Sandos Papagayo Beach Resort

Second time to this beautful hotel and did not dissapoint once again! We returned same as last year as RE guests and would highly reccomend. I emailed before to request a specific block which the hotel accomadated thank you so much! Our room had a stunning seaview could hear the waves from balcony. Room was a perfect size! Good cleanliness. Restaurant and bar staff work extremly hard. Special mention to Ana in restaurant who is always so friendly and cheerful and is an assest to Sandos. Entertainment team at Sandos are fabulous shout out goes to Rami and Zac who are so much fun. Canary special massage at the spa was amazing i highly reccomend. Thank you Sandos for another great holiday! Gracias 😀

My partner and I came here last May and honestly had the most amazing holiday. We loved it so much that we always said we’d come back. Prices had increased so much that we thought we’d never manage it, but when they dropped a little, we thought, “Sod it, let’s go!” Unfortunately, we both ended up wishing we hadn’t.

From the moment we arrived, the experience was a huge disappointment. Our room wasn’t to the same standard as last year, with mould around the bath and a skirting board coming away from the wall.

The food was probably one of our biggest disappointments. Breakfast was exactly the same every day and was often barely warm, even when freshly brought out. Lunch and dinner were also very repetitive, with little variation and none of the themed nights we enjoyed so much last year. For an all-inclusive, we expected more.

We decided to try the Mexican à la carte restaurant and actually dressed up for the occasion, as we hadn’t had the opportunity to do that last year. Unfortunately, the experience was extremely disappointing. We sat down and a lady immediately asked what we wanted to drink. We asked for a couple of beers, and rather abruptly she simply said, “Help yourself.” There was no explanation of what drinks were available or how the restaurant worked. We were left looking around at other guests wondering what we were actually supposed to do, until my partner eventually went up and asked.

What made this even more disappointing was that when another family came in shortly afterwards, the same member of staff was extremely friendly and attentive with them. She took the time to explain all of the drink options and how everything worked, whereas with us it was simply “what do you want?” followed by “help yourself.” As English guests, we felt that we were not given the same level of friendliness, time or explanation, and it was very noticeable.

To make matters worse, the following day much of the food from the Mexican restaurant was being served in the main buffet anyway, so it really didn’t feel like the special à la carte experience we had expected.

The drinks were another let-down. And just to be clear, this wasn't about wanting alcohol all day, we simply wanted to enjoy the all-inclusive facilities we had paid for. The pool bar didn’t open until 11:15am, meaning after breakfast we couldn’t even sit around the pool with a coffee, lemonade or another soft drink. Once it finally opened, there were huge queues because everyone had been waiting, and we were often given flat Pepsi, Pepsi Max or lemonade. My partner and I specifically drink Pepsi Max, yet on numerous occasions when we asked for it, we were given full-fat Pepsi instead.

There were also times when we would politely ask for two drinks, such as a lemonade and a Coke, and only one would be handed over because staff were so focused on getting through the queue. There was also no clear cocktail menu, and the cocktails available were all from a machine rather than freshly made.

The snack bar was repetitive, often cold and slow when busy.

One incident that particularly upset me involved a member of staff called Cassandra. After we had been out for a walk in bad weather, I went into the snack bar wearing a sports bra, shorts and trainers. As I was leaving, Cassandra looked me up and down and rolled her eyes at me. I was extremely upset by this, as I am naturally quite body-conscious. I was dressed in sportswear and was not breaking any rules. What made it worse was that there were other guests in the same area wearing considerably less and, from what I could see, not following the stated dress rules either, yet they weren't given the same looks or treatment. I appreciate staff have rules they need to enforce, but if someone is going to be pulled up on dress standards, it should surely be done consistently and respectfully.

Overall, the atmosphere this year felt completely different. Staff were often miserable and unwelcoming, and the level of service just wasn’t what we experienced last year.

We did go out for a curry at the marina, which was honestly a 10/10 experience, but we shouldn’t have felt the need to spend extra money eating out when we had paid for an all-inclusive holiday.

It’s such a shame because the location is absolutely breathtaking and Playa Blanca is beautiful. But considering we paid more this year for a significantly worse experience, we definitely wouldn’t return.

Going from the holiday of a lifetime last year to leaving feeling this disappointed has been incredibly frustrating. We genuinely wanted to come back and had such high hopes, which makes it even more disappointing to say that we won’t be returning.