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Reviewed October 26, 2011

This place is not worth the money, Recption was horrible with customer service, could not order drinks at an all-inclusive... what the heck? Food not very good ate in town when we could, just to avoid the resort food. Could not schedule any activities thru the resort had to do it on our own. Will not book here ever again.

Date of stay: October 2011
  • Trip type: Traveled as a couple
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Thank Melissa C
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed October 22, 2011

After reading reviews on the all-inclusive properties in the Gulf of Papagayo area, my husband and I decided to stay here at Occidental Grand for our anniversary vacation. Since we were going during low season and saving money, we booked our room in the "Royal Club" category and were so pleased! We were dropped off at the lobby, walked up to a desk to check in and were led upstairs to the club room for the "Royal Club Private Check-in" complete with cool/aromatherapy washcloth and sparkling wine mixed drink. We were told the good news that they were upgrading us to the best room on the property! (again, we had already reserved through Royal Club and occupancy was very low) Since we were a little bit early, they took our luggage for us, and drove us to the snack buffet by the pool for some lunch. Everyone that we met who works at the resort was friendly and attentive, making us feel right at home. After lunch, we were again driven to the master suite buildings and led to the place we would be spending one glorious week. We were no less than thrilled at the view of the resort from the entrance to the room, the huge living space, bathroom with jacuzzi tub, separate rain shower, also separate toilet and bidet, and huge private back deck with yet another jacuzzi, chairs and hammock to relax and enjoy the view of the gulf. Another exclusive perk we discovered was that the suites have breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner room-service available which we did opt for a few times and were quite pleased with.
All of the restaurants were good from breakfast at the general buffet restaurant - a nice variety of breakfast traditional features (local items like beans and rice, fried plantains, and such) as well as a chef for eggs to order, french toast, pancakes, fresh fruit, meats and cheeses, lots of breads and pastries, juices and vodka for screwdrivers or bloody mary fixings if you like. The buffet place had lunch during busier days (Friday-weekend) with daily changing variety of typical lunch stuff. We usually went to the snack bar buffet by the pool where they would have both traditional local fare as well as some sort of chicken, fish, pasta, salad bar oh and of course a grill chef preparing chicken and beef of some days, but every day burgers. The buffet place has a different theme for dinner daily and the al-la-carte places rotated between Italian and Asian during weekdays and both options on the weekend. (make your reservation early in the day if you want in on these as there aren't very many tables) Dress clothing is expected also, so we only ate there once to save on clothing in our luggage! We thought the food there was fine as comparable to the room-service menu options.
As you walk around the resort, you soon find that there are a lot of stairs everywhere (as we found that with the room with the best view, you have to climb to the top to get there!) but with all of the food, I for one was glad to get the exercise! We spent some time walking around and looking at the other buildings where they house guests and became increasingly glad that we booked where we did, and with the upgrade. There are some buildings on the outer edge of the property that seemed deserted and overgrown with mildew. Not sure if these buildings are used during busy season or just old buildings that they don't use anymore but if I were staying in one of them, I would probably leave. Most of the other buildings seemed fine from the outside, but that's the only look I got at them. Here is where I can't stress enough, book into Royal Club!!
Another little perk of Royal Club was the club room in the upstairs of the main building. An open air room with a pool table (we spent nearly an entire rainy day playing pool and relaxing there) and this is where they hide the premium liquors. The bartenders there are also awesome! Whether you want a fancy umbrella drink, single shots, or even to try the local beer (we had a pleasant surprise with Imperial too) the room is exclusive to Royal Club or vacation club members (kinda like a time-share thing) so during the week we had the room to ourselves most of the time. The concierge desk was also there so someone would frequently check on us to make sure we were happy.
The beach wasn't huge, but low season isn't crowded anyway so I can't complain about that. We did spend some time relaxing and some time jumping in the surf.
The only thing that could have been better was the weather, but no one can do anything about that. Due to a series of hurricanes in Mexico, we had the outer edges of rain, rain and more rain. A few of the days had showers in the early morning and evening so we left the property and walked up the hill to a nearby deserted resort on one day and also walked to Playa Hermosa on another. We also booked a horseback, canopy, volcanic spa package with Issys Tours (check them out too, they got us everywhere safe and happy with the friendliest service!) The day we originally booked for was absolutely pouring and there was a road washed out so they let us try again the next day without any extra charges! It happened to work out with better weather too so check out reviews on Issys if you want to get away from the resort and do something fun!
This was my first experience at an all-inclusive resort so I have no basis of comparison. Overall, it was a wonderful experience for us. It isn't your 5-star place by any means, but I really wasn't expecting that either. There is a lot of world left for us to explore but if we come back to Costa Rica one day, we would have no problem staying here again but only in Royal Club rooms.

Room tip: Be sure to book into Royal Club for a comfortable room and first-class service!
Date of stay: October 2011
  • Trip type: Traveled as a couple
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7  Thank Heather M
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed October 14, 2011

This a a nice hotel for an all inclusive. It is close to Liberia. The beach is not that great here as it is on the pacific side. THe food is average and drinks are watered down as typical for all inclusive. Liquor is not top shelf for sure- they are using something called "disco" brand and I thing that even might be watered down. We were upgraded to an ocean view room though and the room was very nice, clean and comfortable. The A/C was very noisy. Mosquitos are crazy here so bring bug repellant. We traveled in the rainy season here (Oct) and it did rain at night and it was cloudy during the day. But we were 2 of I think maybe 40 people at the resort.

Date of stay: October 2011
  • Trip type: Traveled as a couple
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2  Thank Al B
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HARODEL, Manager at Occidental Papagayo - Adults Only, responded to this reviewResponded December 28, 2011

Dear Al B ,

Thank you very much for your recent visit to our property, it will be always a pleasure to host your stay with us.
Our beach has mixed sand with shells and volcanic rocks, it´s makes the diference and most of guests love it, we also have a blue flag award from goverment for keeping the beach clean.
I would like to inform you that we already changed A/C units in order to avoid the noise. I am glad to inform you that we have a new coktail´s menu in order to offer more variety, our beverades Manager is monitoring the bar´s staff to make sure about drink´squality.

Kind regards, Harold Rojas, Sales Manager, grand.ventas@cr.occidentalhotels.com

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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed October 10, 2011

Our stay at this Grand Papagayo was fabulous....excellent service, beautiful junior suite, top shelf liquor, courteous and friendly staff that could not do enough for us! Excellent off- season pricing. Expect very warm temperatures! We teamed up with a superb realtor, Michael Simon with ReMax and learned a tremendous amount about the country, the people, the homes, and the Pura Vida style of living as we viewed possible retirement properties. Elena's massages on the beach were the best we have ever had. We were not hounded by anyone on the beach and chose to book tours with experts in their field. Davis and Jayfer were extremelly attentive to our needs and made our trip really special.

Date of stay: October 2011
  • Trip type: Traveled on business
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4  Thank marthaleblanc
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HARODEL, Manager at Occidental Papagayo - Adults Only, responded to this reviewResponded December 28, 2011

Dear Martha ,

I am so happy to hear that you loved Costa Rica, and of course our resort! Thank you for taking the time to share such wonderful comments. It was a pleasure to host you and we hope you will visit us again soon.

I will be sure to share your comments with Davis and Jayferknow about your nice comments. We work hard to ensure that our guests have an enjoyable experience and reviews like this help to keep the team motivated.

Pura Vida!!!

Harold Rojas, Sales Manager, grand.ventas@cr.occidentalhotels.com 506-26908000

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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed October 2, 2011

This is one of the friendliest spa and resort amongst all of the all-inclusive hotels that we have visited throughout our tenure in Mexico, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and now Costa Rica. The management and the entire staff strive to cater to your needs. Of course, we had booked the best which is the Royal Club. Nevertheless, this is no different than Las Vegas or any other VIP treatments. The old cliché, the more you spend the more attention you will receive. People must understand when you pay for first class; you will and shall receive first class service. Otherwise, there will not be a first class category with your airline and all will be treated as coach. My spouse and I had a terrific time at this resort. Brian who is the guest service manager should be given an award for an outstanding customer service and Harold the hotel manager should be promoted to director upon Angelica's departure. These gentlemen truly made our stay pleasant and enjoyable. We will return back in the near future.
Recommendations: Please have your bar service at the pool and the beach both during low and high season. Also, the hotel can use a face lift very soon as the water and climates can destroy the structure rapidly. Keep up the great job guys and thanks for a wonderful time.

Room tip: If you travel, please use one of their Royal Club Master suites
Date of stay: September 2011
  • Trip type: Traveled as a couple
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    • Location
    • Sleep Quality
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4  Thank Ardy F
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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