On October 31st, 2009 the RIU Guanacaste officially opened its doors for business. I had all intentions of visiting the hotel sooner, but travel kept me from seeing the newly completed hotel until three weeks ago.

Costa Rica's Biggest Hotel Resort RIU Opens In Guanacaste

The RIU is a Spain based hotel company of high end all-inclusive resorts. While the RIU is recognized worldwide, the focus of the RIU has been Mexico and the Caribbean. This is the first RIU to Costa Rica.

Located in Playa Matapalo, just south of Playas del Coco. Getting to the RIU is via the partially paved and partially unpaved road from Sardinal to the hotel (about 13 km). The Liberia International airport is about one hour away from the property.

We had two VIP Members of WeLoveCostaRica.com who stayed at the RIU, so I had the chance to sit down with them and visit the hotel and get a firsthand look at the construction that had been going on for well over a year. I must say I am not one for mega all-inclusives, but overall the RIU seemed to get it right.

Very elegant new hotel.

The positives:

• The pool areas are very large and spacious. Even with all the people, the pool did not seem crowded to me.
• The rooms were very nice and some had a nice ocean view.
• There were several restaurants for guests to choose from.
• The food overall seemed decent (but I only tried the buffet). So, I can't give my comments on anything other than the buffet near the main pool.
• Playa Matapalo is a nice swimming beach.
• The grounds are impeccable - everything seemed very, very clean.
• Security is TIGHT. That is good for the guests (although I almost was not let in!)
• This resort has brought hundreds of jobs to local Ticos, which I view as very positive.

Some negatives:

• The hotel is HUGE. It has 701 rooms. For me, it seemed out of place, but it is also located in a very isolated area away from the next major town of Cocos. However, other big resorts (such as the Four Seasons at Papagayo) seem to also do the same to its guests - keeping them isolated and in the resort!
• Cell phone reception did not exist. (This may be a good thing if you are looking to get away from it all).
• According to the two VIP members/clients, the WiFi was spotty at best (not reliable nor constant). Again, if you are looking to get away…you may not care!
• Reservations for the restaurants fill up quickly, so you have to book in advance.

The guests at the RIU were very international indeed - American, Canadian, European and South American. They seem to market well and have a large 'fan' base. The hotel seemed to be pretty full during my visit in late December, which is a good sign.

My hope is that the RIU continues to do well, bring money in not only for them but also the local economy. Many larger hotel groups tend to put money back into the local communities, and I hope they will follow suit.

It's evident that the RIU project has dramatically improved the infrastructure in the area. My understanding is that the road leading to the hotel from Sardinal will be completely paved this year. Currently it's about 50% paved.

We anticipate land values in the area increasing dramatically.

The RIU plans to build its next phase later this year. The completed project calls for a total of 1,500 rooms, which would make the RIU the biggest resort in all of Costa Rica by 400%. Currently the RIU is about 72% larger than its other resort competition.

Costa Rica Real Estate Investors Take Note: RIU is one of Spain's largest hotel chains and with tens of thousands of European tourists visiting this new resort each year we believe that real estate values in the area could increase significantly. The key to making money is obviously to own this land before the word really gets out and the guests start looking fore their little slice of heaven...