Hilton Garden Inn Guanacaste Airport

Being close to the airport was a real plus, and the pool is great. The rest was rough. Check-in took an hour and ten minutes, even though the line wasn't especially long, because each person took forever. Online check-in didn't work at all. Our room smelled like fresh paint or some other chemicals. Supper service was incredibly slow, and the food wasn't good.

The pool was great, and Luis at the restaurant was very good. Check-in, though, was a chaotic disaster. People waited in line for hours, and rooms weren't cleaned and ready until 5 pm. Don't count on getting in before 3 pm, whatever time your flight arrives. The reception staff seemed very inexperienced and couldn't manage basics like giving out a room key without a supervisor's help. Room service was worse: they didn't answer the phones, so there was basically no room service.

We're back here tonight to be near the airport before flying out tomorrow. This time we got a room right away, but there's no breakfast and no bottled water in it. On our first night, we waited three hours for the room, and the next morning were told breakfast wasn't included. That room was pretty sparse, though I didn't know what to expect from lodging in Liberia. At least it had bottled water so I could make coffee. The current room is very nice and the restaurant is good, but the breakfast and water situation doesn't make sense to me. Hilton is usually our go-to, and I've never had this happen before.

We finally got our room at 4:40 pm, and thankfully we were only staying one night. At 2 pm we were told our room wasn't ready. In fact, none were ready, and they sent people away to return at 3, when two more flights were due. When we came back, the line was out the door. Even people who had already checked in had to queue again just to get their keys. It took about 15 minutes per guest, and I waited at least an hour. I'd never seen a hotel run this badly. While we waited, my husband was at the bar and couldn't come relieve me. We'd had a couple of drinks, and when he asked the waitress for the bill, she brought four more drinks instead. She started crying when he raised it with her, and I assumed the cost might come out of her pay, so he agreed to pay for drinks we hadn't wanted. I hadn't even checked into the room when I formed this opinion, but the experience deserved zero. Never stay here. Costa Rica is amazing, this hotel is a joke.