from the U.S., but I speak Spanish AND we tip. I brought a stack of 1 and 2 dollar bills and routinely tipped. Whether you tip or not and whether you speak Spanish, you’ll get the same level of service/attention. You do you. I would like to mention the employees who were indeed exceptional in hopes they may be recognized by management. If you’re reading this before your trip, you may want to seek them out to get taken good care of. Christian is the best waiter in the Liberia buffet. His section is just inside the main door to the right. He always kept our drinks full and was very attentive. Same for Raphael in the steak house and Italian restaurant. I learned that November is considered the slow season for them, as the rain is starting to slow. This particular time is when many locals will come to the resort. During our stay, I would estimate that 80% of the guests were from Costa Rica, 10% Americans and 10% Canadians. One of our drivers claimed there had been promotions (kind of like Groupon) for locals to come stay at the newly renovated RUI. Made sense to me. NONE of the Costa Rican guests tipped the staff. None. Perhaps this has a little something to do with the service, as there isn’t great incentivization to provide excellent service. Just my hypothesis. If you made it all the way to here, you’re probably already booked or thinking about booking. I hope this helped. Safe travels.

  Nov 24, 2025