AMAZING TIME!

I went to the Riu Antillas 01FEB-08FEB with my boyfriend, my sister and her boyfriend. We had an AMAZING time! We had heard before going that the rooms were not totally up-to-date since the hotel was the former Westin and that is true to some extent but they were CLEAN - that's what mattered most! We had a partial oceanview which was great. The staff was very friendly and the pool/beach area was very clean. The food was excellent - we went to the Steakhouse restaurant and the other one called KR [... read more]YSTAL - both very good food. The rest of the time we did the buffet which was just as good. Overall, this was a really fun trip and we have no real complaints. I would recommend anyone go to this resort. We will be going back!

I will go back to this hotel

I really enjoyed my stay here last week. I have been to the Riu Palace twice before and wanted to check out the Antillas. It was great being at a adult only resort. The rooms were satisfactory. Comfortable beds. The rug was dated but clean and we had a good view of the ocean from our room. It was nice to be able to go over to the Riu Palace for some meals. We enjoyed going there for lunch to the Nautilus and to their buffet some evenings. At the Palace you could eat outside which was nice. There [... read more] was great selection at the buffets. I enjoy Chilean wine which is what was served so I was happy. There was free Wi-Fi. Nice big pool. The pool bar had a large sitting area that was lovely. Nice staff. Beautiful beach. If you enjoy walking there is a great boardwalk outside the hotel.

Great Relaxing Holiday!

The trip was fantastic! Over all the hotel was great and lived up to my expectations. The rooms was slightly outdated, however they are clean, the water in the shower is extremely hot and the towels are refreshed twice daily. Let's face it, we do not travel all that way to stay in our room. There was only really one A la Carte that was of interest as we could not access the ones at the Riu Palace, nonetheless, the buffet had a huge selection with changes made every day. If you cannot find somet [... read more]hing to your taste at the buffet you are too picky. The service at the hotel was one of the best that I have experienced. Everyone was always happy, always friendly and you did not get the sense that they are waiting for a tip in order to go above and beyond. There is no language barrier whatsoever. Many speak English and French with no accent. Aruba itself was excellent, the weather was perfect (a little too windy - could not sit on the beach because of it) but the pool was super and we dipped in the ocean when we felt like it. I like the location. You can leave the resort for a short walk to the markets or local restaurants at night which is nice. Kinda had a Cancun feel without the spring break kids. :) We hired a local guide named Howard Folkes to tour us to the local sights. He did a great job and his price was more than reasonable for a private tour. I would definitely go back to this same resort and recommend it to anyone!

Rooms a big dissapointment

while the pool, beach and staff were all wonderful the rooms were very disappointing. the lamp shades had rust and mold on the inside, the carpet was split and frayed and so badly split you could trip on it. The walls in bathroom were so dirty I wiped them down. I complained to front desk, sales manager, Sunwing rep and room manager and nothing was done. I could have moved to the Riu Palace for an additional 50.00 per night...x 7 nights.

Excellent Holiday!!! Exceptional Island !!!

Great Holiday, Great Resort which will only get better! People who give this resort a negative review are either looking for something to complain about, generally unhappy people or very hard to please! Riu Antillas was exactly as advertised and expected! Both of us have travelled extensively & we do have expectations! The Antillas delivered! *check-in fast *great beach & ocean, great pool area ( both of these are the main focus of our trip) *food is the highest quality, buffet exceptional, stea [... read more]khouse excellent! *top 6 floors or so re-done. We stayed in a Westin style room which met all our needs. Furniture slightly dated, T.V. & A.C. Excellent. Bed Comfy. We are only in room for an hour or so when getting ready for supper! Service exceptional! * the Strip behind the Hotels is a mini Cancun/Playa Del Carmen. Vegas"ish"! Great shops dining entertainment. Fountain and light shows. Very easy walk! A nice addition for the evenings when on holiday! *Private tour with independent local guide Howard Folkes was absolutely perfect. About 5 hours filled with knowledge, history, local lore & legend. He customized the tour for us to see exactly what we wanted and left out what we cared less about seeing! On top of the popular destinations Howard brought us through subdivisions to show us how the locals live, showed us some of the oldest residences and architecture on the island. Howard had all the historical information about Aruba's evolution, past hurricanes and shipwrecks. Also quite comical, just not as Funny as us...LOL! Google HF Tours for contact info or have Tour Desk do it for you! A notch Above the large tour bus cookie cutter versions.reasonable pricing, excellent value! Aruba is great! Antillas is a great base to enjoy it from. Chris & Lynne (group of 8)

Had a great Time!

We stayed here for our honeymoon and although the rooms were not all quite refurbished, ours was beautiful, room 1602 oceanfront suite. It was well worth spending the extra. Food was very good, and buffet excellent. It does not have an open air concept feel but once you get used to the grounds, you can always find a nice place to sit out and eat.

Riu Palace Antillas

Definitely not what I expected from a "5 star Riu Palace" Public areas were nicely renovated, but food quality and service were lacking. Pool area was understaffed and rarely were you able to get a drink pool side unless you got it yourself. No one cleaned the pool straws cups and other debris littered the pool by 1pm and no one cleaned it unless you asked them to and then they only did one little area. Absolutely no beach service. Food was either cold or not available, room service gave no opti [... read more]ons; ham & cheese sandwich, nachos, fruit plate or chocolate cake, THATS IT. Our room had not had any renovations done on it, old stained carpet and furniture, reeked of mold and mildew, carpet was wet enough to put towels down. And the topper was the wet sheets when you went to bed because the carpet was wet the entire room humidity was extremely high. So much so that our luggage was 9kg heavier then when we came in and we were charged $180 USD cash only upon departure Some staff tried very hard to help make your stay enjoyable but when your so disappointed it's hard for them to make anything right. Others could care less and made that very apparent. As for entertainment, there was none. Never would I recommend this "resort" not even to someone I didn't like.

Miss Leading review of Rui Antillas

Assya & Mikes Aruba Jan 3 till Jan 10 ,2015 Rui Antillas Adults Only Price $2400.00 Per Person Here is my side of the story that I encountered at the Rui Antillals 5 Star Resort Every aspect of my story is true My wife and myself decided to go to Aruba. It is our first time there and we booked it with a lady at Trip Central "Debbie". I told her that we like to go to a place without kids as we prefer to have "peace and quite".She suggested Rui Antillas and we looked forward to that trip. We book [... read more]ed it only 3 weeks in advance so the price was higher than other guest on the resort. Our flight was delayed ninety minutes due to ice storm in Toronto so we did arrive in Aruba at 12 midnight.When we arrived at the hotel I went directly to the front desk and asked the young fellow if I could Upgrade my room as I wanted a room overlooking the ocean and his reply was that if you want a different room you will have to see someone the following day. At midnight, we were all hungry so we found a place where they had food for 24 hours as they said, but there were only empty dishes and no one to help... The hotel is old Western bought by Rui and opened before the rooms were renovated. They are small with dirty carpets and small bathrooms. Far from the suites we expected. Sunday morning I was going to talk to the front desk and there were others complaining already . Most of us managed to change their rooms only to realize that the new ones were no better. Later that day I wanted to make reservation for dinner in the special dinning rooms but I notice there were 17 in line in front of me and Only one lady taking the reservation WOW.We did wait 15 minutes and the line did not MOVE.I did not wait any longer and left. On Tuesday morning I met the General Manager Richard Velasco of the resort at 10 am and introduced myself and explain that I had a couple of concerns that I hope he could resolve. I complained about the rooms, also I mention to him that I was not willing to stand in line for 2 hours to have dinner in one of your two restaurants. He agreed to look and find a way for the problems to be fixed. On Monday night which was Jan 5,2015 Canada was playing Russia in the finals in hockey on TV. Approx 40 guest from Canada packed in the casino bar since that was the only place with the game on to enjoy our country playing for the Gold Medal. All of us were told not to seat at the bar seats because they were for cash drinks and if you are not purchasing a drink you cannot seat. There were only about 10 chairs available. We still watched the game but were not impressed with the staff . It looked to me that people working there were not concern if their guests were happy. I noticed the same attitude at the buffet restaurant and the beach bar. We have been to many Riu hotels in Mexico,Dominican Republic,Costa Rica,Bahamas that we liked and we expected to enjoy our stay in Aruba as well. Of course I must give credit to the things that were great and positively nice. The food was very good, a lot of variety and good presentation. From crab legs, jumbo shrimps, lamb chops to prime rib and beef Wellington. Fantastic taste and enough food to make your vacation a big indulgence. And there were people who did their best to please their guests . Jerry,Mery,Gerardo and Johnny from the pool bar did a very job. Lidia too was very helpful. Well done. Also Sherwin Maduro, the fron desk bell boy had always a smile on his face. He was very helpful every time I asked him a question,I would hire him to work for my pastry company in Toronto. We did go for lunch and dinner at the Rui Palace next door and what a difference it made when you can sit outside to have your meal. Something that was not available at our hotel. To end my story about my trip to Rui Antillas Resort I must say it is not a FIVE STAR HOTEL as it leads people to believe. I heard a lot of guest from Canada complain about one or another thing which come down to the answer.... They will not RETURN to that Rui Resort and they would not recommend it to family and friends. When I spoke to the general manager I mention that I was going to send him a copy of this letter with my concerns. Will I return to your Hotel. NO Will I return to another Rui YES I hope you can look at all my concerns as I took the TIME to write my comments Thank You Mike

Riu Palace Antililas

Grounds are kept quite clean, rooms were dated and very poorly cleaned, restaurants were always full and difficult to get a reservation, but when walking by they were half full. Buffet always had same food.

Amazing

The resort was wonderful! Staff were friendly and helpful. Everything was very clean. Only complaint was it was impossible to get dinner reservations at the a la carts. We will be going back though!!!!

Aruba Vacation

We are a couple of seniors whom had never been to Aruba, we totally enjoyed our stay from November 24 to December 1,2014, here is our review: Room - we stayed in room 637, the room had not been renovated and I am led to believe that for the time being no rooms are being renovated, the carpeting in the corridors had been replaced, our room was fine, the bed was comfortable, the A/C worked fine and the hot water was plentiful, what more do you need, the room was fine. Food - the food at every me [... read more]al was excellent, I wonder about folks who say the food was HORRIBLE, even the food at the 24 hr. Snack bar was good Staff - We never met any employees who exhibited anything but being pleasant, Daphne at the lobby bar was exceptionally pleasant. Bars - there was never any waiting for service and the drinks dispensed were exceptional. We only went to the steakhouse restaurant, we went twice, it was exceptional, the Caesar salad was excellent. My only critisms were, the lack of seating space in the lobby/lobby bar area and the nightly entertainment was not very good. Would I go back to this resort, absolutely, have no concerns go and have a great time

Very good resort

Clean rooms, twice a day room cleaning and towels replacing, many dining options and excellent menus.Amazing beach and weather.Very efficient, polite and well trained staff. Definitely well recommended .

Very Nice Resort

Rooms could use a freshen up but were clean and functional, pool area, lobby and beach were very nice. Staff was excellent, plesant and very attentive to you needs. Only complaint was having to get up by 7am to reserve the Steak house or Krystal restaurants. Food quality and variety were excellent. Would go back for sure.

Amazing Resort

This resort is very modern. Lots of staff. No waiting. Great selection of food and drinks. The 24 hour Cafe had wine and beer available always. There was champagne and vodka available at breakfast buffet. And NO children. Truly amazing resort!

Enjoyed our holiday not perfect but still fun

Stayed in the Riu Palace Antillas from Nov 24-Dec1 we had a good time with our travel partners. Like those before us have said the renovated area's are nice and they are although some of the designs as more for aesthetics rather than comfort. The rooms are ok but definitely could use a little TLC but by no means was our room a dump as indicated by some. The room was clean except for the grout on the bathroom floor and the tub was a little worn but other than that it was clean and the bed very co [... read more]mfortable so we did have a good nights rest. We stayed on the 8th floor and the carpet was replaced but the doors/frames could be painted a colour taken from the newly installed carpet(my suggestion chipotle red) as they are currently a drab washed out olive green with paint runs from the recently painted walls which gives people a poor first impression of the room and they are really not that bad. I have been told that I am a clean freak so I went with an open mind and did not go to judge the room my husband was a little upset when we first walked in because he thought I was going to be disappointed I was ok. Food was really good but enjoyed the atmosphere of the Riu Palace Aruba buffet much better than the Antillas(no character in that one) but we did enjoy both hotel lunch buffets. Steakhouse ala carte was the only one I liked and did not return to any as there is absolutely no atmosphere in any of them, no mood music, candles, or server personality. Went to the Disco one night and had fun but the DJ has no clue how to play to the group, everyone would all get up for a song to dance and the floor would be full and then for 3 more songs it would be empty he should be able to read the crowd and learn how to fade out a song that is not working and fade a good one in. Play what the crowd is requesting, we must have requested 10 songs but only heard one in the 3 hours we were there. At least play the hit parade.....top 40 is usually liked by all cultures. Lobby lounge is where everyone seems to hang out(I won't mention the shows) but it is a little dry and impersonal. It would have been nice if they had an out door space or bar to hang out in at night or even servers that came out to the pool patio to serve drinks while sitting out by the ocean. Night time is definitely where they miss the mark. We enjoyed the our days on the beach and loved the bartender Daniel he is a friendly hard working young man who tries to keep everyone happy. The Riu should hire more people like Daniel as he is the only one of their staff that stood out in my mind as giving personal service to each guest. There is a bar off site on the beach a few steps right from the Antillas called Bugaloe which plays great music all day, bring a few extra dollars for your night life entertainment to spend there as it will be money well spent, much better than sitting in the lobby of the hotel. Trust me you won't miss anything at the lobby bar Over all we had a good time but it was definitely our daytime spent on the beach drinking Costa Caribe drinks and swimming in the ocean that made us the happiest.

Disappointed

We thought the resort was totally renovated, but found it wasn't and they still need to work out some kinks. There were no labels on the food in the buffet. I understand that they were shipped to the wrong place or something, but someone could have written on a piece of paper what things were. The buffet wasn't open at lunch, even though your brochure from the hotel states that it is. We stayed Monday to Monday, and finally on Saturday they opened a lunch buffet restaurant by the pool. The pool  [... read more]bar was out of mint for 3 day, ran out of chocolate and bananas for drinks on a regular basis, and the hotel wasn't even full. The carpets in the hallway to the rooms were absolutely filthy! The new pool with the pool bar had things floating in it all the time. I know it is a windy island, but there are no skimmers in the pool and it was only scooped with a net once a day that I saw. I went to the bathroom in the lobby, a few doors had signs that said "wet paint" so I went into a stall that didn't have a sign, and I got locked in. The paint was wet and once I shut the door it stuck together. Thankfully two ladies helped me to get out. In the evening when you come off the elevator, the doors to the casino are open and all you can smell is smoke from the casino. I couldn't stay in the lobby due to the smell. When we first got to the hotel, the green outdoor carpet that is by the front entrance is covered with debris, I thought that since it is our first impression of the hotel, they could clean it up a little, even with some plants or something. Most disappointing was that when we first got to our room, it smelled very musty and damp. We went to the front desk to complain, several other people from our bus were also there complaining about one thing or another; the lady at the front desk gave us another room that had the exact same problem. We complained to our rep, and she said it was up to the hotel to help us out, she couldn't do anything. The lady at the front desk (Paula I believe) said that she would look into it and get us another. We checked back later and she said that she didn't have time yet to look into it. She said that if she found us another room, she would slip a note under our door that night, which she didn't. She also told me she was working the next day and I could come and talk to her then if she hadn't found anything yet. She was not working the next day. I understand that it is a different climate, but this is our 4th time in Aruba. Last year we stayed at the Riu Palace and loved it. I don't like that she was lying to me and just putting me off, knowing that once we settled in a room, we would not move. At the very least she could have been honest and said, all the rooms smell and I am not going to move you. Sorry for the inconvenience. On the plus side to the resort: the restaurants that have been renovated are beautiful. There are lots of elevators and they are fast. The walkway to the resort next door, was a great idea and very useful. The auditorium was nice and big (that is one thing the Palace next door was lacking last year) and the shows were really good. The food was good. The staff were all very friendly (with the exception to the lady at the front desk, who still was very polite and professional). The highlight to our trip was Regino at the pool bar. Fabulous bartender, nice man and great with people. We still love Aruba and will probably go back. I will not stay at this resort in the future, perhaps the Palace next door but not the Antillas.

Good time

Hotel was very nice ... Lower lobby, lobby, restaurants and pool area all updated, rooms were not but still very nice. Food was good and staff very friendly. Pool is big with plenty of seating! Swim up bar had awesome seating to look out at the beach. Recommend this over riu palace - less busy and updated!

Ok resort

Nice beach, good food - the buffet is small. The buffet at the RIU next door had better selection. Terrible rooms - we were located right beside elevator which rattles non stop. Couldn't sleep the whole week.