Sandos Papagayo

Having read some of these reviews , I felt I had to come and write about our experience . It honestly feels like they are writing about a different place . We came for a week at the end of October and thought it was absolutely fabulous . We booked the royal elite package and on arrival were given a beautiful room in Block B that overlooked the sea . Stunning views . Everything clean and a lovely balcony . We used the royal elite restaurant for breakfast and dinner which was fantastic - table service for drinks but still a buffet service for food - so much choice and always served piping hot . Lunch in the main restaurant was busier but still very high quality . We used the royal elite terrace bar regularly, especially enjoying the sunsets with the serve yourself bar. The hotel has a lot of pool areas including one adult only . This was welcomed however you do need to be up and about early to secure a spot . This is my only gripe , we sat by the pool one day from 9am , the loungers next to us had towels on and the owners didn’t come to them until 3pm, totally unfair for anyone else . We walked to the beach over the cliff daily and this was beautiful . It is also close to a marina within walking distance . All the staff we met were friendly and we had no issues with cleanliness as others have said . We have booked again for next year and only hope that we can secure a room in a similar area of the hotel again as we loved every minute . Thank you to everyone at Sandos , you deserve all the praise !

I have stayed in Sandos Papagayo on all-inclusive for a week long holiday with my girlfriend. I have been attracted by its location and good ratings, but I am displeased to say it has been a disappointing experience for an in theory well reviewed four star hotel. The overall impression isof a good hotel ruined by years of poor management and cost cuts. Here below additional details: Location: 5/5. Close to Playa de Papagayo e Playa Dirada, hands down two of the best The hotel directly faces the sea and offers very good views at day and night. Food: 3/5. Average would be the best description. You will never be hungry or feel sick from it, but at the same time I cannot think of anything that stood out and made me want to have more of the same. Variety is also a minor problem with most of the food not changing throughout the days. I was expecting more from a four stars hotel Drinks 1/5. Very poor quality, discount spirits are served most of the time, barmen don't have a clue on how to properly fix drinks like mojito or margarita. Terrible wine served. Room: 3/5 Large in size, kept well clean. A couple of small problems with minifridge not working and noise coming from pipes when flushing the toilet. Staff friendliness: 2/5. Had minimal interaction, most of the staff never smiled and frankly seemed quite annoyed when interacting. Facilities: 2/5. Big and clean pool areas are the only positive. Other parts of the structure have been neglected, with corridors and other common areas bearing markings of time and cheap maintenance. The hotel offers a gym which is in despicable conditions, just a small room full of old and half-functioning gym equipment. Really a shame

We have just returned from an enjoyable 9 night stay. We stayed all inclusive 2 adults 2 children aged 7 and 4. First off just to say we had a great time. The hotel itself is well kept and lots going for it. I recon when it first opened it would of been and absolute show stopper, as other reviews have mentioned you can see it starting to look fatigued in parts and in need of some refurbishment. The food was to a really good standard in the main restaurant particularly evening meals food was always hot and good quality. Breakfast was nice but I think not serving hash browns is a strange one and would be an easy crowd pleaser. The snack bar was again good,the only thing my kids missed was nuggets, something we’ve always had on previous all inclusive. The fusion restaurant we thought was average and preferred main. I thought the drinks were reasonable apart from the cocktails which were pretty rubbish tbh. Beer was Amstel and was good in the bars but ridiculously fizzy self pour in restaurants. Rooms could not fault and the scenery and views around the hotel were stunning. We walked to Papagayo beach one day which was a 10 minute walk away and was lovely. Animation team were really good with 2 guys really standing it out Rammi who we saw on his day off in playa Blanca town and guided us on a bus back as the taxi cue was massive what a legend he was amazing with our son Charlie. And Sofe who had just started but had an infectious energy and was great with the kids. Lastly just want to shout out the TUI rep Danni who we recognised from a few years ago and was such a great guy who couldn’t do enough to help people! We booked the ‘we love papagayo’ catamaran trip with him which although was a long day was a great day out. This hotel is a lovely hotel with some great features and some great team members. We probably wouldn’t stop here again as it’s just a bit too far out for us as we like to have a walk and mooch but can see the reason a lot of people like to revisit. Thanks Sandos Papagayo!