TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I am not usually one to leave negative reviews so let me first start by saying it wasn't horrible BUT could use some improvement 1st off DO NOT pay for the premium package-it's not worth it!! Premium alco...hol consists of malibu, jack daniels, absolute vodka. And they ran out of malibu on day 4. The premium bar is not open all day, not until noon. Alan was a fantastic bartender there. They claim you can only get 10 premium drinks per day but no where in the premium "rules" does it say that. They will try to uphold that and ask for your room number every drink. Also states you have priority check in- you do not. you stand in the long line in the hot lobby just like everyone else checking in. The pool bar doesn't open until 10:00 so don't plan on bloody mary's for breakfast! Christobal was a great bartender at the pool bar. I think it's because we tipped right off the bat for both of them. Tipping def helps!! The rooms were decent/ Pretty outdated and some mold in the bathrooms. They were clean, i will say that. A/C was subpar and very loud. Our room had a vent in the main part of the room but the bathroom was behind the wall the vent was on so the bathroom was HOT! I recommend bringing an extension cord and getting ready on the ac side. 2 other couples we were with didn't have that issue in their rooms, they were all set up differently even in the same buildings. Grounds were kept nice, they do work hard there. Pool was warm even at night. Beach was nice, i never saw anyone out cleaning so there was some trash. What was a disappointment was there was a huge rock in the water in front of the resort so you had to walk down the beach a ways to get into the water. Not ideal for a quick dip to cool off. Waves were strong, not a casual swim beach. Very beautiful water and we did have some howler monkeys come through once during the day on the beach which was pretty cool! Food- never have I ever stayed in an All-Inclusive that I ate more outside of the resort. The breakfast buffet was very decent. The "snack bar" was a joke!! Bugs all over the fruit and the options were limited and really not edible. Lunch option was only buffet- not horrible but not great. Dinner options were buffet (which was just ok) or you could book dinner at the 2 restaurants on site. BUT only 1 dinner reservation per couple for every 3 days stay. Japanese- not great. Steak so chewy it was not edible. Italian restaurant was much better. Staff- not super friendly. I have been to CR before and stayed at the Riu and everyone was so friendly there, but not here. I was very disappointed Cleaning ladies did a good job on keeping our rooms cleaned but only gave us 2 towels, a floor towel and 1 hand towel. No washcloths. We snagged 2 more towels from the cleaning cart and hid them so we'd each have 2 towels. Def bring your own beach towels because they run out and I think they are only offered to premium guests. The entertainment- though the staff works really hard, you can tell they put in the time but the shows are not great. No one in sync during dance routines and the originality was non existent. We've stayed at many all inclusive resorts and the shows are usually hit or miss. These were a miss. Only shows were at 9:00- no day time entertainment at the pool or beach. My overall review is though it was a decent resort for the price, I wouldn't recommend staying here.

Was an overall pleasant stay for us. The Beach at the hotel was not as expected alot of rocks. But, still felt topical and worth the stay.

Go ahead and enjoy this resort, but set your expectations and do not purchase "premium". This is an all inclusive resort. The food in the buffet was just a bit better than mediocre. The beer was fine, ...but the alcoholic drinks were well below mediocre. You might expect that the main bar at a beach/pool resort would be properly staffed with knowledgeable mixologists and the inventory would be sufficient to handle the guests known to be registered for any one day. This is far from reality. There were long lines and poorly mixed drinks by too few staff. To add insult, we purchased the "premium" package which supposedly gave us access to higher quality of alcohol than the cheap versions. This was a waste of money. Don't purchase "premium" for good drinks. It won't happen. We were told "I don't have any premium liquor at this time, wait and come back later". The alternate excuse was "we don't have it at this bar, you'll need to go to the lobby bar" (which was closed most of the day). Lastly, the excuse that was the straw that broke this camel's back was when they told me there was a maximum number of times any one guest could ask for premium. We were never told this when purchasing premium. I said to the bartender "My wife and I are here with another couple who are also premium, I'm not drinking these all myself". Basically, I was told to send my wife to the bar instead. That's unacceptable to me. Just don't pay for their premium and have your expectations set at average and maybe you won't be disappointed. The beach location was good. We watched surfers almost every day. I walked along the beach 4-5 miles for exercise each morning. It was peaceful, safe and beautiful. The pool was clean and nice and there seemed to be an adequate number of lounge chairs. Pool towels were provided. There was a handy snack buffet nearby. Our room was nice and big, but we reserved a room with a King bed and there was no King bed room available, so we had to settle for a room with 2 double beds. The bathroom was a very nice size and it was clean. We did have an air conditioner issue and a toilet issue, but they fixed them quickly after we reported the problems. Guanacaste Province: This is a dry tropical forest. This is not a green lush rain forest. We had to ride about 3 hours to experience a rain forest. Consequently, we enjoyed NO RAIN while we were there and the temperatures were from 73-90 degrees Fahrenheit. We found the people in this area very friendly. Tamarindo: To get to shops and restaurants was easy. It was a $5-$6 uber ride. We enjoyed beers at Witch's Rock Surf Camp and a lunch on the beach nearby. No monkeys at the resort, but reportedly (we didn't see any) there are crocodiles nearby. There are everyday sightings of raccoons and Iguanas. Overall, we had a nice trip. I didn't let the alcohol situation ruin it...but since my expectations were higher, there was disappointment and annoyance.

Be ready for stay at swimming pool area. The waives are high and you will not have a chance to swim or got to the ocean during your stay. It is paradise for surfers. There was red flag everyday during our ...stay at the resort. However, you can enjoy nightlife in downtown or trips to rain forests for fair price.

We reserved an upgraded loft suite and purchased the Premium Option. We also traveled with friends who we recommended your Barcelo properties and they also purchased premium. We have stayed at five of yo...ur other properties. This Property was not a a very good ambassador for your brand. Our room had multiple problems including two major ones. One of the fixes required us to abandon the room due to the extensive repairs required (these problems we had were obviously known prior to giving us the room) for a lesser room which we were not excited about. Only one person ever said sorry and this took two days to figure out the repairs could not be made - at that point we really didn't want to pack up again. The Premium purchase was a total bust as the premium liquors were either not available, or took your employees hours to "locate", or we were told they were not available to us at this bar (even though at many times only a single bar is open - crazy limited bar hours at this location), or we were even told we had reached our daily limit of ten (no daily limit is ever mentioned when purchasing the premium option). No one ever said "sorry" and we were actually told many of these things in a rude manner.