Spent four nights at the Marriott Los Suenos resort in Costa Rica in late Nov 2007. This is an excellent, first class property, staffed by friendly and helpful personnel. Our 'deluxe' room was nice, clean and comfortable. The common areas are wide and inviting.

The pool area is expansive, featuring a labyrinth of canals, bridges, lush landscaping and waterfalls. Heads up! The beach area that fronts the property is virtually useless, so don’t choose this resort if you intend to stay tethered to the resort for your beachcombing. Wait service in the pool area, save the swim-up bar, was mediocre.

The on-site casino looked like a cross between church bingo and a strip mall. Much like the beach, don’t choose the resort just because a “casino” is advertised. This ain’t Vegas baby.

The golf course was top-notch, although I found the greens putted much slower than what I’m accustomed to. They were in excellent condition, just slow. Green fees were $125 + $40 for club rental. Tee boxes and fairways were well groomed, and the beautiful surrounding scenery, as you play back into small canyons, made donating a few golf balls a little less painful.

Except for appetizers and drinks from the bar, we did not eat at the hotel restaurants. Not that we were avoided them, but just wanted to sample more local fare.

A very nice marina sits next to the hotel property. We’re not fisherpersons, but it looked like several charters were only a cast way.

The Los Suenos Marriott is a beautiful property with lush gardens and amazing pools. Unfortunately, it is a 2 hour drive from the airport, but the drive is very scenic and you get to see a bit of Costa Rica. The beach was unkept and the sand was black. If the Marriott or the Costa Rican government does something with the beach, it can really make this into an exceptional property.

There is a free shuttle that takes you to the marina, small but nice. Definitely try restaurants outside of the hotel. La Laterna and El Galeon were great. Stay away from Bambu (Asian Fusion), it was pretty bad. As my son said, "how can you screw up an egg roll." The restaurants at the hotel were okay, but not fantastic. La Vista was great for breakfast, a very elaborate buffet.

The hotel staff was friendly and always helpful. We ate breakfast at La Vista everyday and the staff were always warm and hospitable. The rooms were of a nice size and clean. A couple of days, my son went to play ping pong and miniature golf at the Kid's Club. The staff members at the club were great with the kids and very nice. Always a smile on their faces.

The Costa Ricans are very warm and happy people. While strolling in the lobby or around the property, you are always greeted and welcomed by everyone ie: cook, housekeeping, landscaper, etc...

The pool is quite elaborate and beautiful. I give a lot of credit to the guys who came around to take your orders for drinks and lunch. It was quite hot and every request you had, they did it with a smile.

Many tours available, but the commute is painful. For example, to visit the volcano, it is a 4 hour drive. Manuel Antonio National Park is a 1+ hour drive. For those who are very adventurous, try the canopy/zipline tour. Not for those who have a fear of heights.

There is so much to see in Costa Rica. Very civiilized and stable country. Will definitely go back and will venture out to the northern pacific coast (Guanacaste region)

We stayed at Los Suenos for the second part of our Costa Rica trip. Unfortunately for this hotel, they followed our stay at Buena Vista Villas in Manuel Antonio which is the best place we have ever stayed! The Los Suenos Marriott is a very nice hotel with the typical perfectly manicured grounds, beautiful golf course, and world class marina. However, it does not feel like you are in Costa Rica. I think this hotel would be a great choice for someone that wants all of the feel of being in the US while also being able to take day trips to see and do activities in Costa Rica. However, if you want a true feel of Costa Rica and the beauty the country has, I would highly recommend Buena Vista Villas in Manuel Antonio.

While we were at Los Suenos, we ate at La Lanterna and had a great Italian dinner. We probably received the best service at this restaurant of any restaurant that we ate at in Costa Rica. There were also other great dining establishments on-site which was a big plus.

Our room was spacious and well appointed, but lacked much of a view (overlooked the tennis courts). I would recommend upgrading to a room with a better view if you plan to spend much time in the room.

As an avid fisherman, I had packed a travel rod in my luggage. I had already chartered and fished out of Quepos on my earlier part of the trip. I attempted to get a little more fishing in from shore at this resort before heading back to the US. However, I was disappointed that I was turned away everywhere I attempted to fish while at this resort. Apparently they only want to be known for their fishing if you charter a boat out of the marina. I never had any problems fishing at our place in Manuel Antonio, so I was disappointed that a place known for fishing like Los Suenos would not allow guests the same freedom there.

Our family, including our 6 yr old b/g twins, visited the Marriott Los Sueno for a week in early February and I have absolutely no complaints.
My husband and I relaxed and the kids had a blast with the fabulous guys/girls at the kids club. (club Tortuga).

The grounds were spectacular, the pool was great and the entire staff at the hotel provided great service! Every positive item that was written in these reviews is true. So I will address issues that I was concerned with prior to my trip.

There were not a lot of kids staying at the hotel...we are used to staying at Marriott Timeshares, which are more family-oriented. However, there were enough children there to keep my kids busy. And of course they loved the pool!

The best part for us was the Kids club & I cannot say enough good things about its staff, especially David, Frankie and Joe. I felt so safe with them watching our kids that I was able to completely relax and enjoy time alone with my husband.

My daughter (age 6) and I took the Zip Line tour from the hotel. She LOVED it....so if anyone is wondering if kids could handle it, they definitely can.

The poolside service was great. It seemed like someone came around every 5 minutes. We especially enjoyed the service provided by Morgan, the bartender at the swim up bar. He was so friendly and gracious and great with the kids.

The water system at the entire Los Suenos resort area is filtered, so the tap water is safe to drink.

As far as meals go, I actually preferred the restaurants at the hotel over the off-property ones. I do not like to eat seafood, so that is probably why I wasn't overly fond of most of the places we dined at. And don't attempt the beef, steaks are not the best in Costa Rica.

The weather was very hot. About 90 degrees every day. (I'm not complaining) And sooooo sunny. It rained once or twice during the night-that's it! Be prepared to spend lots of time poolside and bring plenty of lotion. There were more than enough lounge chairs and umbrellas. The pool was warm, but refreshing.

Lastly, we were very satisfied with the taxi services provided by Leonardo, whom we hired prior to our trip. Our plane was 2 hours late (a whole other story) and I was so happy to see that he was still at the airport waiting for us. On the way to the hotel, he stopped at a local grocery so we could get drinks etc. (stock up for the hotel, its important!) and he also stopped at the Los Tarcolitos River so we could see the 30+ crocodiles that hang out there.