Marriott Vacation Club at Los Sueños

The Marriott is part of a massive real estate complex. This was unfortunate to me as it felt like I was no longer in Costa Rica, but could have been in any US resort. It has all the pools and restaurants you want and a decent golf course. However, the golf is way overpriced. In general the MVCI suffered as being beholden to the Marriott hotel, so first night we were "treated" to a wedding with a large firework display and thumping music all night - no wonder the wildlife abandoned the area. And fundamentally that was my problem, it felt like a desert in the oasis of Costa Rica. If you want to go live by the pool and enjoy that entertainment, and you are used to to playing golf at $300 a round then the $250 a round will feel good value for you.

I've been to Marriott Vacation Club properties in Maui, San Diego, St. Kitts, Spain and now Costa Rica. We were there 2 weeks. There are some things that make this property similar to and different from the others. The similarities: Marriott staff were attentive and pleasant. The units were attractive and well stocked. We had a washer/ dryer in our unit. Housekeeping was particularly awesome. The most major difference is that the beach this property is on is not maintained. The sand is dark. There's lots of rocks and pieces of wood and some trash on the beach. No one went into the water. Another difference is that this property is quite far from the airport; it's over an hour away. It's also a distance from some sights, like the waterfalls. A pleasant difference was that they didn't hound us to sit through one of their presentation like they do at every other property--you know, the sales pitches that they say will last 90 minutes but in reality last 3 hours! It was so pleasant to not have to deal with this! There were 2 annoyances: a) Noise. just by the Vacation Club units there are trees that constantly drop their leaves. For many days during our stay there were people using very loud leaf blowers blowing leaves for hours during the day, most days. b) The Pickleball courts. They have 4 courts that were originally, obviously, tennis courts, so the Pickleball lines are laid out over the tennis court lines. They are not maintained. They had standing water in the morning and moss/ something green growing on some courts. Unlike the tennis court, the nets were sloppy. There were a couple tools to brush the puddles off the courts so we took care of the water. They do have paddles and balls you can use that were fine. The first day we played they gave us the paddles/ balls at no cost, but the second day they wanted to charge us $5/ paddle rental and a $22/ hour fee to use the court. Note that the maintained tennis court was free to use, because it was included in our reservation. So if you want to play Pickleball, make sure your reservation says it's included in the cost of your unit. The food was very good. Don't miss the breakfast buffet at La Hacienda. Let me comment on going there during the rainy season. The mornings were usually sunny/ mostly sunny. It clouded up in the afternoon, which, considering the intensity of the sun, was a good thing for me, and then it often rained at night. We found the weather to be good.

Where do I begin? I just spent 12 nights at the property, returning for the second time. This stay was even better than last year. If you like nature, a resort with spa, restaurants, amazing kids club activities and a fabulous pool, this is the resort for you. I came here in August both times, which is their low season, and felt like I had the resort to myself. There is so much to do here and it is a great staging place for all activities, even Manuel Antonio (about 1.5 hour drive away.) In summary, we will definitely be back and already feeling a little sad and regretting that we decided to skip coming back next year. The taxi desk is super convenient. We didn't have to wait more than 2 minutes for a car. It is about $18 round trip to the local restaurants and super market and $40 round trip to Jaco. Salvatore, who drives the Marriott van, is sweet and nice. He will wait with you when picking up food or groceries. He will also give you a tour of Jaco! We went on so many excursions. I recommend the nearby aerial tram and butterfly garden tour. It is very relaxing ride up to a landing where you can get a beautiful view of Jaco and see Costa Rica's largest flag. We also went on a bird watching tour at Carara but we did not see many birds (we heard then but could not find them). We did come across a family of monkeys! We also went to tours closer to Quepos: hanging bridge tour (beautiful views) and a night tour in the rain forest. We also chartered in-shore fishing with Captain Juan on his Fish Hunter boat and caught huge amberjacks and rooster fish (40-70 lbs). The boat departs from the beach nearby that is a 5 minute ride from Los Suenos. We were able to take some of the filets back, which Hacienda Kitchen prepared for us. It took about 2 hours to prepare and they charged by the person. The meal also came with 2 sides. Delicious!! Hugo and Victor at Hacienda Kitchen were so nice and helpful. Do not miss the eco tour that is included with your stay. We did this tour last year and we saw many more animals on the tour this year. So no tour is ever the same! This year we saw monkeys, sloths, coatis, macaws, toucans, so many different iguanas and birds. The kids club had really amazing activities for my nice and nephew. We have been to a few other Marriott properties and the activities were usually a bit lame or you had to pay extra. All the activities here are complementary and included: making a piggy bank, make your own dream catcher, learn to make pizza at the Hacienda Kitchen, make a bracelet and decorate a cupcake. The pizza was actually really good! The villa is spacious and comfortably accommodated 4 adults and 2 children. We had the villa that is second the the last one on the end near the trees, but loved being able to bird watch the toucans and macaws perched in the trees. If you want a visit from the toucan, ask for the villa on the end because we saw the toucan perch on the terrace a few times during our stay. Lastly, Silvia, who w

This is an amazing property (we stayed at the Vacation Club) but best of all the people are phenomenal! The service is amazing, warm and friendly. Axel, Maria and Andrey took a potentially bad situation and went above and beyond in a dramatic way When our room was not ready until 24hrs after we arrived. They automatically provided us a suite at the hotel (which was great) until the work was completed at our unit the next day. They went above and beyond to take care of us. I really appreciate all they did. The Vacation Club rooms are very comfortable, clean and modern. A great place to stay.

A lovely vacation club within the Marriott resort. A beautiful setting with lots of interesting wildlife and only a short walk to the local marina with shops and restaurants. Staff at the resort were helpful. Just a few niggles about the vacation club firstly no late check out which has never been the case elsewhere and secondly the whole block was without water for a number of hours and we had to report it. Reception were aware but had not thought to notify occupants and offer bottled water. Otherwise a lovely holiday in beautiful Costa Rica.

The rooms were spacious with a kitchen and were well furnished. The staff are friendly. One of the best pools that I have been to. The bar in the middle of the pool with seating is awesome! There are several vegetarian options at the bar. The food is excellent. The food price is reasonable compared to our experience elsewhere at Costa Rica.