Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica

Recent Reviews: 7870

• User:Steven M

  Trip type: Family

  Excellent Stay at the RIU Palace Costa Rica

  12 Apr 2026

  Excellent holiday at the Riu Palace Costa Rica.AirportIt was a small airport and does have food and drinks available when you return home. There is a nice duty free section as well. The prices for souvenirs are expensive so buy your souvenirs from the beach vendors.Transfers to hotelSunwing includes the round trip transfers and the transfers were seamless. Be prepared for a very bumpy thirty minute ride to the hotel.Check InThe check in process was very quick. You will receive your bracelet, key and towel cards. Our rooms were ready so we just brought our bags up directly. I emailed the hotel prior to arriving and went back and for with Sheryll the customer service rep. I told her we were RIU class members and let her know I would be bringing some small gifts down for her from Toronto. We paid for regular rooms and when we arrived we had two ocean view rooms. It was an excellent start. Sherryll even reserved us the Steak and Seafood al la carte restaurant for our first night. RoomsThe rooms were small and dated but totally comfortable and equipped with a hair dryer.The ocean view from the balcony was amazing. The balcony had a small drying rack on the wall.The room had a large walk in shower as well as a separate jacuzzi tub.Lobby BarThe lobby bar had an amazing view to the ocean and we would meet for drinks there prior to dinner. Most of the seating at the lobby bar was in doors but there was seating for about eight outside on both sides of the lobby bar with the same beautiful view. You can see an awesome sunset from the lobby bar.Off the lobby bar is the coffee and bakery bar. This opens at 7:00 am and the coffee was excellent. They also served small deserts and ready made small sandwiches.Just off the coffee bar was bar 24 where you could watch soccer and have a light breakfast. They also served hamburgers, hotdogs, nachos and small sandwiches all day. You could La get a latte from the machine here all day long as well. Restaurants The main buffet restaurant was excellent and had both in door and out door seating for breakfast (6:30 am) and dinner (6:00 pm). The breakfast is your standard buffet and dinner mains change nightly. The buffet was excellent. LunchLunches are served down by the ocean with covered outdoor seating. We ate most of our lunches there but did walk over to the Riu Guanacaste to try there buffet lunch which was served both by the swim up bar as well as in their main breakfast buffet area.They also served bbq chicken, burgers and sausages by our pool four days of the week.DinnerThere are four al a cart restaurants at the RIU Palace.ItalianWe did not try this one. This was a buffet style al la carte in an indoor setting. It really was not an à la carte. PSushiA small in door setting that required you to line up at 5;00 pm if you wished to get in for 5:45 pm. I lined up at 5:30 and reserved for 7:30 pm. The food was quite good but we did not like the steak here.Krystal We ate here once and the steak was excellent. I lined up at 5:45 pm and reserved for 7:30 pm. Oceanfront Steak and SefoodThis opened at 5:45 pm and requires you to line up. We ate there three times. I lined up at 6:00 pm and booked for 7:30 pm. The Caribbean lobster, chicken caesar salad and crab cakes were amazing. The steak was not as good as the steak at Krystal. This open air restaurant doubles as your lunch buffet. This was our favourite place forlunch and dinner.Guests of the Palace are allowed at the Guanacaste but only for buffet breakfast and lunch. We could drink at all of their bars but could not eat at their American Country sports bar for any meal.Pools There are five separate pools to choose from. There is a swim up bar that was really busy. Behind the swim up bar they and a nice outdoor covered area to have drinks and eat the pool side meals when they barbecued four days during the week. At the Guanacaste they have a nice ocean view bar off the swim up bar. We had drinks there a few times during the week. It was an amazing view and they served a light buffet lunch. Beach The beach sand is very dark and hot. I would recommend water shoes. The beach itself was not rocky at all. We were able to see a lot of fish in the shallow water.Vendors The vendors were friendly and very affordable. You can book tours of any type with them. I would recommend Super Mario and his son Adrian. They were excellent . I used Adrian for transportation back and forth to Tres Volcanoes golf course. He charged us 50 US return. The hotel wanted 120 US. SuperMario and Adrian were friendly and honest. Uber here was available but not reliable or recommended because of the location of the hotel.MonkeysWalk down toto the beach and turn left towards the monkey bar which is separate from the hotels. Just before you get to the monkey bar you will see 20-30 monkeys playing in the trees. They come down and eat out of your hand. We went At 10 am each morning to see them. We did not have to pay extra for the zoo excursion. They do not actually have any monkeys to see at the Monkey bar but we did have one drink there. The monkeys are just off the pathway that leads from the Palace to the Monkey bar. You can’t miss them. Hotel StaffThe RIU entertainment staff were incredible. Naye Max JosieAll three were incredible. Please tip them and bring them down some Canadian swag. Sheryll and Melissa at the front desk were amazing as well. Josh was one of the photographers and did a great job capturing photos of all the tourists. Smokey the cat hangs out in the theatre so being down some cat treats for him.Nightly shows The nightly shows were well done and only an hour staring at 9:00 pm. At 10:00 pm a singer comes on every night except Friday night. The shows were extremely well done. Fridays nights you will have to go to the Guanacaste for the show. GymThe gym was excellent but fairly small and busy.Tennis court There is one tennis court that doubles as a pickleball court and basketball court. The Taiwan’s were great but bring your own balls. You have to reserve the court and the early times were taken quickly. Tres Volcanoes I booked this course on line for my son and I. I pad $67 a player for nine holes plus $50 each for club rentals at the clubhouse Clubs were decent. There was no one on the course so we played 15 holes. We started on 10 and played six holes twice so we felt like we got our monies worth. Bring your own balls. The course was decent but not high end. Overall I would highly recommend this hotel. Online Reputation Management, Owner at Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica, responded to this review Dear Moly,Thank you very much for your feedback, we are so happy to read you enjoyed your stay.Our lovely team always go out of their way to make sure that all guests are looked after.We would love to welcome you again soon :)Kindest wishes,Hotel Riu Palace Costa RicaOnline Reputation Manager

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• User:Mobile24169

  Trip type: Family

  Rui Palace costa rica

  10 Apr 2026

  Food quality poor. Stay away from buffets. Rooms dirty. Put a dirty graco playpen for our infant to sleep in. Room dirty and they had to change it. This hotel is terribly outdated. No satellite tv. The value for our money was not there. Online Reputation Management, Owner at Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica, responded to this review Dear guest,Thank you for sharing your opinion. We are sorry to read that we did not manage to meet your expectations this time. We would like to clarify that it is very important to us that all our guests feel welcome at our resort and treated in the same way. We are sorry that you left our resort thinking otherwise.We place great importance in providing our guests with unforgettable experiences and it is disappointing to see that you left our hotel thinking otherwise. We appreciate our guests’ comments since they help us improve our services, and for this reason, your impressions will be shared with the relevant department.We sincerely hope to have another opportunity to show you the quality we strive to offer.Sincerely, Hotel Riu Palace Costa RicaOnline Reputation Management

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• User:Evelynstro

  Trip type: Family

  Evelyn’s review

  09 Apr 2026

  My stay here was just okay overall. For the most part, the resort followed through on what was promised — things were cleaned, and any issues that came up were addressed.I do want to highlight that the room staff was great, and the team at the Arenal buffet was amazing. They were friendly, attentive, and really made parts of my stay enjoyable. Because of them, I wouldn’t rate every area of the resort as just okay.However, my main concern was with the RIU party staff, specifically the supervisor. I felt singled out while participating in activities at the adult pool. I had a few drinks and was simply trying to engage and have fun with the games, like many other guests were doing.I’ve stayed at RIU resorts three times in Cabo and in Falmouth at RIU Aquarelle and I’ve never had an experience where security was called on me. That situation made me feel very uncomfortable and honestly took away from what should have been an enjoyable moment.I was just trying to interact and be part of the atmosphere, so that experience was disappointing and unexpected.

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• User:Alexandra H

  Trip type: Family

  Food poisoning, and potential bed bugs.

  09 Apr 2026

  I came to this hotel with my mom and sister for a girls trip. Unfortunately, my mom got food poisoning from the Italian restaurant and we potentially had bed bugs in our room. Online Reputation Management, Owner at Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica, responded to this review Dear Alexandra,Thank you for taking the time to provide us your feedback on your stay at our property.We are truly sorry to read of your dissatisfaction as we never wish for our guests feel any discomfort.Health is Hotels & Resorts priority. We wish to explain that in accordance with our high standards, we guarantee our guests the highest quality service, which goes far beyond the legal requirements, especially when it comes to food safety. Therefore, we follow a food safety protocol, ensuring product safety and quality, in all our F&B processing, preparation and service processes.We can guarantee that our regular H&S inspections show optimal results in this area.Travelling to different countries with different climates may lead to gastrointestinal problems, which may not necessarily be related to food. Needless to say, we are deeply sorry to read that your mom felt sick. We follow strict procedures while handling our food products, in order to prevent and avoid any kind of alimentary risks or hazards.We have noted your review to ensure we can work on improving our service delivery and offerings at the hotel accordingly. Best Regards,Hotel Riu Palace Costa RicaOnline Reputation Manager

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• User:Elizabeth L

  Trip type: Friends getaway

  Riu Palace Costa Rica and Nexttrip takes you to an incredible paradise!!

  09 Apr 2026

  Our group of 10 just got back from Riu Palace Costa Rica, and it was a great choice for us since everyone had different plans. Some went on excursions while others stayed and enjoyed the resort, so it worked out perfectly.The place was clean, the food had good variety, the views were beautiful, and the staff was always friendly and helpful. Not perfect, but definitely somewhere I would return.We also booked a few private tours with NextTripCR.com after hearing about them from other guests. Some of us did the La Leona waterfall hike, others did a rainforest/sloth tour, and we all went on a catamaran together. Everything was well organized, on time, and reasonably priced. We even used them for our airport transfer back.Overall, a really fun and smooth experience! Online Reputation Management, Owner at Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica, responded to this review Dear Elizabeth,It is so nice to learn you enjoyed your stay.Thank you very much for making every effort worthwhile.Our lovely staff will be pleased to read your kind review.Your evaluation makes us want to continue working to offer the best service.Loving wishes,Hotel Riu Palace Costa RicaOnline Reputation Manager

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