Los Suenos Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort, JACó

This place was average at best. For as high as the rates were, it was not worth the cost. You could stay at a cheap hotel and get the same experience. The pool doesn't have a jacuzzi, no bell hop helped us with our bags, and then our room had a sliding door that opened to a bunch of bushes, so we couldn't even walk outside. The air conditioner was loud and rickity and the bed was uncomfortable. The room and decor was so boring and ugly and not what you would expect from a luxury hotel. The staff was kind of unfriendly, and ignored us when we walked by. All of this would have been tolerable if the prices weren't so ridiculous. $7 for a bottle of water?? Come on! We were coming from Marriott in Guanacaste, which is pure luxury - they give you robes, slippers, and a free bottle of water by your bed every night. It had jacuzzis, spa bathtub in the rooms, and every room had an ocean view. AND it was cheaper than Los Suenos. Not to mention the staff there was wonderfully accommodating. We were expecting the same quality when we got to Los Suenos and DID NOT get it.

My boyfriend and I stayed at the resort this past spring and had a lovely time while we were there until...checkout! I can't tell you how upset we are over how we were treated during checkout and it still isn't over! It's the end of April and our issue has yet to be resolved! We had to call the hotel when we got back home (USA) and we have been passed around from person to person, none of which would help us. During checkout one of the desk girls ran our card, what she did not tell us was that she had overcharged us by a couple hundred dollars. She tried to correct her mistake but charged us TWICE the wrong amount! She never told us of her mistake and made us leave thinking that everything would be resolved shortly. Well its heading into May and the Los Suenos resort staff has been unprofessional and unhelpful in something that should have been resolved quickly, due to it being their mistake. We or our family and friends will never visit this hotel again. I would suggest renting a house in the resort instead of the hotel, a much stress free option!

I stayed in the main hotel and then moved to one of the condos that is on the same property as the Marriott. Both rooms/residences were nice. The hotel is very noisy though, due to the weather they don't have anything but tiles on the floor, so you can hear every room service and cleaning service cart. You can also hear voices echoing down the hall at all hours. I would probably stay here again, however the property tried to charge me twice for the same stay. Luckily I kept all the receipts from the stay and once I provided them with faxed copies of the receipts/statements they stopped trying to post extra charges to my credit card. Now that I have felt compelled to write a review to warn other travelers, I have heard of this happening to other people that have stayed here as well. It seems like either they have poor management or they are purposefully trying to charge people twice. Either way, it is poor management and their finance department should be re-organized so this does not happen to other people. In addition, although the property is well kept, the beach is terrible. It is full of rocks and pebbles and the water is murky. If you want to go in the water, you have to go to the pool.

This place is expensive - they do overcharge. but the people are so nice and everything is very clean. the pool is fabulous. However, the kids club is for kids aged 4 to 12 and from 10am to 12am and then 2pm to 4pm. But, when my daughter went to the kids club she was the only kid in there - maybe it was a down week, but there weren't a ton of other kids to play with. Also, the tours are not geared for kids. You can take your kids - I think they would have let my 2 year do the zip line...but again, they are not designed with kids in mind and you won't have too much fun on the tours if you bring young children. The jungle tour (Carara) was basically bird watching which was entirely boring for my 6 and under crowd. The boat ride to see birds and crocodiles was fun for them and 'relatively' safe (you need to keep a hold on the little ones as there are no seat belts and lower sides on the boats.) Also - if you need a sitter - they provide VERY qualified (cpr, etc.) sitters, but 24 hours notice is not enough, even though they told us it was. If you think you might even want a sitter, book them WAY IN ADVANCE and then cancel if you have to. By the way - the pool is great. there is a baby pool that is about 18 inches deep. the big pool is 4' all over with lots of places to enter/exit that have WIDE steps. A good place for little ones to hang out too. But, if you don't have kids that are good swimmers, its hard for you/them to swim here because you have to hold them up - as its so deep. The taxi ride (we used their service -CRT) was as comfortable as it gets, but is still a grueling 2 hour ride, especially if you have just flown a long way into San Jose. It makes for a VERY long day.

This hotel has many positives such as the beautiful clean pool and swim up bar. Food was excellent and the staff very helpful. Rooms and beds were great, the best we've had out of the country. Now for the negatives; it's isolated from the rest of Costa Rica, a mountainous 2 hour drive from San Jose. Carrara Park was disappointing (but we couldn't get a guide at mid-day so didn't see anything, maybe go early or late). Hotel is full of Americans, and we were looking for a more cultural experience. Beach isn't the best, rocky. Also, beware the many hotel charges for "extras" such as the $7.50 bottle of Evian in the room and the $14 daily charge for internet. You can go to the grocery store on the way into Los Suenos and buy water and snacks for next to nothing; ask your driver to stop there. Also, since our cell phones didn't work here, even though we had service everywhere else we visited in Costa Rica, we had to use the hotel phones. Biggest rip off was the tour desk. We paid $76 per person for a safari ride that you can drive or taxi to; it costs $20 per person without the hotel's shuttle service! Visit Jaco next town over but beware at night; it gets creepy on the side streets (security guards protect the cars parked at local restaurants). We enjoyed our 3 days there since we were tired from touring the rest of the country but don't feel like we saw much of Costa Rica and wouldn't return unless we wanted a destination resort experience.

Don't come here if you're on a tight budget. If you want to get pampered in one of the most beautiful hotels on this planet, then Los Suenos Marriott is your destination. The pool is spectatular, the service is top notch, and the food is wonderful. The beach is not nice, however, but the pool more than makes up for it. We can't wait to go back!!!

I was so sick of the over charge at this resort. The service was amazing. The fees were ridiculous. Don't pay 7.00 for a Evian, don't do the tours through the hotel, go to Jaco and book through a tour through and independant operator. Use Taxi Aeropuerto for a ride to the airport at half the price of the Marriott. The property was amazing but the prices at the hotel ridiculous even for a resort

What a wonderful experience!! We were there during a huge convention from the States, so we expected slower service and less attention. It was remarkable how the Marriott handled the full house so very well. We had a fantastic time!! The canopying, Crocodile, and horseback riding excursions were our favorites! On the way from San Jose, we stopped by Poas and La Paz. Hire a driver, it's the only way to go from San Jose to Los Suenos and back.

We have been twice. First time we took our whole family ages 9 mo.-80 yrs. Everything was great including baby sitters, food and fishing. Last time just two couples. Grat each time.

The people were so friendly, from the front desk to the housekeeping staff. The beds were great. The lounges are open, breezy, and very inviting. The beach on the property itself will not be your draw, but the elaborate pool with swim up bar more than made up for that. Escpecially with beautiful white sand beaches near by. Highly recommend a walk to the Marina restaurants and shops. The highlight of your trip will be a visit to the Tour office. The local excursions are well organized, wonderful rainforest adventures. Pay attention to the weather/ season when planning your trip. We went in May and still had a fabulous trip inspite of some extra rain.