Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica - All Inclusive

The resort is about a 30-40 minute drive from anywhere else you might want to explore, but we had a rental car, so that wasn't a problem. Our six-night family stay with kids went really well. The recently renovated hotel was great, service was good, and there were lots of fun activities to keep everyone busy. The kids loved the splash park pool. We asked to change our first room because it was a bit of a walk with little kids to the lobby and restaurant. After we moved, they called to check that we were happy with the updated room. Everyone on staff we dealt with was amazing.

We loved our stay from May 28 to June 2. The food was great, the alcohol was good, and the staff were friendly. The one downside was the towels. They smelled moldy, and the replacement set had the same smell. I've stayed twice now and would come back again.

My niece loved the clean, pleasant pool area, and the beach was awesome. The dark sand gets hot, though, so bring water shoes or flip-flops. At the buffet, the staff were nice, but sometimes we couldn't find anyone to get the drinks we wanted, and ended up with just coffee or water. There were a few hiccups, but it was a fantastic vacation overall. I'd recommend the resort to friends with those caveats.

The drinks and service at the pool and bars were good, but I don't feel I got my money's worth. Compared with other RIUs internationally, this one fell short. We check out in two days, and lunch and dinner have been hard to sort out. Breakfast buffet staples were generally done well, and the poolside food was the only consistently good lunch option. We relied on the app, which mentioned themed buffet dinners, but reception told us those weren't offered. The front desk and managers seemed unfazed when I explained how disappointed I was with the service. It took a long time to get a dinner table, then we waited over an hour and the food still wasn't good. The bathrooms smelled strongly of sewage. My friend's room also had mosquitos and spiders, and there was pushback when they asked for another room. I wish there were more places to get towels around the resort and drinks closer to the beach.