I spent a week here with my mom in early December. It was our first time in Costa Rica and I can't say enough good things about this hotel.

The rooms were clean and the resort itself was very modern and beautiful. The staff were very thoughtful and helpful and attentive to our every need - whether it was at the restaurants, bars or reception. They were also very friendly and kind and went out of their way to make sure we had the best experience.

The beach was small and very clean, but there was enough space for us to swim. The ocean was very calm most of the time so we were able to swim with no problem. Remember to bring water shoes if you go, as there are some parts of the beach that were rocky.

I also took two tours from the travel agents at the beach - look for Carlos & Marvin, they're hilarious! I did the bird watching tour at 5 am near my resort, which was great because I saw dozens of bird species without having to travel far. The tour guide was very knowledgeable about all the kinds of birds that we saw, and he even knew a lot about the plants and wildlife that was in the area.

I also did a rainforest tour. This tour guide was also very knowledgeable about the country's history as well as the Guanacaste province. At the rainforest, we were able to see many kinds of animals like sloths, monkeys, and birds. The tour guide also told us a lot about the different plants and flowers in the rainforest.

Overall, we had a very positive experience with the resort and the super friendly locals both on and off the resort. Whether you're going to Costa Rica for the first time or if you've been here before, I highly recommend this hotel.

We stayed at the Occidental Papagayo for 3 nights as part of our Costa Rican Honeymoon. Overall, we were unimpressed with our experience and probably will not be back here if we return to Costa Rica.

Starting from check in, we had to wait a decent amount of time for staff to be available for anything. I’m not sure if this is due to COVID regulations, or they just don’t have enough staff to meet their guest’s needs. We tried to set up appointments for kayaking and to request the shuttle service, but were constantly being transferred in circles among staff, if they answered at all. We spent a whole day trying to track down the correct staff member to make us a kayak reservation. Staff also frequently had various answers to the same question, depending on who you asked. Second star given for our dining experiences.

Lows: very few amenities for an “all inclusive” resort, unhelpful/absent staff, lots of stairs and walking, poor location (not by any shops/restaurants in a short walking distance), beach access is right next to public access point.

Highs: pretty good food, nice pools, seemingly well-kept grounds, clean rooms.

We took 5 days at this hotel with our social bubble. Firstly we want to mention that we consider traveling very seriously to avoid getting sick and spread the virus. We felt safe at this hotel, the measurements taken from the check in, meals, entertainment, public spaces really made us feel safe. In general the staff cared about our wellness starting on the safety and then helped us enjoy our stay with good activities and a very close follow up of our special conditions for the food and activities. We want to thank Enrique, Alonso, Carlos and Roy, they really cared about us all our stay. Don't worry too much if the experience at the front desk is not the best, the rest of the stay should be great.
We totally recommend this place, we felt safe, and on top of that we really enjoyed all the experience.