Matapalo Holidays from £1,337

Nice if you want to relax, love the salt water pool.

A beautiful stay in Guayacan. Staff very helpful. Grace was our favourite, she spent time teaching our children Spanish and made us feel very welcome every time. We had an issue with the water but this wouldn't put us off staying here again. A unique experience that we really loved. Food was delicious, go half board if you can. The rooms need an extra air con unit on the bunkbeds side, but if you have the unit on all day and shut the curtains it's fine. Don't be put off by the drive up to the hotel, it's worth it!

The view is obviously incredible, which is what the resort relies on. The staff were nice enough, but lacked management and training in certain areas. Had they been more attentive, we would have spent more money. The food was well cooked but the menus are a little odd. After paying so much to stay at the hotel, it's then disappointing to have to compete with public visitors to get tables in the restaurant. I'm shocked the property has been open less than 10 years; it needs a lot of maintenance. The water pressure is non-existant (shower is disappointing and even worse when irrigation is running), tiles are missing in both the main and the in-room pool. The main pool needs a deep clean, moss and black mould in the grout lines (black floating around in the pool). Shortage of pool towels, which have seen better days. Our bi-folding patio doors only partially opened, and we heard others talking about the same by the pool. We visited in dry season so whilst not expecting lush green landscaping, lights, wiring and irrigation all out the ground was disappointing to see. The areas behind the pool where nobody looks and between rooms is littered with rubbish and buiding materials. Whilst not the hotel's problem, the little make-believe town of Las Catalinas is extremely overhyped. Its still being built and its nothing. It reminded us on a Disney back lot set. Fake buildings with nobody in them. The beach and sea are lovely but quite busy with locals and visiting tourists.

Estuvo precioso una gran experiencia, solo nos quedamos 2 noches y tuvimos un problema con el booking de un restaurante pero de verdad fenomenal, y para sellar con broche de oro, cuando íbamos saliendo del cuarto el muchacho de transporte nos vio y se bajo a ayudarnos a sacar más maletas nos llevó a los carros y nos llevó a la recepción muy buen servicio el de Michael el chófer.

This is a gorgeous property but not as all inclusive as you'd think for the price.They try to get you to a timeshare meeting when you arrive but they aren't too pushy. Then, as you go, you find out there are a lot of "yes, buts". For example, we asked a bartender if we could take a bottle of wine back to our room with us and he said yes just call room service. So we did and they said the limit was 2 glasses and it would be a 45 minute wait. The staff were friendly but you had to pay mucho out of pocket to get all-inclusive type service. Will look for another resort next time we go back. Costa Rica is beautiful and has great culture. Not as cheap as say, Mexico, but paradise.