Sandos Papagayo Beach Resort

This was our third visit to the hotel, and overall we had another really enjoyable stay.

The food was a real highlight. There was a great variety available at the buffet, and we particularly enjoyed the Oriental and Mexican restaurants. There was plenty of choice throughout the day, and the quality was consistently good.

All of the staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming, and the atmosphere throughout the hotel was fantastic. There were plenty of tables and places to sit, and as a parent I felt very comfortable letting our children, aged 7 and 9, go to the snack bar etc themselves.

The daytime entertainment was brilliant. It was fun without being overly pushy, and most of the animation team made a real effort to include everyone. The three lads in particular were fantastic with the children — they remembered their names and made them feel really welcome.

Unfortunately, there was one animator who let the team down. As other reviews have mentioned, his approach seemed much more suited to an 18–30 holiday than a family resort. He appeared far more interested in interacting with the young women than entertaining families, and on a few occasions we found his attitude towards the children quite rude. This was a shame, especially because the rest of the animation team were so friendly and inclusive. (Not sure of his name but the blonde with the nipple piercings).

We stayed in H1144, and the main area that could do with improvement is the bathroom, which is looking quite dated and needs a good clean. We asked to be moved but the hotel was at capacity. So we just covered with towels. Once the bathrooms have been updated and pool tables fixed I think this hotel will be very close to perfect.

Overall, though, we had a fantastic holiday and would happily return for a fourth visit. There’s a lot to love about this hotel, especially the food, atmosphere, staff and daytime entertainment.

We recently stayed at Sandos Papagayo for our summer holiday. We’d heard so many people rave about this hotel, so we were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I’m not sure what all the hype is about. There were definitely some positives, but overall we left feeling disappointed.

The positives ❤️

The daytime entertainment was actually really good. Despite the entertainment team being all male, they worked incredibly hard and put so much effort into getting everyone involved. There were plenty of activities throughout the day, and we really enjoyed the evening entertainment too — whether it was the family shows and mini disco or the singers and karaoke outside.

The 4pm crepes were absolutely scrummy and definitely became a favourite! 😋

We were in Block B, which had a lovely sea view and was probably one of the highlights of our stay.

The spa is also free to use, which is a nice bonus, although there are only a couple of jacuzzis so they get very busy.

The negatives 😕

The restaurant was, for me, the biggest disappointment. I’d describe it as more of a cattle market canteen than a 4-star hotel restaurant. It was extremely busy and chaotic and just felt very disjointed, with no real flow to the different food stations. The food quality was poor for what I would expect from a 4-star hotel, with very little choice when it came to vegetables and no real show cooking.

There seemed to be so much food wastage too, which was really noticeable. For a hotel of this size, I expected a much better organised restaurant and a much higher standard of food.

There is the option to sit outside, which sounds lovely, but unfortunately you are constantly pestered by birds. There were birds flying around the tables and chairs, and we even saw chairs with bird poo all over them, which really put us off eating outside.

There is also the option to book the Fusion Restaurant for a Mexican or Asian evening, which sounds great, but unless you book it as soon as you arrive, you’ll probably struggle to get a booking. We only found out about this after arriving, by which point there was very little availability. It would have been nice to have been made more aware of this beforehand.

For a family hotel, I was also surprised there wasn’t a proper children’s section in the buffet. Things like chicken nuggets, sausages and fish fingers seem like pretty basic options that most children would eat. Our children really struggled to find things they liked in the restaurant, so we ended up using the snack bar much more than we expected.

The room

We booked a Superior room, but unfortunately there was nothing that felt particularly “superior” about it. The room was very tired and really needs updating to bring it up to what I would expect from a 4-star hotel.

The flooring was chipped, the bathroom grout had mould, and the room didn’t feel thoroughly cleaned. The balcony wasn’t cleaned during our stay either. The sink plug broke, the towels were very old and scratchy, and the synthetic pillows were worn and the cases didn’t even fit properly.

The air conditioning was another issue — it barely seemed to work and had very little power.

There were also no proper outdoor drying facilities for wet swimwear, so we ended up taking the chairs from the balcony inside to hang things over. The curtains didn’t meet properly in the middle either, so we had to use pegs to keep them closed. Even the kettle needed descaling.

Drinks 🍹

The drinks were another let-down. The cocktails were premixed and tasted very cheap, with hardly any alcohol. Branded spirits seemed to be reserved for Royal Elite guests unless you paid extra.

Overall

This hotel has so much potential, but in my opinion it needs a serious amount of money and investment putting into it. From the tired rooms and poor food quality to the general condition of the facilities, it simply didn’t feel like a 4-star hotel.

Personally, I would rate it 3 stars at best based on our experience. It certainly didn’t feel like the 4-star standard we were expecting.

The entertainment team deserve a special mention because they genuinely worked hard and were one of the best parts of our holiday. Unfortunately, though, the positives weren’t enough to outweigh the negatives for us.

We’ve stayed in other 4-star hotels where the standard has been considerably higher, so sadly we wouldn’t rush back to Sandos Papagayo.