Secrets Papagayo Costa Rica

Our room was very nice and clean and the bed and pillows were out of this world comfortable The mini bar on the other hand was not near cold enough to keep the beverages cold enough to enjoy.. had trouble with the telephone, would start beeping in the middle of the night, but all together it was very nice.

We really enjoyed our vacation here and staff! We have been to 3 resorts in Mexico, 1 in Jamaica. This was our first time in Costa Rica. We traveled one day to Arenal to see that part of Costa Rica. The rest of time we stayed on the resort (5 day trip). Everything you need to know is here. It predicted rain our whole trip. Only one afternoon put us inside for about an hour. It was cool because we could see the lightning strike the hill from our room and echoed through the resort. The storm lasted about an hour. Plenty of sun the rest of the time. The water was great for swimming. I really enjoyed the beach because even though it wasn’t the white sand, it was free to walk barefoot without shells or getting 10 lbs of sand on them. Recommend walking across it instead of the hills to access the other pool, restaurant, and fitness area during low tides or during the day if you didn't mind your feet getting wet. WE COULDN’T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE GREAT STAFF. They listened, understood (or got help, if not), and never left you feeling like that problem wasn’t taken seriously or solved. The food was good from the restaurants, not outstanding. Be sure to check days that restaurants will be closed. We didn’t pay as close attention to that as we normally do, or it wasn’t as well posted. The room service gave my hamburger as rare, really rare, when I asked for it medium well. We didn’t bother to call to say anything, just left a note. I really assumed they gave me someone else’s burger. With the amazing staff that they have, we didn’t want to bother with them trying to fix it because we had no doubt that would have gone above and beyond to do it. We were fortunate to have a room location close enough to walk to the main pool (122). We don’t pay for a room view because we don’t plan on being in our room that long. We heard no music or people. We didn’t use the shuttle service at all except to take our luggage. We walked everywhere; however, we could see the difficulties of walking if our room would have been located elsewhere. It’s not for the weak, the nature hike at sunset it worth it! Drinks and service was good. They came often to you on poolside. If you are one that drinks faster, I have no doubt they would serve you as quick as you needed. Although all bartenders were good, we loved when José was at the bar.

Stayed at Secrets for two weeks and had a fabulous time, have stayed at Secrets resorts previously but this is by far the best, staff are wonderful, so friendly and helpful and the resort is so well laid out, we upgraded to a plunge pool room for the second week and it was certainly worth it. Whilst all staff are wonderful there are a few who deserve a special mention, Adrian on reception, superb ambassador for secrets, Juan the concierge who helped us so much when my wife was taken ill, Romeley from reception who gave up her own time to come with us to the hospital to ensure we were taken care of and translate for us, JJ the shuttle driver, I've never met such a positive happy person and the staff at Aqua who are just the best. In closing I would just criticise Secrets marketing and indeed TUI who we traveled with, when booking the holiday we paid extra for a panoramic room, which in reality looks nothing like the photos on the website and you get nothing like the view or glazing the pictures show, which in fairness is a complete misrepresentation, it didn't though spoil our holiday particularly after we upgraded to the plunge pool which is fabulous in room 372, my advice would be don't waste your money paying for the panoramic rooms.