Address - Playa Manzanillo, Gulf of Papagayo, Costa Rica
Location - Beach
Distance to airport - 35 minutes
Reviews posted on this page - 11 review(s)
Description: This all-inclusive resort offers never-ending fun with activities from aerobics to SCUBA lessons in the freeform pool, all at no extra cost. Guests eager to explore Papagayo Bay's can take shuttle boat (extra charge) to the Private Beach Club.
Are you the owner of this property? The link to your website could stand here. Please, contact Debbie.
The hotel is nice
Food is good
Rooms are nice
Staf is very friendly and helpful
The PADI dive centre is not well run-poor instructors-not patient and reassuring to beginners
Too much current for new divers
For experienced divers the dives are always combined with new divers as low volume
This is ok for 1 or 2 days but gets tiresome after 3 days
Long trips to diving sites as many detours to pick up other divers and drop off people going on other excursions-ie horse back riding
The white tipped sharks are interesting and there are lots of them
Also say sea horse-first time in 120 plus dives
Resort nice for holiday
Monkey's on beach and excursions very good
But not the place to dive
They never have enough volume for trip to sea manta rays
Tracy
Ottawa
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Hotel Good Value-Avispa's Adventures in the Best Tour Company Ever!!!
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental
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Amanda >
1 contribution(s) United States of America
Jan, 2010 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
2 people found this review helpful
This hotel is pretty nice and a good value for your money. Everything is clean and staff is nice. The pool and swim up bar are great and the beaches are decent. The food is pretty repetitive and not very good. Overall, I would stay here again. While here, we did the Miravelles volcano/ziplining tour, palo verde river tour, and nicauragua tour. I would especially recommend doing tours with Avispas Adventures rather than the tour companies promoted by the hotel. They made our trip wonderful and made sure we had a great time on every tour we did! We spoke with others at the hotel who did the same tours through other companies and they did not have nearly the same experience we did. Amy from Avispas works tirelessly to make sure you get everything you want and they are very flexible about letting you take your time and see whatever you want while on the tour. They take you to places that are not overly crowed and always have snacks and drinks in their vans. Their guides are knowledgeable and they take you to see more of traditional Costa Rica than the big tour companies. They were awesome and I can't find enough good things to say about them!!!!! They made sure we got to see the wildlife close up on the palo verde tour and stopped the van on the way to get out and see monkeys, birds, etc. We got to feed and pet monkeys who came onto the boat!! The ziplining was awesome and you absolutely have to do this if you are in Costa Rica. We were originally hesitant about the Miravelles Volcano tour, but decided to do this because of the travel time to get to Arenal. It was a great tour and you get to hike up in the rainforest to a waterfall, ride horses if you want, take a mud bath and relax in the hot springs after a day of activity. Nicauragua was also nice as you get a chance to visit another country and culture close by and the tour guides make sure you are always comfortable and safe. They took us to 3 cities and two volcanos and we got to experience a lot their. All the staff make you feel like you are family and work very hard to make sure you are having fun. I wish tour companies like this existed everywhere I traveled to.
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I found the prices somewhat outrageous
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental
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Amy from Oklahoma >
1 contribution(s) United States of America
Aug, 2009
2 people found this review helpful
Arrival: August 7th- August 31st
I stayed the first 2 days at the Hilton Papagayo, it would have been equal amount to stay for 7 nights as it would have been for Occidental Allegro Papagayo IF it wouldnt of been for a "sale" that the Hilton was having!!! I tell you what- the lady who asked about my stay is NOT going to like what I had to say about her hotel.
It was beautiful. The hotel surroundings was beautiful. I loved the comfortable beds!!! But I did however leave because I found the prices somewhat outrageous. I will always remember paying $60 U.S. dollars for a meal for 3 that left us still feeling very hungry. Even just after we ate we were still very hungry. I decided to pay an extra $575 U.S. dollars and switch hotels to the Occidental Allegro Papagayo. I was extremely stressed at your hotel and felt as if I was going to run out of money very quickly when the prices for food were so expensive for so little food.
My first few days stay in Costa Rica were extremely stressful. I honestly couldn't enjoy my time there at all. I paid $30 U.S. dollars for 3 basic alcoholic drinks.
If you were to get one alcoholic drink a piece (3 drinks) and 3 meals for 3 people each day you would be spending over 200 U.S. dollars a day!!! With your belly still hungry too!! $60.00 U.S. dollars each meal, 3 meals a day= $180.00 U.S. dollars $30.00 U.S. dollars for 3 alcoholic drinks add with the $180.00= $210.00!!!
The gift shop was also a lot more expensive than the Allegro. $8.99 U.S. dollars for a key chain. The exact same key chain at Allegro was $4.99 U.S. dollars- half the price!! Not to mention the phone charges are fairly cheaper at the Allegro. But I didn't spend much time on the phone over there, seeing as though I was happy with my stay at the Allegro and my phone charges at the Hilton were over $50.00 because I was using it solidly to try to switch hotels so I would "enjoy" what was supposed to be a "vacation".
I did however enjoy my stay very much at the Allegro. I was very glad I paid the extra $575.00 U.S. dollars. Most of the staff at Allegro also understands English A LOT better than most staff at the Hilton Papagayo. I came to find that most people that visit Costa Rica speak English with very very little spanish knowledge on words. It is more important for the staff to know how to speak English than the visitors, seeing as how the majority of people who stay in Costa Rica (for tourism) are fluent in English. We are there to get our needs met and this is hard to do when staff doesn't understand you. We are only there for a week, most people are only there for a short amount of time. So it wont do us any harm to not know or learn spanish, however your staff will be dealing with people who speak English on a day- to- day basis for as long as they work with you!!! Which could be years!!!
Overall- I would not recommend this hotel to anyone I know. Unless- they want to run their bank account dry. The only thing worth staying for again at the Hilton Papagayo, would be the extremely comfortable beds.
P.S. The view was the exact same if not more beautiful at the Allegro, but they had tons of wildlife right there on premises!! Monkeys right by the beach guaranteed every day!! :) Crabs and Raccoons also. But it wasn't overflowing or annoying with wildlife- everyone else staying there loved it also!!
Rooms
The beds were not comfortable at all at the Occidental Allegro Papagayo, but I do agree with the lady almost 100 percent who stayed from May 16-22!! The room did have a whole lot of tiny tiny ants which yes- was annoying considering I was waking up in the middle of the night to one crawling somewhere it shouldnt of been crawling! lol. But they are so small and dont bite, that it didnt bother me. Because as the lady from that review (May 16-22) said- you should use the room more as a place to sleep, you shouldnt be camped in it all day. Also like she said, there was no alarm clock which was kind of annoying to have to call every 20 minutes to the front desk (is how we found out the time, since our phones dont work over there) when you are getting ready to go to dinner at the fancy restaurant that you have 'reservations' for by a certain time, or have to be at the tour by a certain time.
Restaurants and Bars
The food "was" different every single day !!! I just got back- I am telling you how it 'really' is! -some- of the food was the same every day, such as most of the fruit or the beans and rice. But all the rest of the food (which is alot) switched around on a day to day basis. I stayed for 7 nights and only ate the same things by choice. The bars were pretty nice. I wasnt going with the "all inclusive" so I could get hammered, so I am just telling you from a 1-3 drinks a day perspective. I tried the dirty monkey and it was great!!! However, not ALL the bartenders know how to make it!! :)
I recommend the steak at the mexican restaurant! very good !! Pay attention to the italian menu- it is soooo funny how many things are mispelled! lol
Beach/Pools/Grounds
Oh the black sand was very pretty. I dont have any clue how Jay from Canada says its like black mud..... It was actually lighter than sand to me! The pools were great! They clean them at least 3 times a day that I saw!! I wish they had a place for people to rinse off like one of those outside shower things, before you get into the pool though, so the black sand wasnt in the pool as much.
The grounds- omg let me thell ya - monkeys outside the hotel by the beach every single day !!! In the mornings gauranteed and sometimes afternoons. Even though they have signs up not to feed them... they love food from ya like bananas!!! lol. What an experience it is to feed the monkeys!!
That's the last thing my mother did beore we left was see the monkeys right next to the hotel !! :)
I took her and my little brother there for vacation since I could afford it but she couldnt. :)
The monkeys were by far---- the best part of the whole Costa Rica trip!!!!! :)
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
My mother and little brother went kayaking! They said they loved it!!! This was "at" the hotel, that came with it for free. The other "excursions" we did was-
1.($115.00/person US dollars) View the rainforest by the Arenal Volcano, meet the Maleku tribe, eat lunch, go to a hot springs at a beautiful brand new hotel called The Springs with a spectacular view of the Arenal Volcano and dinner at that hotel (The Springs). I did not, repeat- did not, like the rainforest- it had "NO" flowers or color to it, other than green. The Maleku tribe wasnt 'that' friendly of people nor was their little show very interesting. However there is room for improvement. The hotel with the hot springs, OMG this made the day!!!!! It was sooooooo beautiful. I took tons of pictures there and there is a water slide there also- look for it cause they dont tell you about it!!! The lunch and dinner on this excursion were very awsome!!!
2. ($125.00/person US Dollars) Buena Vista Combo tour- OMG, soooooooooooooooo awsome!!!! My favorite overall of the tours!!!! Zipline, Water slide through the rainforest, horseback riding, mud bath with steam room and hot springs, and lunch. Not in that order lol. The Zipline was fun!!! I felt very safe at all times! The water slide was a BLAST, especially for kids (my lil brother is 14 and he loved it!) however there was a man at least 45 who was running 'up' the natural man made (out of dirt from the rainforest) steps ALL the way up to go do the waterslide as many times as he could!!! Very thrilling to see! Lunch was very good!! Not alot to choose from though... The horseback riding was beautiful. succcch a pretty view !!! I couldnt seem to get 'enough' pictures of just 'how pretty' it was!!! The mudbath- wow... such an experience !!! for all ages !! We had a blast!!!! However, there is quite a bit of walking upwards (which is hard for me.. walking down is easy, even at a steep angle, previously shattered foot,ankle and heel) my mother had a hard time also with the walking up to the zipline and waterslide and walking up the steep angle to go back from the hot springs. Overall- I looked past my foot and I made it fun !! It was awsome !! An experience of a lifetime !!!
3. Papagayo floating and zipline- ($45.00/person also includes transportation) oh yeah, now here's something that is soooo much fun for you thrill seekers, but it is quick and fun!!! Most of the excursions are half a day, this one is just a few hours, but sooo worth it !!!!!!! The staff at the place is soooo nice and it was private too, I was able to do just me and my little brother without a huge group like at the Buena Vista!! We were able to zipline upside down and superman style!!!!! I highly recommend this one!!! Plus, they are adding a resteraunt and a gift shop. The best part - It was all hand made!!! They dont even get to use any bulldozers or any large machines!! It's all done with a mashetI!!!!! Restaurant, Zipline landing pads, Gift Shop, all hand made!!!!!! Which is very impressive when you 'see' it.
4. Butterfly Garden- My mom went. ($60.00US cab ride, $10.00US to enter) The one that is closest to the Occidental Allergro Papagayo- the one with the cage of monkeys at the end of the butterfly garden. My mom loves butterflys...... but she said that was nothing to be happy about- however she said she will always remember the monkeys, (as described by my mom) you walk into this large cage and the next thing you know, you have monkeys all over you !!! Wanting you to hold them like babies and holding on to you like your their mother. Feet and arms wrapped around you. My mom said the best part is, they dont want you to leave!! You put them down and they get right back on you and when you finally do leave, they hold on to the cage and look at you as if to say "... but... dont leave me..." picking through your hair for fleas, taking spare change out of your pockets, playful little boogers, but sooo cuddly.
We sent her to the butterfly garden while me and my brother did the Papagayo Zipline! :) Shopping at coco cay was worth it 100 percent!! Souvenirs are so much cheaper !!!
Other Comments
If you have a hard time with someone not understanding English at the Occidental Allegro Papagayo- ask for Pedro at the front desk, he speaks it very very good and understands it also ! and Gilbert/tour guy is from California, so he understands very very well and can speak it, but isn't available that often at all.
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We never had a problem with anyone on our trip
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental
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Rheanna from Minnesota >
1 contribution(s)
May, 2009
2 people found this review helpful
Arrival: May 16 - 22
After the swine flu struck the world, we had to cancel our plans to Mexico and decided to rebook to vacation to Costa Rica. We are so glad everything happened the way it did and we had a amazing, beautiful stay at the Allegro Papagayo Resort. When we arrived we couldnt get into our room right away but they stored our luggage for us. We changed into our suits and went down to the beach.
Rooms:
We were sort of leary about the rooms at first but we definitely got use to it. The rooms are kinda old and we did experience some ants. But its no big deal and I dont understand why people make such a big fuss out of the rooms. You shouldnt be in your room that much anyway. Its just a place to sleep and it did the job. One thing - there was no alarm clock and our cell phones did not work so we never really knew what time it was. but we just checked the clock that one of the channels on the TV had. Restaurants and Bars:
The buffet was nice. Everyday they have a different theme such as "Tropical", "American" and others. There is always tons of fresh fruit - we've never eaten so much pineapple in our life! There is food that is repeative - they eat lots of beans and rice - so get use to it! We liked the food and never starved. For the Italian restaurant and Mexican restaurant, they allow you to reserve 2 nights for your stay. If there is more room after 4:00 that day they will let you add a night - which we did so we got 3 nights! The food at both is very good. No compliants here! The bars are also very nice. You can get a drink or pop wherever you want and take it with you wherever.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The pool is awesome. Nice to just relax and cool off. There was always a place to lay on the lounge chairs. Never had a problem with that. The beach is beautiful. We loved the black sand. We walked the beach about two times a day - taking pictures and picking up seashells - loved it! It is not really a swimming beach but it is nice for getting your feet wet and watching the sun set nightly. = Beautiful. The resort grounds are nice. There are quite steep hills but we found it as an excerise after eating a big meal! We absolutely loved the wild life around the resort. There are iguanas everywhere! So cool! Also we did find the white faced monkeys, frogs, birds and geicos.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
We did the "Beach Club" which takes you to a local beach that is for swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, relaxing and they even feed you! It was a great experience. The tour guides are great. One of ours went looking for exotic fish and found 2 puffer fish! They puffed up and we got to hold them and take pictures. We also went to "Coco Beach" about an hour boat ride. We walked down the streets and shopped. There are many shops to buy sounviors, get something to eat, and lots of other things! We also did the White water rafting down the Tenorio River = ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would do it again in a heartbeat. We had Sam as our tour guide - made it so much fun and laughed the entire time! Totally worth the money spent!
Other Comments
All the staff and guides that we had on our trip were extremely friendly and nice. We never had a problem with anyone on our trip. Edgar at the front desk with TAM tours is really helpful. When it was time for us to leave, we found out that at the airport we were required to pay $26 per person for departure taxes. If you wanna return home you have pay it! All in all we had a wonderful trip and want to go back right now! It was worth every penny spent and are so lucky to have experienced Costa Rica in such a beautiful way! :)
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The "black" sand beach was more like a mud pit.
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental
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Jay >
5 contribution(s) Canada
Apr, 2009
2 people found this review helpful
Arrival: April 2009
We arrived at the resort and had to wait two hours to get into our rooms, for they had not been cleaned yet.
Rooms:
The rooms were old. there was mold in my room along with an infestation of small ants.
Restaurants and Bars:
The restaurants served the same food every night, no change. They had a snack bar that served, pizza, fries and chicken wings, and that was it. there was nothing ot eat after 9:00, which is not good when you are at the disco drinking til 2:00.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The "black" sand beach was more like a mud pit. the pool was nothing special and the grounds were also nothing special. there was no where to sit other then right by the pool.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
There were few activities for the guests. we did 2 tours off resort both were disapointing. the first started off nicely however one of the sights we payed to see was a waterfall and the road was closed to it, therefore we had to pay for it and did not get to see it. the other was a small safari. this one was a disaster. we waited for over an hour, the car never came, we said we wanted our money back and was not given it, after fighting the trip was bumped to the afternoon, but we still had to pay full price.
Other Comments:
The managment of the resort was horrible. You were never able to talk to anyone in charge, they dodged your calls and drop-ins. No one ever had an answer to your questions. this resort was such a disapointment. I would never recommend it to anyone.
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Just go, you will love it.
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental
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D & K >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Mar, 2009
2 people found this review helpful
My wife and I were at the Allegro Papagayo from Mar. 5-12. The last hour of our flight was really awful with lots of turbulence. The airport was a real hoot and so welcome after the Toronto experience. We were met on time and took the ride to the resort which was about 1/2 hour. We were immediately impressed with the look of the place. Especially when they met us with a welcome drink. They were upfront with telling us that the rooms would not be ready for about 3 hours which we did not mind at all as it gave us time to check the place out. We were very fortunate to arrive on a week that was not busy at all. There were no line ups for food, drinks and you could always get a great spot at the pool. The beach has black sand and even had trees on it which was great for monkey watching. I got a couple of bites but in general bugs were a non issue. We are used to making our own adventure and this was our first all inclusive and we were both nervous after we read the reviews. I have to say I don't really see what there was to complain about. I guess maybe if you were expecting real opulence you would be disappointed. There were no issues at all with our room except there was only coffee in it one day. This is only an issue if you are taking a trip early in the am and the restaurant is not open. We found all the staff really amazing, very willing to accommodate your every wish and really friendly without being sickening. Special kudos must go to Gilbert (the Signature rep.) who greeted us at the beginning and was an excellent source of information, truly a prince of a fellow. Also Maria, a waitress was amazing. We are not the type of tourists to just lie around by the pool so we rented a car. We rented a small Daihatsu Bego 4x4 to explore the country with. We drove out to Monte Verde which I highly recommend. Don't be afraid to rent a car. the speeds are generally low and the roads once you get off the two lane highway just have to be experienced. Renting a car also allowed us to explore a national park called Rincon de la Viejo. If you are into hiking you really really enjoy this trip. Waterfalls, volcanic activity, lots of wildlife and not crowded.
Things I heard people complain about (but didn't do) were the trip to Coco beach, Arenal was a real hit and miss and it made for a very long day. Another couple were not impressed with the trip to Nicaragua. We did do the zip line (Witch's Rock) which is only a couple of miles out of the resort. I must admit I was glad when it was over. I do have a fear of heights and I try to beat it. My wife on the other hand loved it. In short food and drinks were great. The climate was perfect. Ticas and Ticos so very friendly and my high school Spanish started to come back to me. We really had a blast. Don't forget your wallet though as the trips tended to be quite expensive especially with our Canadian dollar. But we only go around once and you can't take it with you. Just go, you will love it.
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It is a long way out from anywhere
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental
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Rodney from California >
1 contribution(s) United States of America
Feb, 2009
2 people found this review helpful
Arrival
It was 94 degrees when we arrived so to be met with a drink wwas very nice. It was quite a drive from the airport with not much in between. Check-in was easy and quick and we were off to our room.
Rooms
The room was smaller than I had liked but the air conditioned space was just right for me. The beds were firm and that was a plus.
Restaurants and Bars
I didnt spend any timne in the bars but they always seemd to have quite a few people around. The Italian restaurant was terrible. The look and flavor of the place was not up to code. The Mexican restaurant was the best! I wanted to try all the menu had to offer. Everyone was was right on the ball and the food was not to be forgotten.
Beach/Pools/Grounds
The beach was cool with its trees and shade. The pool was very nice. The grounds were so manicured and neat. Very pleasant to the eye.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
We took a couple tours with CAT tours. Edwardo was very helpfull. Whatever they said was on the tour...well, it was. One morning we did not get a wake-up call so missed the bus. They rescheduled for us at a later date. No problem.
Other Comments
I asked for an iron for my shirts for five days in a row speaking to every department and seven people. I finally got ahold of one. I think the reason being that they charge about a dollar an article to press for you. If they give you an iron they loose that dollar. So irons are hard to come by. The airconditioner one day started to pour out water onto the floor. Called maintenance and they came very quickly and remedied the problem. Most of the staff was so friendly and helpfull. The people working the Buffet were extra nice. If I came to Costa Rica again I would not stay here. It is a long way out from anywhere. If you just want to stay at a nice place and not go out except on tours, not on your own then this is the spot. I like to rent a car and drive around a bit. This place added to the mileage.
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Please take bug spray
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental
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Heather from Ontario >
2 contribution(s) Canada
Jan, 2009
2 people found this review helpful
Arrival: Dec 15/08 - Jan 1/09
Great Arrival. Room keys were handed to us on the bus, so we were able to take our luggage directly to our room, and then go to the briefing by our rep.
Rooms:
We had requested 2 adjoining rooms, not on the lower level. We were given 2 adjoining rooms in Block 1, on the main floor. The one room seemed as though it had been gutted...no hangars, drawers for clothes, fridge, chairs. It was bare. Second roon was good but no fridge. A/C worked. But we did not want the main level. We went to reception and were told to come back the next morning and they would find us something. He wrote down the details. Next morning they knew nothing about our room complaints. Luckily we had proof of what we had asked for, otherwise we would not have been moved. We were offered 2 rooms, not adjoining, in #4, on the 2nd floor, and after much haggling,were allowed to look at them first. They were much better, and we moved. One room did not have working A/C, but I love the heat, so 27 was okay. Opened the bathroom window and patio door at night, great breeze...it was fine. Had room for clothes, fridge.
Restaurants and Bars:
Buffet got a bit boring, but was good food. None of us got sick. New Years dinner was wonderful. Tried both the Mexican and Italian restaurants. They were both great, although we liked the Mexican better.
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Pool was nice. The volcanic beach was wonderful. Sand is so soft, much nicer than the supposedly white beach you can go to. That is not really worth your time. You have to book your boat ride the day before, and there is not much going on there. The beach at the resort is a lot nicer, unless you don't like to get your toenails dirty. Some stingrays in the water, but they don't bother you.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
They could do more activities. We got some soccer going on the beach before the tide came in a few days. They could do more to get people involved. The Adrenelin Combo tour is awesome. It is ziplining, but you do an upsidedown one, and a bungy drop as well. It is combined with horse back riding to the waterfall, which is cold, but refreshing. Lots of fun. Volcano is cool, but you are on the bus for 3 1/2 hours each way, so it is a very long day.
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All rooms had a view of the ocean
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental
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Melissa from Lindsay, ON >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Jan, 2009
2 people found this review helpful
Arrival: January 2009
Flight was about 5 1/2 hrs, but went very smooth. Not long before we were on the bus headed for our resort. They gave us all our check in information on the bus which was great (rooms keys, towel cards etc.) Arrived about 12:00, we couldn't get into rooms until 3:00. Headed for lunch and a walk around the hotel, beach and pool. Were able to get into our rooms 1/2 hr early.
Rooms:
Rooms were clean. Our air conditioner was leaking, but only because the person before us had it set down to 16 degrees which froze it up. We call for it to be fixed and they stated they would send someone, put the garbage can under it in the mean time. We got changed and went for a swim. The room smelt a little musty, but i had broughten a little bottle of air freshener which worked great. Got two double beds, wanted a king so just pushed the beds together. Upon returning from our swim the airconditioner was still leaking so we went to lobby and they sent someone immediately. Was fixed and never had any problem again. Had to pay for saftey deposit box $2 per day. There is a sign on the balcony not to hang stuff outside, which is a good idea because there are sprinklers that sometime spray towards the balconies. All rooms had a view of the ocean as i could tell.
Restaurants and Bars:
Buffet restaurant had a good variety, no complaints from any of the 8 other people i travelled with. Did 2 a la cartes, Italian and Tex Mex. Liked italian better but both with great service and food. Bars were good, pool bar closed at 5:00 and lobby bar closed at 8:00 which only left one bar open, which closed when the disco opened
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
Pool was beautiful, kept clean as it could be with some wind blowing flowers etc into it. Beach wasn't a swimming one but great for walks when tide was out and to feed white faced monkeys throughout the morning. Took a boat to the white sand beach which was worth a day trip. Spent most of our time at the pool. Wasn't overly busy, but still got chairs earlier in the morning.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel
Activities at the resort were not great, only went to one evening show which was nothing special. Probably the worst at any resort i had been too. But didn't bother me due to being in the heat all day, we were exhausted by the 9:15 showtimes.
Booked tours outside of the resort with Papagayo/Vargas Tours which was the best thing we ever did. Great people who run the tour who have really investigated how to make peoples trips ones to remember. The three owners Ricardo, Micheal and Josta met us at the resort the day following our check in, to go over the 3 tours we booked (Arenal Volcanoe, deep sea fishing, and Palo Verde Tour) The Arenal Volcanoe tour we had our guide Manny, who you could not say enough good things about and driver John who was again just amazing. Did a great job in breaking the 3 1/2 trip to the Volcanoe up. We went to a wildlife sanctuary, had the best lunch ever overlooking the arenal lake, continued to ziplining over the rainforest and overlooking both the arenal volcanoe and lake. From there went to a very secluded hot springs, which our guide Manny explained the big tours companies take you too an amusement type one across the road (which we did end up hearing from other people at our resort and they didn't like it) Had supper on the other side of the volcanoe and returned to see a bit of lava flowing down the volcanoe in the evening. Our trip back was very long, but the whole day made it well worth it. The 5 guys travelling with us did deep sea fishing for the smaller fish, they had fun and caught 4 black fined tuna, which we had the chef at the resort make us for dinner, which was excellent. We ended with our final tour of the Palo Verde Tour, and we had our two favourite men, John and Manny again. We saw birds, bats, monkeys and crocodiles very upclose on our own privated guided boat (other boats we full of about 20 people and we had 9 on ours) We had lunch at a local family run restaurant which was once again great and then headed to shopping in CoCo. I would reccomend booking with Vargas Tours and you will be blown again by their services. We were able to make stops when our driver John would see a sloth up in the tree, or kimates (look like racoons) on the side of the road, or to cut us some sugar cane. Or when Manny wanted to show us the different fruits growing or when they were kind enough to pull over when i was car sick. We had a 15 passenger van to our group of 9 which had water and juice supplied. To sum it up, this tours company made our trip and memorable as it was.
mdaniher@hotmail.com
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PURA VIDA!!
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental
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Stacey from Edmonton >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Jan, 2009
2 people found this review helpful
Arrival: Jan 1 - Jan 8, 2009
Very organized, received our room keys on the bus while driving to the resort from the airport. We were presented with a welcome drink upon arrival also.
Rooms:
A bit dated, we had some trouble with ants and termites. Nothing too major. Not bad enough to complain and move. They were getting in via the balcony doors. Safe worked fine. Pay $2 US per day, they give you the instructions on how to set up your own code for entry. Easy.
Restaurants and Bars:
Fantastic!!! The a la carte restaurants were excellent, make sure to make your reservations. The buffet was great, the kids loved the abundance of fresh fruit every day. The snack bar was also really good, we ate lunch there almost every day. Homemade pizzas, burgers, hotdogs, nachos..... great food. The staff at the buffet and bars were so friendly and SO good with the kids. My kids took a real liking to Jimmy and we couldn't leave for the airport until they had said their goodbyes and gave him a hug. He was the best!!
Beach/Pools/Grounds:
The pool was great. The beach was nice, the ocean water was warmer than the pool. Water aerobics every morning at 11. We even played bingo a few times while at the pool. Lots of fun.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel:
We found that the entertainment staff were all very dedicated. Always something to do. These people were there in the morning and were still there to put on the show at night. All very friendly, especially with the kids.
Other Comments:
Overall, a great experience. If we were to stay at this resort again, I think we would put out the extra $ to stay in the premium rooms (Bldgs 10 & 11). The people I spoke to that were staying in those rooms, had no ants, termites or any other bugs to complain about. They were all quite happy with their rooms and also received fresh fruit in their rooms upon arrival. Gift shops are not related to the hotel, I found them to be quite pricy. I bought a photo album in a small town called La Fortuna (a stop on the Arenal Volcano trip) for $13 US. The exact same album in the gift store at the hotel was $32 US. So, if you are planning any excursions outside the hotel, try and do your souvenir shopping there. It will be much cheaper. Also, a word to the wise, get your bottled water from Pablo's Bar, they will charge it to your room and it is much cheaper than buying it at the gift shop. There are water machines everywhere, so if you just keep refilling the ones you bought, you won't need to buy too many.
Go on day trips... the best one by far for us was the Palo Verde River tour. It was a day that we will never forget. And, if you are fortunate enough to get Sergio as a guide, it will also be a day that you will never forget. He is a wealth of knowledge about his country and will show you things that other guides would never even think of. He goes the extra mile for his tours. For instance, he showed us some termite nests and how they grow on the trunks of trees and then he ate some of them right off of a stick. He was also able to get a troop of White faced Capuchian monkeys to come on the boat and we fed them bananas. That is just a small glimpse into the day that we will always remember. Sergio rocks!Overall, we had a fantastic vacation in Costa Rica and are hoping to get back there again. One week just isn't enough time to see such beauty. For a small country, there is alot to see. 2 weeks would be nice. PURA VIDA!!
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