We had a very enjoyable seven days stay at Riu Palace, Costa Rica. The staff at reception were very friendly, patient and answered all our questions/concerns. Special mention goes to Sharon at the reception.
The view from our ocean view room was breathtaking! The room was big and the balcony was spacious. The bed was nice and firm. Housekeeping did a wonderful jobkeeping the room clean. The furniture needs to be updated though, they looked worn out. Loved the option of having five restaurants on the property. The buffet restaurants Arenal, and Papgayo were very good with lots of options. Special thanks goes to Monica at the Arenal restaurant. She is an excellent, very pleasant, capable maitre d, and always found a table to our liking, no matter how busy the restaurant was at that time. Loved the Japanese restaurant Tokio, and the fusion restaurant Krystal. Food and service was excellent there. Did not like the bathroom layout in our room though.The toilet (with a door) is separate from the shower and the sinks. The sinks are seperate from the showering area. The showering area has a half door without a lock, and does not have hooks to hang clothes. There is mildew on the grouts in the shower.There is a huge jacuzzi tub in the room, which I think is redundunt. The room will be much nicer if the toilet, shower and the sinks are all in one room with a door, and an exhaust fan. Frequently there is sewage smell coming from the toilet area.