Guanacaste

The province, and the strip we can document

Guanacaste is Costa Rica’s dry Pacific northwest, served by Liberia airport, and the part of the country where the large all-inclusive model exists at all.

Our documented coverage is narrower than the province: two hotels at Playa Matapalo, near Sardinal, publishing the same address.

Why a shared address changes the decision

When two resorts are in different towns, the first question is where you want to be. When they are on one plot, that question disappears and the second one arrives immediately: what is actually different?

Here it is legible.

Riu Palace Costa Rica counts six pools, five restaurants and seven bars, and publishes only junior-suite grades — including a connecting pair for families who want two rooms rather than one big one.

Riu Guanacaste publishes a named water park, three large pools plus a children’s pool with slides, seven bars, and a superior family room with two bedrooms.

One is suite-graded. The other is built around children. Same beach.

The unanswered question

Neither publishes a distance from Liberia. For a province where the airport transfer is a real variable — Guanacaste’s resort beaches are spread out — that is a meaningful omission from both pages.

What we cannot judge

Neither operator publishes a room count, so we cannot tell you how busy either property feels. Neither publishes a mandatory fee schedule.

Last verified 2026-09-13.