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Costa Rica Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews Reviews
Occidental Allegro Papagayo Hotel All-Inclusive
07/22/2004
Reviewers Rating:  Great
Allegro Papagayo by Occidental was a great hotel! You will love it! But, there are some conditions you may want to observe before going there.
About Us: a thirteen year old and two parents in their early 40s. This was our first time in Costa Rica. We went to Costa Rica on July 5-9, 2004.
Plane Ride: We rode with Vacation Express on PACE Airlines. The plane ride was very good, a little rocky in the air going and coming from Costa Rica. We flew out from Baltimore and from there went to Florida. Vacation Express doesn't give out direct flights anymore. From Florida we headed to Costa Rica. From Baltimore to Florida it's about 2 hours and 10 mins. and from Florida to Costa Rica it's about 3 hrs. and some mins. They only give out food when the flight is more than or at least 3hrs. So, we got snacks from Florida to Costa Rica. But, from Baltimore to Florida only a beverage. It does get quite cold, so they give you pillows and blankets if you want them.
Hotel: The hotel is excellent for Costa Rican standards, but for American standards, it is like a 4-star hotel, which is not bad. My first impression was that there was a lot of lush, greenery. It's so pretty! This is not a normal Caribbean island, w/ beaches because Costa Rica is not for beaches; it's more for wildlife and nature. But, even if you are a beach person you will still like Costa Rica. The views are just breathtaking! Anyway, the airport is really small, but very nice. If you go with Vacation Express just go out where the buses are, very easy to find, and people holding up signs with your hotel name. Big charter buses take you back to your hotel. Very well organized! The ride from the Airport to Allegro is about 35 mins. When you reach the hotel you go and check-in and you will find yourself wandering into the lobby! Trust me on this one, the view from there is amazing! When you arrive a few of the staff are dressed in traditional Costa Rican clothes and they offer you drinks. The drinks are delicious! Watch out, though; ask the people who are serving if the drink has alcohol if you have kids. They drink a lot in Costa Rica! In the lobby they have a bar that offers all drinks. My favorites were pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris! They were excellent! Gosh! Best I’ve ever tasted. If you have all-inclusive they give you a bracelet they tie around your hand. If you don't sign up for all-inclusive I think you should! It's very necessary because it must be expensive to buy food there everyday and plus the hotel is located in a secluded spot away from everything. Unless, you rent a car or take a tour you’re basically stuck at the hotel. But, driving out of the hotel is very hard because it's on a hill and if you’re not experienced you can seriously get stuck or fall off. Don't worry though; because Costa Rican drivers can drive very well! They're excellent drivers, man! Anyway, the hotel is on hill, all the rooms and everything. So, on top of the hills is the lobby, and then below them are all the rooms. Then below are the rooms is all the action. The restaurants, pools, beach, bars, water sports, and many more things. The hotel rooms are in buildings. The higher number of the hotel building the higher it is up the hill. So, for example you have #1 hotel building your hotel building is right below the lobby. We stayed in the 6th building, which was probably the best building because you got a good view and it's very convenient to everything. It's very convenient because you're halfway to everything in the hotel. The hotel is very safe, they have security and everything. You could probably even let your kids roam free because it's that safe. Sunrise in Costa Rica is early and Sunset is around 4 p.m., so it gets dark real early. It’s a family-orientated resort.
Shuttles: The hotel provides shuttles to take you from wherever you need to go to where you need to go. They have bus-stops near all hotel buildings, so you can just to the stops, and the shuttles pick you from there and you tell them where you need to go. They also, have these stops near the lobby, so when you're leaving and coming; luggage; and near pools and stuff. The shuttles come very often, so if you miss one don't worry. A lot of people can fit in them. They run from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. These time periods are very convenient because every night they have a show which is from 9-10 at night, so they have a time to pick up everyone coming from the show. Especially, because by the time the show ends it black mid-night.
Food: The food at Allegro Papagayo was excellent! There were two restaurants at the hotel. One restaurant was casual everyday and the other one was more formal. For the formal restaurant you had to be nicely dressed, but not that formal. For the other restaurant it’s just casual wear. We never went to the formal restaurant because we felt no need to. The casual restaurant’s food was really good! The formal restaurant was a steakhouse and had a lot of meat. Some people that we talked to said the formal restaurant was okay. You also, have to make reservations to go into the formal restaurant. The formal restaurant is only opened at night. The casual restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s a buffet for all three courses. The buffet had a variety of different kinds of food, was rather delicious! You will have to try the fruits, there so much better than what you find over here! The fruits are probably the best part of the whole buffet! They’re delicious and they do have a few fruits that we don’t find over here. In the resort they have a few bars which are open majority of the day. The bar in the lobby makes the best pina coldas, strawberry daiquiris, and many other drinks! Overall, food there is really good and I stress if you don’t have all-inclusive I think you need to get it because resort is so secluded that there’s no where else to eat and you’ll find yourself spending a lot of money on food.
Pool: The pool is very nice. There is only one pool in this resort. It’s down by where all the restaurants are and all the other activities. It has a very pretty shape. Also, in the pool at certain times they have activities going on and they encourage everyone to join on in. For example we played volleyball one time. Also, they do have a swim-up bar where you can swim at the same time, while sipping on one of your favorite Costa Rican drinks. It’s really nice.
Staff: The staff at this resort and you will find the locals are very nice people. These people are so nice and good to you. Anything you want they will get it to you.
Room: Our room was in the sixth building. The room had two beds and everything that you usually find in a regular hotel room. It was clean. The bathroom, though, was a little shaky. It was tiled, but the tile wasn’t exactly clean. The maid service did a nice job, everyday giving us new towels and things. In the bathroom there is a window right where the shower is. But, remember while bathing to close the window otherwise anyone who walks by can talk a peek in. A horrible part about the bathroom was when you didn’t open your window up after bathing or whatever you were doing in there, the bathroom would start to smell. This smell was horrible, I mean bad. So, to avoid that smell we closed the bathroom door and opened back up the window. The view from our room was simply gorgeous.
One bad part also, about the hotel was their gym. It was all smelly and dirty. Really small and there were lots of machines just pushed all together so they could fit into the room. Barely, anyone went into the gym.
Priya
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