I must admit like many other travellers I was a little worried what the standard of this hotel was going to be like but I thought it was excellent.

I found the front of house staff very helpful, the rooms exceeded my expectations (from previous reviews) we had two king sized beds a decent size bathroom with toilet and wash basin in seperate area. The room was cleaned daily and mini bar re stocked almost every day (soft drinks and much needed water). It was spacious and included a balcony. Also had a large wardrobe with floor to ceiling mirrors that had a set of scales inside - not sure if they were to track my weight gain or to weigh my suitcase before I left!!

I thought the food very good we stayed for 14 nights and the food was varied over this time, there is certainly something for everyone. The staff in the restaurant were very attentive and friendly.

The hotel is right on the beach - the sea has a very strong current and massive waves excellent for surfers but not so good for children the beach is part of a reserve and is very untouched not power white sand but beautiful none the less.

If I have to say something negative about this hotel I would say the pool area needs updating there are a few missing tiles and it looks a little shabby - there are always plenty of sunbeds the hotel only seemed about half occupied when we stayed the Americans only seem to stay a few nights then move on so there was always new faces around.

The walk into the town takes about 30 mins along the road, it is quite busy the locals drive to miss the pot holes i.e on either side of the road! alternatively you can walk along the beach this took a bit longer but a pleasant walk.

We saw and heard howler monkeys in the hotel, iguanas are everywhere you can get really close to them. Raccoons also visited at night and beautiful bright yellow birds have a nest over the sun bathing area. Pelicans flew over all the time too and there were humming birds in the beautifully tendered gardens.

A new ampitheatre opened whilst we were there it is very impressive.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone travelling to CR - and I would certainly go back.

Let me begin by saying that the food was horrible. It was barely warm. Coninuous rice, chicken, mahi, night after night with a few other fanfare. The scrambled eggs in the moring were always swimming in butter. My son became sick from the sausage. One afternoon, my room had not been touched by 5PM. I found someone to take care of it and it wans't completed until 6P. The mini bar is rarely stocked and I woke one morning to no coffee being left at all.

The drinks at the bar were weaker on fruit juices that alcohol and we spent one weekend with the locals drunk from morning till night. The nightclub is a band and occ. dancing by the staff.

The employees of the hotel and the locals in town were not all that happy. Not into the smiling thing. Very little English was spoken. The town was extremely expensive to the point of being insulting. $2.00 for a can of coke, $15.00 for a white mug that says Costa Rica on it. Walking to town was really not an option, so taxi's back and forth are the form of transportation.

I had an incredible time at the Palace in Cozumel the year before. This vacation was more than disappointing.

Flew first choice to costa rica and stayed at barcelo playa langosta. I was a bit scared as I had changed my hotel from the allegro papagayo and I wondered if I had done the right thing as the playa langosta was only rated a 3 star according to the travel agent.

However for us it rated a 4 star without a doubt. Our room was newly decorated and the queen size beds really comfortable. The gardens were gorgeous and constantly tended.

The food was excellent (put on loads of weight) lots of choice, first class ingredients and well cooked. The fruit was unbelievable and the desserts to die for. They even had fresh cakes by the bar at 3.30 the iced doughnuts were melt in your mouth.

The gym is brand new , lots of equipment and all new machines. beautiful showers and massages available.


The shows were ok, good dancers, but as usual with all inclusive , too many audience participation evenings.However there is a fantastic new theatre nearing completion which should mean better shows. Just to mention Roger and Jonny who were kind enough to dance with me most evenings. I'm a salsa freak!

They are adding on to the main building of the hotel which I think may be an air conditioned restaurant. the work was not obtrusive.

The beach is really a surfing beach and is a national park so there are no umbrellas and you have to drag a sun bed 15 yards if you want one. This was the only downside for me as it was so hot I could not sit in the sun (95 in the shade).

Costa Rica is fantastic and the wild life is everywhere. Racoons came at 9pm to check out the bin near the bar! Two really big iguanas fought over the best bit of garden. On the boat trip fed cappuchin monkeys hand to hand with banana.

I would reccomend this hotel to family and friends.

So pleased we didn't stay at the allegro as met some first choice passengers on the way back and they said it was disgusting and were seeking compensation.

After reading several poor and mediocre reviews on this hotel we were not expecting much, however, we were pleasantly surprised!
We usually book our flights and hotels separately online but after wanting to visit Costa Rica for some time we saw that First Choice were now offering direct flights to Liberia.
The service offered by First Choice was excellent (we did upgrade) although the only airport they fly from is Gatwick which meant another 5 hours on our journey from Bingley.
Liberia airport is a tiny wooden building with a tin roof which was perfect as we were'processed' very quickly. An hour long bus ride to Tamarindo followed - although it was only approx 60km all journeys take longer due to many local roads being unmade.
Check-in was smooth (We were on an all-inclusive package). The hotel was clean and well planned although there are extension works being carried out.(The noise did not bother us).
Room:
We stayed in one of the older rooms it was also clean and spacious - there were 3 of us and the room had 2 double beds. The air conditioning worked well as did the TV and the hairdryer.
Our room was cleaned every single day - there was a mini bar where the maid left fresh bottled water although not every day. She also left fresh flowers now and again.
Food:
The restaurant was open 3 times daily and in between guests can get fast food from the pool bar. We were very pleased with the standard and variety of the food offered in the restaurant. I cannot see that anyone would have reason to complain.
Some of the bar snacks were cooked in the morning and left for guests to help themselves (nachos, pizza, fried chicken) so it meant that you didn't have to wait.
Staff:
Without exception the staff were friendly, some chatted more than others but nothing was too much trouble.
Entertainment:
The animation team came out around 10am and organised games such as pool volley ball, darts, table tennis, aqua aerobics and every afternoon there was a beach volley ball match. There was entertainment each night which ranged from a music quiz to a full dance,singing caberet. The hotel band were superb and played most lunchtimes too.
Wildlife:
during the day you would see geckos/iguanas around the beautifully manicured gardens but most nights we saw racoons, frogs and skunks.
We saw howler monkeys twice in the trees to the rear of our room - a troupe of about 10 including babies.
We took our 13 year old daughter and she now reckons she's moving there!-She loved it that much. we could give her the freedom of staying out with friends until the entertainment finished around 11pm.
I do have to point out that the hotel was at less than 50% capacity which made it a very pleasant peaceful stay however they do have tour groups that come just for the night or for the weekend and the difference is shocking - they were loud and boisterous. If it had been like that for 2 weeks - my review may well have been different.
Americans do make up the majority of guests - sorry,
but you can hear them before you see them! Groups of teenage 20 something guys - not offensive but they do tend to monopolise the bar.
Tamarindo is a 20 minute walk along the beach (low tide) - it's a lovely walk better than the road and it's dusty and there are no footpaths. Taxi cost $5.
All in all it's a good base for various trips to the rainforest, volcanos etc but there are massive plans for development - low rise building may well compliment the surroundings but the multi-storey hotels are already going up and that is something the place can definitely do without!
I went for the monkeys, crocodiles and a bit of sun and sea, my husband went for the scuba diving - booked online a place in Tamarindo (Agua dive I think) - he went out 6 days and felt they were great value for money. Saw sharks,rays and turtles.
Would we go back - yes, probably, although there is alot more of the world we have yet to see.