Occidental Papagayo reviews
7233 TripAdvisor reviews
Spa visit at Occidental Papagayo is worth it
2collies (Calgary, Canada) on Mar 22, 2024
The spa at Occidental Papagayo is worth a visit. I enjoyed a hydrating spa manicure for my tired and dry hands after a long, cold Canadian winter. My husband had a deep tissue massage at the same time. The staff were professional and pleasant. The aromatherapy was a nice, relaxing touch. They were able to accommodate us on short notice as walk-ins, which was much appreciated.
I would no recommend!!! EVER!
Shidakiswah on Mar 22, 2024
I would not stay here ever again! Let’s start with the resort- PROS; the resort is a nice property… clean, the rooms are nice and spacious- look like mini condos almost. The Bay View allows you to see right out of your big windows overlooking the ocean. There are animals, monkeys, lizards, frogs, it’s a great getaway from the city life for nature… great for relaxing. CONS; there is no entertainment. The tennis courts, basketball courts cost extra. The gym is extra. They had a violinist playing for about an hour one night and a singer another night. the pools are basic. The pool bar closes at 5! They have an ok Disco club but it’s nothing fancy. I would give the property a 6.5/10- JUST THE PROPERTY… it has so much potential but whoever runs it must be just there to provide the basics The Staff are basically nonchalant and not overly welcoming, just not really caring about you paying your money to be there. At check in, it was basically.. hello, pay your money, gave us the wristbands and ALL the rules that came with staying there. You loose your wristbands 35$.. they give you towel cards, you lose it 35$.. They tell you anything you don’t lock up in the safe they are not responsible for! You can only make a reservation for their restaurants between 8am and 4pm and you can only make one reservation every 3 nights.. so we were there for 5 nights.. we would have to eat at the buffet every night because of their ridiculous rule… (this was a blessing in disguise) and if we all ate together under one reservation that takes away from their one reservation too! The Food- they DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT have 10 restaurants on the property or whatever amount they lied about.. there are two! One is Italian and the other is Oriental! They switch between one or the other every night! The buffet is a nightmare.. We ate at the buffet and the Italian place… THE FOOD at this place IS DISGUSTING! If you don’t drink beer YOU WILL GET SICK and have diarrhea for days! Half of my travel group of 10 got sick! (Those of us who don’t drink beer) they literally sell Pepto Bismal and Gatorade next to the buffet… we got there Friday afternoon.. by Saturday morning after the bug hit me..travel diarrhea! The Bar- we go into the bar and we’re told we had to pay by the bartender… I immediately turn around about to go to the front desk to complain when another person comes from behind the bar and says no it’s free.. it’s included! I say well what is he talking about then.. conveniently enough they don’t understand… The liquor is cheap and not of even bottom shelf quality. The last straw was we made reservations at a steak house outside the property at 7pm- we paid for a taxi and RT service. We requested a two hour window.. (7-9) so it’s about 8 pm an hour into our dinner and we hadn’t even had our appetizers yet.. so we realized we need more time so we called the hotel to let them know and change the pick up time.. Carlos basically told us they can’t wait past the time and he doesn’t care that we paid for RT ALREADY… so you are just going to leave your guest at a restaurant and you don’t care.. the men in our group basically had to pay the driver more money to stay so we could get back to our hotel. We left the hotel at 9:30.. They Stole my Earrings- I wore them one night and placed them on the bathroom sink after coming in the 2nd night we went out.. I noticed I didn’t see them but I figured maybe they were around in my bags somewhere… my husband must have put them up… the night before we were to check out I still hadn’t seen them.. we unpacked out entire suitcases and still not anywhere… I can only assume the housekeeping staff took them… I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESORT to anyone.
Average-nothing special
ScarolBaskin99 (Virginia Beach, Virginia) on Mar 21, 2024
There is no nightlife, I was very bored. Service and staff were good. Food was average, would of liked to seen more variety of meats and veggies. Drinks are average, the bartenders make the experience nice. The pool was very hot, while my showers were very cold. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. If they improved on some things, I might consider coming back.
An amazing week
Cory S on Mar 18, 2024
Just returned from a week here on 3/18/24. The hotel was beautiful and staff was very nice and helpful with all our questions. Met a lot of other fun guest at the bar and disco room…karaoke nights were a blast. We had a rental so drove to destinations during the day and missed the daytime activities. I would definitely stay here again! Only gripe is low water pressure in the shower but it wasn’t an issue.
A little less than expected
sbflnc3 on Mar 17, 2024
The staff was very nice, but the lack of communication and collaboration among them made it difficult to get easy requests fulfilled. The rooms definitely need to be updated, but they were clean for the most part. Unfortunately, although there was a lot of food, I found it not to be very good. The company in the lobby that planned the excursions was terrific with explanations of daily trips, times, and all the details to make sure we picked the right trip to suit our interests. Well run company with great guides, and good to have it so accessible. We had a nice time, but if you are fussy about attention to details and want "good" (tasty) food (which I understand is subjective,) this may not be the place for you. The guests we met had the same general complaints regarding saltiness and being overcooked.