Sandos Papagayo Beach Resort

The staff have worked incredibly hard in what must be the most difficult circumstances. Most of the other hotels in the resort were closed as were many of the bars and shops.

The plus side of this is that we almost had the place to ourselves which made for a very relaxing stay. We got to know most of the other guests and the entertainment team (Odonis and Pedro) were fantastic to make everyone welcome. They ran all the daytime activities and got people involved and then either supported or led the evening entertainment. I never heard any staff complain so thank you for giving us a fantastic holiday.

Differences this year meant you had to wear a mask at the bar and when getting food from the restaurant. There were hand sanitisers everywhere and the sports equipment was cleaned between guests. Everyone complied and we had a great time together.

We had a couple of issues with our room and these were mostly sorted with the exception of the air conditioning which meant the room was not quite cold enough, especially at night. This wasn't the case last year and I've seen other reports this year so hopefully this will be fixed for when we next return.

The fact that so many people return year after year proves how hard the staff work to maintain the hotel and provide a safe and enjoyable stay to all the guests. I sincerely hope that things can return to as near normal as soon as possible.

Positives for me:

Playa Blanca is the best location on the island. Great beaches, lots of bars and restaurants without being too busy or built up. There are great walks along the promenades or over the desert like terrain to the coves of Papagayo. Swim in the sea or hire snorkels or kayaks/paddle boards.

The weather is hot all year round :-)

The location of the hotel is on the edge of the resort so doesn't feel too crowded and you have the option of either walking into the town or to the nearby excellent beaches. Hotel facilities and staff are excellent and worth the 4*.

The hotel was kept spotlessly clean.

Some negatives:

Maintenance issues this year, especially the air conditioning. Quite a few broken tiles around the pool. I expect having just emerged from lockdown these would have been attended to, but just need more time.

Food in the restaurant was repetitive and limited.

OVERALL - the staff deserve a BIG THANK YOU for their efforts this year and I would recommend this hotel for anyone. We will certainly be back.

It was such a tonic to wake up to the sound of waves lapping up the beach outside and then to watch the spectacular sunsets over the Atlantic Ocean from our balcony. Superb. We love the beaches leading up to Papagayo and the hotel could not be better placed to access these. An easy stroll meant that we could comfortably spend a morning or afternoon on the beaches and get back for lunch or dinner. We love the walk along the promenade at Playa Blanca and here you are right at the beginning of it. We loved walking through the marina, into the heart of the resort and then out past Playa Flamingo towards the lighthouse. We were blessed with 6 sunny days and it was beautifully warm and so were able to swim in the sea and in one of the pools at the hotel. The heated pool (heated in the winter months) was great - hotel pools can often be offputting since they are freezing. Understandably, with the circumstances and so few residents the food was perhaps a little limited but it was always very well presented and there was always something to enjoy. The only disappointment was the soup which was strangely tasteless. All the staff in the restaurant were lovely and made us feel very welcome. We felt so sorry for them that their livelihoods were being so badly affected by the pandemic - nevertheless their focus was entirely on making sure that we were all safe, well looked after and enjoying ourselves. The evening entertainment was great fun in the Canarian Bar - high quality singers who always managed to get people up dancing (with our masks on). Every hotel needs constant maintenance and updating and if you look hard enough you will see things that need doing but the overall impression of the Sandos Papagayo is of a smart, clean and well resourced hotel whose greatest strengths re its incomparable position (if you like walking) ad the brilliant holiday atmosphere the hard working staff mange to create. We wish them all well, hope that they will reopen soon and know that thousands of others will have such a great time there in the future as we did.