Occidental hotels in Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

"The worst travel experience ever. We went on a family vacation and didn't receive the services and accommodation we were offered at Hotels.com description. The hotel is undergoing financial and legal challenges and the maintenance at the property was not existent; the children playground, arcade, and game room were closed; mosaic tiles in the children pool missing, with cement exposed on the floor with the risk of injury; the beach was dirty with broken glass; no lifeguard was available; not even one chair for guests available at the beach. The room was dirty. Our reservation was for 6 guests and we received linens and towels for 4 people only. No hands towel available. When asking for the missing linens and towels they said that it was not possible. We had to beg for the bed sheets and towels and had made the two beds ourself. Most of the staff, including the Operations Manager, was unfriendly. I understand because 3 of them told us that they had not received the salary for the last 2 weeks. They had no motivation to work or provide good customer service. The food was poor quality and low quantity. Only some repetitive dishes remained available for hours. This was a terrible vacation experience and we moved to another hotel. I will never recommend this hotel to anybody. "

"First and last time staying at a Riu. Very disappointing. Called the hotel the day before our stay to confirm 1 king bed and not 2 double beds. I was told that we were all set and confirmed for 1 king bed. After traveling all day, we arrived to our room to find 2 double beds and an extremely musty odor. We then went back down to the front desk to inform them of the issue and luckily, they were able to get us into a room with 1 king bed. The grounds were well kept but the room was not well cleaned before our arrival. The floor was filthy and there was hair in the shower and all around the floor. Food was terrible! Everything except for 1 restaurant is buffet style. Inconsistent, many times it was cold and not a lot of healthy options. Bartenders and wait staff were extremely friendly. "

"Amazing stay. Breakfast and dinner are included. Everyone on staff was wonderfully helpful and friendly. Great stay!"

"Food variety was not great, buffet was very small often had to wait to be seated . There was only one transportation for such a large resort so wait times were crazy. This is a hotel more if you looking to just relax and don’t mind walking long periods of time to just go to the pool."

"With a mix up with our reservation, we ended up with a double booking. I was unaware of this but the hotel staff was not. Upon check in they did not mention this nor clarify with me about another booking under my name for same nights. They only alerted me upon check out after they charged the additional booking as a no show. Ultimately after challenging the hotel, Expedia and my Amercan Express card, I paid for 2 reservations but only used one."

"Awesome!"

"Beautiful property on a hill with infinity pool overseeing the ocean! All ocean view rooms, amazing breakfast each day and access to a great beach front club with gym, pool, beach. The club is however at a a different location than the main property and the hotel provides with hourly transport to and fro. The rooms are dated and bathrooma rather small and old. "

"The hotel room was spacious and clean. The property is clean, well-decorated, and we felt very safe. The staff was very friendly and appreciated a friendly conversation. Many of the staff recognized my partner and me and remembered our drink orders. The pool is absolutely beautiful and well-maintained, but we wish there were more pool chairs with umbrellas, as the sun is very intense. The beach is gorgeous with safe swimming access, which was a huge plus. The restaurants were great, but we were unsure about how to access the Nikoa restaurant and pool. We only stayed a week, and we thought that if we stayed longer, the food options would get old, which was why we were trying to figure out the other restaurants. The Nikoa pool and restaurant seemed like a super-nice, new part of the property that was hardly used at all. We also attended the free yoga classes on-site at the hotel, and the instructor was excellent. However, the hotel gym was old, dirty, and had no AC, which was crazy considering it's over 90 degrees every day. Overall, we would definitely stay at this hotel again. We felt we got a lot of value for what we paid!"

"Clean, beautiful, convenient"