5-Star Hotels in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Just returned from our stay at the Planet Hollywood and have mixed feelings.  There were some excellent aspects… but also a few areas for improvement!  Let’s start with the good stuff: Edu (bartender at the lobby bar) was a STAR.  Trust him to make your drinks, just tell him the flavor or preference for liquor) and he will spin you up something completely magical!! We LOVED spending our nights sitting at the bar watching Edu make peoples evenings.  We also loved the included watersports like paddleboarding and kayaking ( unfortunately the big water tricycle was out of order).  The Fuel Coffee bar is also a fabulous addition and great place to escape the heat for a cold coffee.  Now, the negatives - the front desk staff was pretty subpar and didn’t seem to communicate very well - one girl was actually very rude when I was trying to sort out a room situation and I wish I got her name.  The pool drinks are SO bad.  Not sure what type of bottom shelf alcohol they use at pool bar, but we tried so many different drinks and they were all disgusting.  The only thing somewhat drinkable was the Mojito.  I ended up switching to non-alcoholic drinks after day 1 and they were much better at the pool.  Did my real drinking at the lobby bar with Edu in the evenings.  Otherwise, the room was clean - resort was nice and entertainment was entertaining.  The food was decent but the buffet was SO hot and humid without any air conditioning. Overall, this was far from the best all inclusive experience I’ve had, but, we still made the most of it and had a nice time.

An amazing experience, the place is beautiful, the service is excellent, the rooms very modern, elegant and spacious. Very relaxing!.

Room was clean, modern, comfortable. Service was really wonderful and enhanced our stay here - it makes such a difference when people are nice to you when you are away from home. There were plenty of excellent food choices for us (one of us being a vegetarian). The hotel has a ”normal” side with bars and poolside music, as well as a ”quiet” side near the spa without the music...so it was good to have the choice of vibe to sit in. Altogether its a really well run hotel: one we were pleased to have stayed in and one we would definitely return to.

A beautifully situated, large, and luxurious hotel with excellent service. But unfortunately, it's primarily geared towards partying Americans. This results in constant noise pollution. On the first day of our stay, there was a poolside party with lots of people drinking and very loud music from a DJ. On the 2nd day, a large screen was set up by the pool, showing the Super Bowl game from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. It was incredibly noisy. Our dinner in the restaurant was therefore unpleasant and disappointing. The management is engaged and positive, but they can't make up for our negative experience. Conclusion: if you're looking for a luxurious experience with lots of parties, crowds, and loud music, this is the place to be. If you're looking for the peaceful pura vida experience surrounded by nature in Costa Rica, this is not the place to be!

Fabulous !! Beautiful hotel. Staff very accommodating! All as described plus there are lounges on the beach.

The hotel is beautiful, but the service is not good enough. Many waiters can't speak English and don't have good training. When calling the shuttle bus at the front desk, guests were asked to call it by themselves, and the phone was still at the counter. The front desk staff was very unprofessional at the time of check-in, and it took almost 40 minutes to get the job done. It was finished in 5 minutes until the manager on duty arrived. The laundry service was not provided in a timely manner, and the service staff could not communicate. Hotel hardware is OK, but the quality of Costa Rica's service staff really needs to be improved. Hotel service up to 3.5 points

Located at the Peninsula with stunning views. All the activities are fun and family-friendly. What a pleasant stay.